Chapter 6: Conversations Around Mathematics Education with Latino Parents in two Borderland Communities: The Influence of Two Contrasting Language Policies

The work presented in this chapter was part of the research agenda for the Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as (CEMELA), which aims to understand the interplay of mathematics education and language, social, cultural, and political issues that affect Latino communities. The research discussed in this article is a collaboration between two CEMELA partner sites—the University of Arizona and the University of New Mexico. An argument is made for the need to examine mathematics education opportunities or the lack thereof for Latinos, expanding what takes place at school and in the classroom context. Families’ voices have often been excluded from the conversations that concern their children’s mathematics education. In this study, we look into factors that support or impede Mexican-American or Mexican-immigrant families’ school involvement regarding mathematics. In so doing, we engage in a conversation that opens a space to counter negative views and myths in the collaboration with Latino families (Valencia, 2002). To help us understand this issue, we explore the following question: How do the different language policies in the two settings (Arizona, where bilingual education is severely constrained, and New Mexico, where the state’s constitution endorses it) affect the engagement of Spanish-dominant parents in their children’s mathematics education?