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Promote Equity in Math Education

NCTM has done a nice job of lifting equity to its highest priority as seen in its publications (Catalyzing Change, Social Justice lessons, and more) and in its conferences (highlighting equity and featuring persons of color in keynote roles).   However, one issue of equity needs more attention.  In returning to Catalyzing Change (p. 15): “High school mathematics should discontinue the practice of tracking teachers as well as the practice of tracking students into qualitatively different or dead-end course pathways.” 

 

The Council needs to focus more on this goal of ending the insidious practice of tracking.   The council’s words are strong here but there is a lack of resources and disseminated research by the council on this issue.  The overwhelming majority of schools in the United States still track students in math classes and some schools do so as early as elementary school.  We know that placing students into different tracks is based on various nonacademic factors, such as perceived (but not potential) academic ability, race, socioeconomic status, gender or other non-academic factors.   Given that we know this, the Council must be more proactive on this issue by disseminating research and presenting case studies of schools that have de-tracked. 

 

Similarly, is the issue of acceleration.  Often these two issues (tracking and acceleration) are discussed as if they are equivalent.  They are not.  The NCTM Position Statement is clear about the need to be sure that acceleration is appropriate: “[W]hen considering opportunities for acceleration in mathematics, care must be taken to ensure that opportunities are available to every prepared student and that no critical concepts are rushed or skipped.” 

 

So, while the Council makes the case that acceleration is appropriate, it glosses over the equity issue of who gets accelerated and how.   There needs to be a much more detailed description of how and who gets accelerated and an examination of the racial makeup of students in the accelerated class vs students who do not get accelerated. 

 

I fundamentally believe that the issues of tracking and acceleration are the most important equity issues of our day and the Council most lead the way in disseminating more research, presenting clear recommendations for districts on how to detrack and more guidelines on proper acceleration of students.

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