WRITING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES THAT INFLUENCE THE PERFORMANCE OF FOURTH-GRADE AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN MATH: A QUALITATIVE STUDY AMONG TEACHERS IN A METROPOLITAN AREA

African American students in the fourth grade have been performing significantly lower than their counterparts in both English language arts and mathematics on state assessments. This disproportionality in score reports continue through the grade levels. A standard that combines both literacy and math expects students to communicate written reasoning in math. The high percentage of African American students not meeting standards for written reasoning in math indicate there is a need to evaluate and possibly restructure the instructional practices used with these students. This study expands the research that has found that cultural competencies of African American students should be affirmed and utilized to gain new skills. A qualitative ethnographic research design was used to gain more understanding of what is occurring in the classrooms to inform future practices that may help to improve the academic performance of African American students. By using Critical Race Theory as a lens, the major findings of this study were the existence of barriers from hidden curriculum and the language of school. Findings from this study show the performance of African American students in class may be influenced by the relevance of the lessons provided