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Educational equity and quality are not only research issues which cut across different disciplines but are major determinants of socio-economic and human development in both industrial and developing countries. The status and role of mathematics, a subject which has long enjoyed a privileged status in school curricula worldwide due to its perceived role in science and technology, render equity and quality in mathematics education at the heart of human development. This is reflected by governments' relatively large investments in improving the quality of mathematics education and extending it to marginalized and underprivileged groups.

The purpose of Toward Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education is four-fold. First, the book examines the constructs of equity and quality and their interdependence from different perspectives. Second, it develops a conceptual framework for studying and analyzing the two constructs. Third, it examines, consolidates, and re-structures the literature on equity and quality in mathematics education. Finally, using data from TIMSS 2003, the book investigates the within and across country impact of the different equity-related factors on mathematics achievement in a sample of countries representative of worldwide geographical and cultural regions.

Towards Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education uses a multi-dimensional conceptual framework to study and analyze issues in equity and quality. The framework consists of five perspectives hypothesized as determinants of equity in quality in mathematics education: Mathematical, societal, educational, ideological, and genetic. The framework can be thought of as a pyramid with mathematics as its base and the societal, educational, ideological, and genetic perspectives as its faces. Thus, each point within this pyramid represents a unique equity in quality situation i.e. with different coordinates with respect to mathematical, societal, educational, ideological, and genetic perspectives.

Towards Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education is useful for teachers and researchers in mathematics education.

Toward Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education

Part I Equity in Quality in Mathematics Education: Contexts and Perspectives 1 My Journey Towards Equity in Quality1.1 The Nineteen Fifties: The School Years1.2 The Nineteen Sixties: The University Years1.3 The Start of a Career in Mathematics Education1.4 The Nineteen Eighties: The Beginning of the Social Turn1.5 The Nineteen Nineties: Problem Solving in School and Outside1.6 The Present: Reflecting on the Past and Looking Ahead 2 Historical Evolution of Equity and Quality in Math Education and in Education2.1 The Evolution of Educational Equity and Quality2.1.1 The Fifties and Sixties2.1.2 The Seventies2.1.3 The Eighties2.1.4 The Nineties2.1.5 The First Decade of the Twenty-First Century2.2 The Evolution of Equity and Quality in Mathematics Education Literature2.2.1 The Fifties and Sixties2.2.2 The Seventies2.2.3 The Eighties2.2.4 The Nineties2.3 The Evolution of Equity and Quality in Mathematics Education in ICMI and PME Activities2.3.1 ICMI Studies2.3.2 The ICME Congresses2.3.3 The PME Annual Conferences2.4 Conclusion 3 Equity in Quality: Towards a Theoretical Framework3.1 Quotations3.1.1 Quotation 1: Inside and Outside School3.1.2 Quotation 2: In the Same Classroom3.1.3 Quotation 3: Inside and Outside a Country3.1.4 Quotation 4: Across Countries3.2 Equity and Quality in the School as a Production System3.2.1 The School as a Production System3.2.2 Equity in the Production System3.2.3 Quality in the Production System3.2.4 Re-visiting the Quotations from the Perspective of the Production System3.2.5 Comments on Equity and Quality in the School as a Production System3.3 Activity Theory and Mathematics Education3.3.1 Activity Theory3.3.2 Activity System3.3.3 Mathematics Education as an Activity System3.3.4 Mathematics Education as a Nested Hierarchical Complex Activity System3.4 Equity and Quality in the Activity System3.4.1 Equity in the Activity System3.4.2 Quality in the Activity System3.4.3 The Activity System and the Social-Cultural-Political Nature of Math Education3.4.4 Re-visiting the Quotations from the Perspective of Activity System 4 The School Context4.1 Math Education System at the School Level: Factors and Their Attributes4.1.1 Mathematics Learning4.1.2 Student4.1.3 Classroom Community4.1.4 Mediating Artifacts4.1.5 Division of Labor4.1.6 Rules4.2 Interactions and Inequities: Two Examples4.3 Inequities Related to Student, Mediating Artifacts, and Division of Labor Interactions4.3.1 Student Personal Traits and Mathematics Mediating Artifacts in the Classroom4.3.2 Student Socioeconomic Background and Mathematics Mediating Artifacts in the Classroom4.3.3 Student Cultural Background and Mathematics Mediating Artifacts in the Classroom4.3.4 Distribution of Labor and Classroom Community4.4 Inequities Related to Student, Classroom, and Mathematics Achievement Interactions 4.4.1 Gender and Mathematics Achievement4.4.2 Student Socioeconomic Background and Mathematics Achievement4.4.3 Student Cultural Background and Mathematics Achievement4.4.4 Student Perceptions of Self in Relation to the Class Community and Mathematics Achievement4.4.5 Classroom Practices and Mathematics Achievement4.5 Inequities Related to School Policies and Sociocultural Context4.6 Concluding Remarks 5 The National Context5.1 Math Education System at the National Level: Factors and Their Attributes5.1.1 School5.1.2 Educational System Community5.1.3 Division of Labor5.2 Interactions and Inequities: An Example5.3 Inequities Related to School, Education School System, and Mediating Artifacts