Equitable mathematics education through pursuing quantitative reasoning

Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this project is to develop means of addressing discrepancies between the mathematics education of students from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The central question of the project is: How can I as a teacher foster quantitative reasoning so that underrepresented students gain access to meaningful understanding of mathematics? Access to mathematics is important in order to gain access to economic opportunities, meaning it is essentially a social justice issue. The project entailed secondary research of existing paradigms and research projects. The major finding of the project is that some of the classroom causes of inequity in mathematics education can be addressed by implementing quantitative reasoning in the classroom. Quantitative reasoning does not address all issues of equity, but it does address the need to provide students with means of sense-making and thus access to meaningful understanding. To implement the findings of the secondary research, I developed lesson plans geared to improve student access to mathematical meaning through quantitative reasoning. The lesson plan developed a quantitatively meaningful approach to studying rational functions.B.S. (Bachelor of Science