Some Things Don't Add Up
Recently, the Virginia Department of Education removed all student options for advanced math classes before grade 11 in Virginia public schools. The reason behind the move was “to improve equity in mathematics learning opportunities.”
California is “reimagining” math classes for its 6 million or so students. One of the goals of this “reimagining” is given as an effort to call out systemic racism in mathematics and help teachers create more inclusive classrooms. It appears that far too many low-income Latino and Black students are being “left behind” and never reaching calculus classes. The California response to this is to group all students of all readiness levels together through all math classes until they reach the 11th grade. The guidelines intend to “accelerate achievement” by making mathematical concepts more “accessible and valuable” to all students, in spite of the fact that teachers estimate that as many as half of their students come to them already below grade level, and about half of those are as much as 2 grade levels behind.
Cambridge Public Schools in Massachusetts stopped offering advanced math classes to students in 6th through 8th grades because they were not enrolling enough low-income students. Several parents have made the point that if the district does not offer advanced math opportunities for students, then they ensure that only families that can afford outside instruction in advanced math classes will be able to provide it for their kids.
The Equitable Math curriculum, funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, goes a little further, and believes that “white supremacy shows up in math classrooms when…the focus is on getting the ‘right’ answer.” The Oregon Department of Education is requesting its teachers “investigate” Equitable Math training. The training offers teacher exercises for developing antiracist lesson plans, including:
“Engage in the ways white supremacy…shows up in the math classroom.”
“Reflect on your classroom practices to identify …how they perpetuate white supremacy culture.”
“Plan to dismantle white supremacy culture by (incorporating) antiracist practices.”
“Act with accountability…”
“Reflect on the ways …your practices align with antiracist math education.”
We need to clarify the differences in equality and equity. Equality means each person or group of people is provided with the same opportunities. It is generally understood as an ideal, and most people understand it to mean that effort, determination, ambition and perseverance translate to success. Equity recognizes that every person has different circumstances, and that the allocation of resources and opportunities will be needed to provide equal outcomes for all. There are two big questions that separate equality and equity; 1) should resources be distributed based on need and, if so, 2) who gets to make the decision about those resources? I might also add that this process ignores two obvious fallacies: that any government or set of bureaucrats within that government can effectively impose, collect, distribute and otherwise facilitate any program based on race, and that every person will, once given additional resources, will exert the same effort toward personal success and only need that assistance once. The Race Matters Institute states “the route to achieving equity will not be accomplished through treating everyone equally. It will be achieved by treating everyone equitably, or justly according to their circumstances.” Karl Marx said pretty much the same thing referring to his views on the free access to and distribution of goods, capital and services: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.”
Assuming anyone would want any government bureau to have this power, and rather than delve too deeply into the inefficiencies and failures of government accounting and accountability, look at this this way: name one government program in any country you would hold up as an example of efficiency and beneficence. One of the consistent failures of socialism is that giving people stuff is practically guaranteed to remove any motivation on their part to improve through their own efforts. It’s also a guaranteed bet that any entity that can control how much they take or allow you to have can also control just exactly how you would spend it. To paraphrase Alphonse Toussenel “the more Socialists I meet the better I like my dog.”
From a teachers’ point of view, there are several issues more important than addressing mathematical racism. Social promotion policies, for example, ensure that a significant number of students in every class lack the foundational knowledge to be successful in education. Social promotion means that students that do not complete the required work nor do they demonstrate, through class performance and participation, teacher testing, attendance, homework or a combination of all of those, the requisite skills and knowledge to pass on to the next educational grade or level. They are, however, almost always passed anyway, because far too many educators and supposed experts believe students will be harmed more socially if they are not kept with their peer group than if they are just moved along the educational pipeline unprepared. Social promotion is one significant reason there are many students in every class who have not earned the prerequisites to be there.
Just as an aside, maybe someone should explain why education insists on holding on to the idea that social growth and age grouping is more important than student achievement in individual students, but that’s a different question for another day.
