Associate Professor, Department of Curriculum & Instruction Gutierrez's research focuses on the structural and pedagogical factors involved in equity for marginalized students, especially African American and Latina/Latino students. In the past, she has focused upon understanding the organizational, cultural, and pedagogical aspects of high school mathematics departments that support students of color and students in poverty taking high levels of mathematics by grade 12.
Gutierrez's current research focuses upon understanding the development of teacher practice and teaching communities that achieve equity in students' mathematics participation and achievement. She strives to situate teacher practice in a socio-cultural and political context of schooling and broader society. She is currently involved in three related research projects. The first project attempts to understand how a partnership between the mathematics department in a Chicago high school and a group of pre-service teachers at the University of Illinois influences the dispositions and practices of those (pre- and inservice-) teachers and their students. A second project is a year-long case study of 2 "secundarias" (middle schools) in Mexico, one of which has a long standing tradition of strong teacher community and student advancement and the other is a more traditional/individualistic teacher environment. The goals of that project are to undertand some of the cultural practices in mathematics teaching in Mexican secondary schools, as well as some of the relationships and tensions between teacher community and individual teacher practice. The third research project is more theoretical in its approach and builds upon the work of scholars in Latina/Latino Studies, specifically the notion of "Nepantla" and "conocimiento" in the work of Gloria Anzaldúa, in order to help reconceptualize what might count as knowledge for equity teaching. A long term goal is to understand what it takes to build equity-based teacher communities in places where they do not already exist. Gutierrez has earned a Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, from the University of Chicago, 1995, an M.A., Curriculum and Instruction, from the University of Chicago, 1995, and a B.A., Human Biology, from Stanford University, 1990.
Selected Publications
* Gutierrez, R. (in press). (Re)defining equity: The importance of a critical perspective. In P. Cobb & N. Nasir (Eds.), Diversity, equity, and access to mathematical ideas. New York: Teachers College Press.
* Gutiérrez, R. (2003). Beyond essentializing: The complex role of language in teaching Latina/o students mathematics. American Educational Research Journal, 39(4), 1047-1088.
* Gutiérrez, R. (2002). Enabling the practice of mathematics teachers: Towards a new equity research agenda. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 4 (2&3), .145-187.
* Gutiérrez, R. & Morales, H. (2002). Teacher community, socialization, and biography in reforming mathematics. To appear in Lee, V. E. & Bryk, A. (Eds.), Chicago high school reform. Chicago, IL: Consortium on Chicago School Research.
* Gutiérrez, R. (2000). Advancing African American, urban youth in mathematics: Unpacking the success of one mathematics department. American Journal of Education, 109(1), 63-111.
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