Is math education racist? Debate rages over changes to how US teaches the subject

Yahoo! News ^ | December 7, 2021 | Gary Stern

[Trump20162020]

As many students of color struggle with the subject, schools are altering instruction - sometimes amid intense debate.

Students practice equations through singing, dancing and drawing. Activities are sculpted around their hobbies and interests: anime, gaming, Minecraft. Problem-solving is a team sport, rather than an individual sprint to the right answer.

Ebri, a math teacher and tech specialist for Duval County Schools in Florida, is using new techniques designed to promote equity. If kids of color, girls and low-income students engage, they'll be more likely to pursue high-level math classes, the argument goes. That can open doors to competitive colleges and lucrative careers.

After Ebri switched to emphasizing real-world problems and collaboration, her students, most of whom are Black, improved their scores on Florida's math exam in 2020-21 – even with 1 in 3 learning from home.

[BobL]

Actually the real IDIOTS here are the conservatives who STILL send their kids to government schools...thinking that their particular schools are unaffected by the rot that infects all levels of education. I get it with Leftists, the schools are just what they demand - but to see conservatives put their vaunted ‘lifestyle’ over the education of their kids sickens me. My kids did fine bunking in a small house and not going to Disneyland (and thereby not having to go public schools in exchange)...and I suspect other kids would be fine too.

[Hodar]

Math is a process.
A calculator, uses a set of processes to calculate the values of a function you enter into it. These laws of mathematics are fixed, repeatable and clearly can be understood.

Is a transistor racist?

Or are some people just stupid or lazy? Take your pick of whatever word you wish, it’s either stupid or lazy; because race isn’t the answer.

[9YearLurker]

Correct, but I think for this thread and the poster’s point more apt than subgroup breakdowns would be.

[mewzilla]

Seems to me the bigger problem is that they made it to high school without being able to do basic math.

[norwaypinesavage]

"Life applications in learning math will be more useful to the majority of students who will never, ever have to figure out how fast a bathtub with a hole will fill up or when two trains will pass the same point from different distances and at different rates of speed."

You're right in that most people will never have to figure out things like this accurately in order to have a fulfilled life. It is important, though, to know that it can be done. It's even more important to know what can't be done. Learning what can be done is an important step to understanding what can't be done.

Just look at the positively foolish things that a very large number of people today actually believe: You can choose your gender. Conservatives that drive SUVs are overheating the planet, while Liberals who fly in personal jet airplanes aren't. Global warming causes both floods and droughts, both hurricanes and doldrums. Equity makes everyone equal. Flooding the country with empty ballots doesn't cause vote fraud. Communism spreads prosperity. Etc.

Learning some basic mathematics, biology, history, and life skills helps each individual separate the chaff from the wheat in all the fields you must run through in life. You don't always have to be able to do it all from rote memory, but it is quite important to know what can be done.

[Night Hides Not]

My tongue is completely in my cheek when I opine this: the overreliance on analytics has led to fewer black players in the major leagues. Too few black players understand the math, so they don't adapt their style of play to the new metrics used in professional baseball.

Again, this is SARCASM!!!

Next up: defining the slide rule as an instrument of white privilege.

[bert]

The black jocks need not be educated, they are thoroughbreds.

[August West]

Please share the name of that Calculus textbook! I was always good at math, but for various reasons I had no idea of what Calculus even was!

[shotgun]

All of my college math professors routinely ripped on struggling students. They took no pity on anyone.

[wbarmy]

emphasizing real-world problems and collaboration

My first take on this was the word "collaboration". Is the teacher pairing the students with someone who actually knows the math and are they being graded as a unit?

If so, this explains the rise in scores. Having said that, pairing with someone who can explain the math is also a good idea and might be another reason for the rise.

[HangThemHigh]

"And when a job comes up that requires CRT skills and a degree in Grievance Studies"

Guess who goes to the unemployment line? /racism

[wintertime]

I recommend the Saxon Math books. Although you many not think you need it, it is best to start at the 4/5 level and work through each book until college level calculus and physics. I have done this and now I do calculus and physics problems for fun. It is far more engaging than Sudoku.

[lurk]

Here’s the equation: one house minus one dad equals zero.

Solve that problem and you solve the problem.

[Delta 21]

Just stop teaching math to all the stupid kids that dont want to learn it. It will resolve itself in less time than it took the communists to corrupt our education system.

[sit-rep]

Heheheheheeee!!

[MayflowerMadam]

“Just stop teaching math to all the stupid kids that dont want to learn it.”

Agree. These losers in a classroom dilute the teacher’s time and attention and ruin it for kids who want to learn and be successful.

Math wasn’t my strong suit, but I did take and pass the required three years in the NY Regents program. I’m glad I did, but I don’t think many kids now have parents’ support, or overall stick-to-itiveness.

[euram]

reading, math, science, writing, are all “racist”. Being on time is “racist”, expecting people to behave is “racist”, expecting someone to do their homework is “racist”.

The “schools” are turning out rioters, looters, vandals, arsonists, and killers.

[KC_for_Freedom]

Thanks for the correction

[KC_for_Freedom]

I agree that some teachers have the ability to put things in a way that others can understand.

I went into teaching when I realized that I understood some of my classmates questions while the teacher seemed clueless as to what the student was confused about.

However, when I was confronted with a class of underachievers I found that my techniques made little difference. I do not know even today what might have worked. I believe many teachers are faced with this concern, but cannot get past the fact that some students are making it difficult for others to learn.

Thank you for your comments.

[fireman15]

I appreciate your efforts as a teacher. My wife comes from a family where most of the people on her mother’s side were all teachers. They took their profession very seriously. I of course had good teachers and bad teachers during my time as a student. It seems like the reward that the good teachers receive is more from the satisfaction of a job well done and the relationships formed with students and in some cases parents.

Our youngest child is now in her 40s so it has been so long than I do not know what the situation is like currently other than frequent reports that the price of education has increased greatly while the quality of the instruction received at least in our local schools has declined. This of course is likely partially because of changing demographics and societal attitudes, but teachers cannot be held completely blameless. I am sure that as a good teacher this must be very frustrating.