Parent and Student Perspectives on Mathematics Education in Four Rural East Tennessee Communities

This study investigated the significance that high school students and their parents in four rural, east Tennessee communities attach to mathematics and to mathematics education in their local high schools. A questionnaire survey was administered to 2,530 students and 1,018 parents in the four participating communities. Twelve percent of student surveys and just over ten percent of parent surveys were returned. Data collected from the surveys were presented using descriptive statistics. Findings include that students in the four high schools expect to complete a higher level of education than that attained by their parents. They also aspire to or expect occupations that require a higher level of education than those of their parents. Students expecting jobs that required higher levels of education also tended to expect to take more mathematics credits than their peers. Students and parents have similar values in defining mathematical success, although parents tended to value work related mathematical skills more highly than did students. Students and parents also agreed on the primary purposes for teaching mathematics in the local high schools. Findings revealed some opportunities for future work by the participating schools, such as providing information to parents on occupational and educational opportunities for their children and addressing the mathematical curriculum to increase the number of connections made to the real world.