January 21 st , 2010

1. January 21st, 2010 • Collect assignment ‘Paragraph 1’. • Pre-test • Don’t worry! • No preparation expected. • Course Motivation/Perspective • To what extent are beliefs about mathematics are established in elementary school?

2. MA201 Motivation • Elementary mathematics is important foundation for high school mathematics. • Cultural norms about mathematics are important, and are given by parents, teachers and the community. • Perspective: cultural norms about the expectation of mathematics literacy is a civil right issue.

3. Mini-Lecture: Radical Equations Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project, by Robert P. Moses and Charles E. Cobb, Jr.

5. From Class Notes: EDF 315Education in a Diverse Society ● Dr. Brenda G. Juárez 3 things teachers must do: (1) know historical context (2) understand your own identity (3) identify and implement culturally responsive teaching and assessment practices

6. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989 The social injustices of past schooling practices can no longer be tolerated.…Mathematics has become a critical filter for employment and full participation in our society. We cannot afford to have the majority of our population mathematically illiterate: Equity has become an economic necessity.

7. In today's world, economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math and science literacy. Moses, R. P., and C. E. Cobb, Jr. 2001

8. Connection Between Math Literacy and Civil Rights • I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered voters in Mississippi was in 1961. • Robert P. Moses • Differential access to algebra in today’s public schools, Moses and Cobb argue, should be understood as a structural form of discrimination that strongly resembles how access to textual literacy was used to exclude African Americans from political and economic life during the 1960s. • Rogers Hall, University of California, Berkeley)

9. Connection Between Math Literacy and Civil Rights • I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered voters in Mississippi was in 1961. • Robert P. Moses • Differential access to algebra in today’s public schools, Moses and Cobb argue, should be understood as a structural form of discrimination that strongly resembles how access to textual literacy was used to exclude African Americans from political and economic life during the 1960s. • Rogers Hall, University of California, Berkeley,1999

10. Math Illiteracy No Longer Tolerable Moses outlines the transformation of our nation from an industrially driven economy to a technologically driven one. He argues that this transformation has imposed new requirements on our educational system and has made math illiteracy -once acceptable- no longer tolerable. Illiteracy in mathematics, he argues, cripples a persons’ opportunities for the most basic of all career opportunities. - Dr. Joi Spencer, University of San Diego

11. Dissertation of Joi Spencer, University of California The type of education that a student receives in mathematics today has the power to alter their life chances and life goals. Yet, equity around mathematics education remains an elusive goal. Black students are especially vulnerable because they attend a disproportionate number of “at-risk schools,” where there are lower percentages of certified teachers, and higher percentages of out of field instructors. Their situation is further complicated by the complex manner in which race plays itself out in the mathematics classroom. (abstract)

12. Dissertation of Joi Spencer, University of California Students must be given every opportunity to succeed in the courses they do take. […] Factors [for success] are also normative – i.e., the set of beliefs, and mythologies that allow the previously described inequity to remain unchecked. (page 17)

13. Critical Change It is critical, Moses argues, that the process of change starts local, through children and their parents demanding better mathematics education, building on the minimal idea that learning algebra is possible and drawing from a larger political climate that provides resources for these efforts. - Rogers Hall, University of California, Berkeley,1999

14. Class Discussion What is the relationship, if any, between success in high school algebra and mathematics education in elementary school?

15. The National Mathematics Advisory Panel Identified three topics that provide a critical foundation for algebra: • fluency with whole numbers, • proficiency with fractions, • a solid grasp of particular aspects of geometry and measurement

16. The Algebra Project The fundamental purpose of the Algebra project is to prepare students for an advanced mathematics curriculum in their high school years.

17. Basic Skills Pre-test • Pre-test, not a test • No preparation required or expected • An assessment only • Outcomes • You pass the exam: you’re ready to begin. • You miss more than 3 questions: we’ll draft a plan taking 1-3 weeks to review the topics you haven’t seen in a while