Mexican American high school students' perceptions of mathematics and mathematics teaching

A survey that gauged attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics teaching was administered to 226 high school mathematics students. The sample was taken from a high school situated in the lower Rio Grande river valley region of Texas. The following were the research questions: What are the attitudes of Latino students and their beliefs toward mathematics? What is the predominant mathematics teaching tradition presented as perceived by the students ? Results indicated that the students' attitudes toward Algebra and mathematics teaching in general were not very conducive for enhancing their "new civil right." There was a greater occurrence of traditional, teacher-centered activities in all classes in comparison to nontraditional, inquiry-based activities.