Another reason that concerns many teachers is that many schools, under pressure from parents and misguided administrators, have taken away the right of students to fail. No matter how miniscule the effort a student might exert, zeros for work not done, attempted or turned in are under no circumstances allowed. The minimum grades many teachers are allowed to give for work not done is is a 50, so even a student that sleeps in class, disrupts others to the best of his abilities, skips school, doesn’t do homework and writes only his name on a test paper with no attempts to answer will, through his lack of effort, obtain a score of 50. Don’t think kids aren’t aware of this “no fail” policy. Word got out years ago, and they know that no matter how little effort they make they will be advanced to the next grade or class regardless of their level of learning or achievement. They also know that if they get their parents to worry the teacher to the point of distraction they will be given, if not by the teacher, then by weak administrators at the school or district level, opportunities during the last 2 weeks of school to “make up” work they never did in the first place and miraculously achieve a passing grade.
The insanity of accelerating all students in place of providing advanced math classes is simply another set up for student failure and blaming teachers when the insanity doesn’t work. Students that qualify for gifted, honors or advanced class instruction and cannot get it will be driven to private and parochial schools in droves. The best teachers will soon follow, leaving behind in public education a sad mixture of students that lack basic skills they are being pushed to learn faster when they don’t have the fundamental knowledge of math instruction to begin with. Teachers that lack the authority to fail students that do not complete the requisite work will continue to be forced to pass students to the next grade, the next level or the next class. Public schools, in the fanatical search for higher and higher graduation rates and/or standardized test scores will again look for ways to lower or eliminate graduation requirements completely for those that still care enough to go through the motions of “getting an education” which will in fact be no education at all. If you think there’s a teacher shortage now, just wait.
The average class size in the US in public schools is 25 students per class. Imagine a teacher’s frustration at having among those 25 kids 4 that require special ed services, 5 that are at least one grade level behind the rest of the class in all subjects, 5 that qualify for advanced instruction and 11 that range somewhere in the middle of that instructional needs bell curve Teachers will almost always teach to the middle of the class and reach as many students as possible and hope for the best for the others. There is simply no class time available to teach all levels at the same time with too many kids and only one teacher and in classes limited to an hour a day. “I have a great idea!” says some administrator that hasn’t spent enough time in a classroom to know what good teaching is or, more importantly what it is not; “let’s just push all kids to learn faster and advance quicker!” Once again, these administrative goals quickly become the stuff of teacher nightmares, and who gets the blame when most of the class fails? The administrator who came up with the great idea? Don’t be silly. You know whose fault it will be, and it won’t be the students or parents.
I’m guessing many of the core classes in your child’s school will have many more than 25 students. I’m also guessing that many of the teachers will have less than 5 years’ experience. Large classes and a wide range of ability and achievement levels in students do not go well together. Classes of less than 20 students with a wide range of academic achievement MIGHT be successful if 1) the teacher is a master teacher, 2) parent involvement is required and, 3) administrative support (as opposed to micromanagement) is provided. What are the chances that’s going to happen in public education? You know the answer to that one, too.
I am convinced that this push to convince the public that math is racist because right answers are required or the elimination of advanced, honors and gifted classes in the name of racial equity are just added blocks in a long line of socialist/communist efforts to divide people along racial lines, and the cry of racism and the push for their version of equity is, in realty, telling Black and Latino parents and students “we know math is really hard for you, and we are certain your child won’t be able to do this unless we step in and make it easier for you.” Since hiring more teachers, having smaller classes and more individualized instruction and common sense in education is anathema to Socialist goals, we can bet that won’t happen. Constantly meeting educational goals by lowering standards is not improving the quality of education but is making sure that the majority of people are having their thinking done for them, and assuming they are okay with that arrangement. After a few years of this type of educational “improvement”, it probably will be. You’d better hope your doctor, banker, carpenter, plumber, mechanic, engineer or any other profession wasn’t trained by someone that doesn’t believe the “right” answer is important. You can also bet that every other subject will soon be declared racist also.
“There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always—do not forget this, Winston—always there will be the intoxication of power, constantly increasing and constantly growing subtler. Always, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking into the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.” O’Brien, 1984 by George Orwell