Ensuring Access to Mathematics for ALL Students

11/04/22 • 32 min

In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis build the conversation from NCTM's description of access, described as "ensuring that all students routinely have opportunities to experience high-quality mathematics instruction, learn challenging mathematics content, and receive the support necessary to be successful."

Our hosts tackle this challenging topic by considering some important high-leverage components, particularly those that are within a classroom teachers’ locus of control. Ensuring that all students have high-quality instruction from an excellent teacher supports the learning of challenging mathematics content. Joanie and Curtis consider that “support for success” extends beyond academic support, and spills over into the importance of classroom culture in access for all students. Teachers can, with intention, ensure that all students know they are viewed as doers of mathematics with ideas that are valuable for the learning of the entire class.

The conversation then shifts to discussing how the Standards for Mathematical Practice can help teachers not only understand what access looks like, but also helps students realize the relevance of the mathematics they are learning. Unsurprisingly, our hosts circle back to the importance of relationships with our students for their successful learning.

We encourage you to explore the resources below, referenced in this episode:

NCTM’s Statement on Access and Equity in Mathematics Education https://www.nctm.org/Standards-and-Positions/Position-Statements/Access-and-Equity-in-Mathematics-Education/
Supporting students’ identity and agency in mathematics https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/The-Impact-of-Identity-in-K-8-Mathematics--Rethinking--Equity-Based-Practices/
Blog about Minimizing the “Matthew Effect” https://buildingmathematicians.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/minimizing-the-matthew-effect/
Skew the Script AP Statistics resources for relevant mathematics https://skewthescript.org/
Implementing the Standards for Mathematical Practice https://achievethecore.org/peersandpedagogy/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Implementing-Standards-for-Mathematical-Practices-Updated-2016.pdf
Instagrammer with Bachelor and Bachelorette data: https://www.instagram.com/bachelordata/?hl=en

Did you enjoy this episode of Room to Grow? Please leave a review and share the episode with others. Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing [email protected] . Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.

We encourage you to explore the resources below, referenced in this episode:

NCTM’s Statement on Access and Equity in Mathematics Education https://www.nctm.org/Standards-and-Positions/Position-Statements/Access-and-Equity-in-Mathematics-Education/
Supporting students’ identity and agency in mathematics https://www.nctm.org/Store/Products/The-Impact-of-Identity-in-K-8-Mathematics--Rethinking--Equity-Based-Practices/
Blog about Minimizing the “Matthew Effect” https://buildingmathematicians.wordpress.com/2018/01/15/minimizing-the-matthew-effect/
Skew the Script AP Statistics resources for relevant mathematics https://skewthescript.org/
Implementing the Standards for Mathematical Practice https://achievethecore.org/peersandpedagogy/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Implementing-Standards-for-Mathematical-Practices-Updated-2016.pdf
Instagrammer with Bachelor and Bachelorette data: https://www.instagram.com/bachelordata/?hl=en

Previous Episode

What’s the Deal with Data Science?

In this episode of Room to Grow, Curtis and Joanie dig into a conversation about data science. They start by trying to define what data science is, describing it as the intersection of content, statistics, computer science, problem solving. It is complex, and allows people to interact with information that content, statistics, or computer science couldn’t do alone. In our current technology and data rich world, this topic is timely, relevant, and growing in importance.

Curtis and Joanie describe data science as a process by which we start with a question we want to know the answer to, then gather, interpret, analyze, and model data that can help answer the question. Although we acknowledge that data science in school looks different than data science in the world, we recognize it as a valuable way to foster students’ natural curiosity and to build their modeling, problem solving, and communication skills.

Our hosts recognize and discuss that not everyone believes that data science is relevant content for K-12 students and educators, and offer the complicating factors that come alongside bringing new ideas such as these to the curriculum. We encourage you to explore the resources to decide for yourself!

Blog series in support of data science https://justequations.org/blog
Article expressing critique against using data science in place of calculus-centered courses Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/
UCLA data science course https://www.introdatascience.org/
Berkeley data science course: http://data8.org/
Cal State free Course for teachers Course Kata: https://coursekata.org/
Jo Boaler and youcubed data sicence big ideas for K-8 https://www.youcubed.org/data-big-ideas/
Data talks for students in younger grades https://www.youcubed.org/resource/data-talks/
New York Times’ What’s going on with this graph? https://www.nytimes.com/column/whats-going-on-in-this-graph
Data Science 4 Everyone: https://www.datascience4everyone.org/

Next Episode

Math Puns, Memes, and GIFs, Oh My!

In this episode of Room to Grow, Joanie and Curtis take some time to have fun with math. We share some of the puns, memes, and GIFs about math that make us laugh, make us think, and have been or would be great to share with students.

We all appreciate the chance to laugh, and although puns and memes are often silly and sometimes groan-worthy, sharing the lighter side of ourselves and of math with students is a great way to build relationships and classroom culture. No doubt, your students will appreciate knowing what makes you laugh or groan when it comes to math. Bear with us as we describe our favorites, and click below to find the visual images we discuss in this episode. Share YOUR favorites with us using our email address, [email protected].

We encourage you to explore the resources below, referenced in this episode: