Attitudes of urban high school mathematics teachers toward the mandate requiring algebra for high school graduation

The purpose of this study was to determine if urban high school mathematics teachers' attitudes toward the algebra mandate could be predicted by the variables: years of teaching mathematics, college major, highest college degree, gender, and ethnicity. Toward this end, the Attitude Toward the Algebra Mandate Survey (TATAMS) was administered to 98 high school mathematics teachers drawn from a total population of 493 who were employed by the School Board of Miami-Dade County, Florida, during the 1998--1999 School Year. The study was carried out in June 1999, roughly 20 months after the mandate became effect in Florida. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to test each hypothesis and to provide a model that was. predict of teacher attitudes. Five null hypotheses were formed to determine if there were significant relationships between teacher attitudes toward the algebra mandate and the aforementioned variables. The results of the tests of five null hypotheses showed that the hypotheses that involved years of teaching mathematics and ethnicity was rejected. These five predictor variables accounted for 27% of the variance in teacher attitudes. The inference drawn from the study was that the negative attitudes of veteran White teachers and the positive attitudes of Hispanic teachers toward the mandate appear to have their roots in political and social considerations. Black teachers, on the other hand, have never challenged for the power in the district and are moderate in their attitudes toward the mandate.