[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-588594-105":59,"doc-detail-588594-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","algebra-for-all-the-meanings-that-mothers-assign-to-participation-in-an-algebra-class","Algebra for all? - The meanings that mothers assign to participation in an algebra class","","The paper examines a series of elementary algebra classes with low-income African American mothers whose prior formal experiences with algebra were limited and negative. Using US reform-oriented curriculum materials, the study traces how mothers entered to support children’s learning, then pursued intellectual engagement. Their questions and observations, grounded in secondary and children’s mathematics experiences, shaped instruction and changed beliefs about who can do algebra and what algebraic content means. The analysis highlights three algebra-specific meaning-making sources and argues for parent-as-learner perspectives and reform-oriented curriculum support.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/algebra-for-all-the-meanings-that-mothers-assign-to-participation-in-an-algebra-class/588594/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/algebra-for-all-the-meanings-that-mothers-assign-to-participation-in-an-algebra-class/588594.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Rizky","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":19},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What was the study’s main focus regarding mothers’ algebra experiences?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"The study investigates how low-income African American mothers make meaning in algebra classes and how their understanding of algebra and who can “do” algebra changes over time.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"How did the mothers’ role in the classes evolve during the study?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"They initially attended to help their children’s learning, but gradually engaged with algebra for intellectual purposes, similar to learning mathematics for its own sake.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What sources of meaning does the paper use to analyze the mothers’ shifts in understanding?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The analysis is organized around three sources of meaning-making specific to algebra: from within the mathematics, from the problem context, and from what is exterior to the mathematics/problem context.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},588594,1792211341,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":19,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":56,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962085564807,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Algebra for all? The meanings that mothers assign to participation in  \nan algebra class  \nKara Jackson  \nVanderbilt University  \nNashville, Tennessee, USA  \n\u003C[kara.jackson@vanderbilt.edu](kara.jackson@vanderbilt.edu)>  \nLynda Ginsburg  \nRutgers University  \nNew Brunswick, New Jersey, USA  \n\u003C[ginsburg@rci.rutgers.edu](ginsburg@rci.rutgers.edu)>  \nAbstract  \nIn this paper, we report on a series of algebra classes with a group of low-income, African American mothers of elementary-aged children who had limited and negative formal experiences with algebra. We drew from United States reform-oriented elementary mathematics curricular materials in the classes. The women initially arrived to the class out of a desire to support their children’s learning but over time also engaged in the class for intellectual purposes. We show how their questions and observations, rooted in their experiences with algebra in secondary education and in their children’s elementary mathematics, drove our instruction, and how the women shifted their understandings of who can “do” algebra and of algebraic content. We suggest that the shifts they experienced were supported by three sources of meaning-making specific to algebra: “from within the mathematics, from the problem context, and from that which was exterior to the mathematics/problem context”(Kieran, 2007, p. 711) . Our analysis suggests the importance of understanding parents as learners and the potential of reform-oriented elementary curriculum for supporting the learning of adults who had negative experiences with mathematics.  \nKey words: adult education; algebra; parents.  \nThe significance of algebra  \nAlgebra is often referred to as a “gatekeeper” in U.S. society (Katz, 2007; Moses & Cobb, 2001) . Typically, this statement is made in the context of economic prosperity. It is not clear why succeeding in a high school algebra course relates positively to economic prosperity. Rather, it is likely that succeeding in high school algebra is a proxy for other social and cultural factors that are related to occupational and financial success.  \nHigh school algebra courses are often used as a sorting mechanism, explicitly and defacto, for “college-bound” students and those who are not (Chazan, 1996) . Historically, this has meant that non-white and low-income students were “tracked” out of algebra in higher proportions than white, middle-class students (Oakes, 1990) . States in the U.S. are increasingly making policies that mandate that all students will have access to algebra in ninth grade, and in some cases, eighth grade. Chazan (1996) offers a reflection on the “Algebra for All”movement based on his experiences teaching an Algebra I course for a “low-track” group of high school students. He argues that in addition to providing algebra to all students, it is necessary toreconfigure what is understood as “algebra” in classes and, subsequently, the curriculum as well as the typical ways in which algebra is taught. Otherwise, Chazan warns, it is unlikely that the  \n10 Adults Learning Mathematics – An International Journal  \nprovision of traditional algebra to those students who historically have been excluded from algebra will result in success for all students.  \nEven with recent efforts to democratize access to algebra, algebra maintains an air of exclusivity. In this paper, we show how three African American women, who arrived to algebra classes with well-formed views of what algebra was—a disconnected body of knowledge that they did not understand—and corresponding views of who could “do” algebra—“smart,”“college-prep” people, people different from themselves—changed their views of what algebra was and who could “do” algebra. Although the women initially came to classes to learn how to help their children and grandchildren with elementary mathematics, over time they came to engage in algebra much as a person studying mathematics for its own sake might do. We use this case of mothers studying algebr","cbCais1vWmykWYCT","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCais1vWmykWYCT","pdf",339627,"English","# Abstract\n# The significance of algebra\n# Making meaning of algebra","[{\"question\":\"What was the study’s main focus regarding mothers’ algebra experiences?\",\"answer\":\"The study investigates how low-income African American mothers make meaning in algebra classes and how their understanding of algebra and who can “do” algebra changes over time.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the mothers’ role in the classes evolve during the study?\",\"answer\":\"They initially attended to help their children’s learning, but gradually engaged with algebra for intellectual purposes, similar to learning mathematics for its own sake.\"},{\"question\":\"What sources of meaning does the paper use to analyze the mothers’ shifts in understanding?\",\"answer\":\"The analysis is organized around three sources of meaning-making specific to algebra: from within the mathematics, from the problem context, and from what is exterior to the mathematics/problem context.\"}]","Algebra for all? - The meanings that mothers assign to participation in an algebra class | PDF",1792065562,48]