Resources to tackle the nation’s math education deficit

To get an idea of how bad the state of math education is in the U.S., out of 79 countries we ranked 31 in an international exam given to teens according to a report cited by USA Today last February. Additionally, the country’s share of high performing math students is less than the world average.

COVID-19 related school closures and distance learning have made the situation even worse, especially for students from marginalized communities.

Starting with mindset transformation

One possible reason is the focus on formulas and procedures that predominates in our nation’s math education. This is opposed to encouraging students to think creatively about solving complex problems, note the experts cited in the above article. Jo Boaler, a mathematics professor at Stanford University, is one of those experts who is pushing to remake America’s math curriculum to make it more reflective of what children in higher-performing countries learn.

How students think about math is key to their success. This is why Boaler has been so adamant about mindset in her development of a better way to teach math to make it more exciting, practical and inclusive. To begin with, she urges teachers to examine how they approach math with their students — and parents with their children.

“There’s a lot of research that shows when you teach math in a different way, kids do better, including on test scores,” said Boaler.

Boaler’s larger goal goes beyond changing classroom tactics to transforming the mindset that dictates our expectations about learning math. She sees this stereotype revealed every time someone says, “I don’t do math,” or “I’m not good at math.”

Boaler’s “How to Learn Math” workshop is the first online math training course for teachers that has been endorsed by districts. Since being launched in 2013 it has reached over 60,000 educators, with 95% have changed their teaching and 96 say they are enjoying the process more. The online portal YouCubed also supports independent student learners and parents.

Financial literacy goes hand in hand with math literacy

Just because kids light up when you talk about money (especially giving them opportunities to earn some) doesn’t necessarily mean they’re learning what they need about finance. According to Freakonomics co-author Stephen Levitt, studies show that 70% of college students and even adults are illiterate when it comes to finances.

Sadly, only 27% of 15-year-olds know what inflation is and can do simple interest rate calculations, notes Tanya Van Court who is dedicated to improving financial literacy through Goalsetter, a money app to help kids and families start saving.

“Not knowing financial language in America is like not knowing English in America,” she said.

In honor of Juneteenth, she started a movement to get 1 million Black kids saving and is now partnering with schools and education programs to get financial literacy tools in the hands of more students of color.

Entrepreneurship skills teach money and practical math

Teaching youth math through planning their own startup business is the concept behind a new class entrepreneurship offered by California non-profit Calculus Roundtable. Through cost modeling, scaling and profit margin students are engaging in and learning math concepts like statistics and probability.

“Kids need more than a curriculum,” says Calculus Roundtable’s director, Jim Hollis. “They need access to the tools, the mindset, and other people’s experiences, so that academic success becomes a process.”

The program integrates game-based learning, savings accounts and teachers/mentors of color like Tanya Van Court who was a guest on the program.

More resources for students and teachers can be found at the Biz Kidsportal and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Examining bias to eliminate racist teaching methods

Integrating anti-racist teaching methods to address the math and science deficit affecting our most vulnerable students is one recommendation by Dr. Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of The Education Trust–West.

With its focus on educational justice and supporting the high achievement of all California students, the research and advocacy organization has created a toolkit for supporting equitable access to math standards for English Language Learners, Black and Latinx students, called “A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction.”

Here’s an example from one video in the toolkit. Dismantling Racism in Mathematics Instruction helps teachers examine underlying bias in how they teach math. It points out the danger in things that commonly occur in classrooms like valuing individual work over collaboration and teamwork.

“An overemphasis on individualism fosters conditions for competition and individual success, and perpetuates the message that if a student is failing it’s because they aren’t trying hard enough or they don’t care.”