The new California Mathematics Framework promises to minimize racial inequity at the expense of mathematical excellence—and the promise of the Golden State.
Isn't California the place where the state mandated that reading must be taught to everyone using "look-say" instead of phonics ? First they came for reading, now for math.
This is absolutely insane. My stepdaughter from Kazakhstan came to California for 8th grade. She was in calculus in 7th grade. The stupidification of American kids is going to crash the country. Arguably, we are already there with 2 generations of adults.
I was an absolute dolt at Math. Maybe in part because I was not gifted in that area. But mostly because I was an angry disenchanted kid from a broken home. By 13, I was getting stoned and Math went out the window. I was otherwise a reasonably bright and talented kid, when I applied myself. At 32 years with a sober mind and a lot of determination, I returned to college and needed to get through Algebra. By 3 weeks in I was completely lost and ultimately dropped the class and changed from a BS to a BA. It was an unbelievably humbling experience. I graduate Summa Cum Laude at the top of my class. In spite of all the frustrations I experienced around math in my years, I would never wish to diminish another's ability to push themselves to their limits. It never even dawned on me that if my best friend couldn't take AP calc, that would somehow make me feel better about myself and my desire to improve my math skills. This notion is completely mental.
As a teacher I was always amazed how some kids could figure out exactly what they needed to do pass a course. No more, no less. This is the kind of thinking that California is now putting into practice. If you don't expect kids to do well, they mostly won't. But the education policy makers will achieve their main goal: everyone will be equally mediocre at math.
I'm good friends with a professor of electrical engineering who's been teaching for over 30 years at a university on the east coast. He reports that affirmative action is making his job impossible, as he tries to support earnest but unqualified students, almost all of them black, who never learned how to do an algebraic equation. My understanding is that algebra provides the theoretical basis of electrical engineering; without it, one can't succeed in the field, and it's impossible for most students to catch up in a short period of time. If they can't find a suitable replacement major, they end up dropping out, despite his encouragement.
Now, to add insult to injury, the administration has decided to eliminate remedial math classes entirely. No explanation given. My friend is incredulous. I've known him a long time and I've never seen this dedicated teacher so frustrated and crestfallen.
It’s laughable that Boaler suggested she was merely a small cog in the wheel with these changes…she’s actually the catalyst. I hope someone Sue’s her for education malpractice and why the hell hasn’t she been tossed from Stanford yet?
I am always completely baffled that black and brown people aren't out screaming in the streets about things like this. If this isn't racism, nothing is. These people are basically telling POC that they can't keep up (inferior) so they (the white and asians) will baby them a bit! Because I went to all 12 years of school with a 50/50 race makeup, I know better. Black and White students were both smart and both not. It all depended on many factors, one being home life and expectations and the other being the ability to learn. That's it. Race didn't figure into it.
Good grief. As a female that studied and is employed in STEM, this is bizarre. There are many ways to pull "non-traditional" students into STEM that don't require lowering standards. My mother used to take me to a NYS University sponsored conference (in the late 80's through early 90's every year) "Females + Math = Success" to encourage girls to get into STEM fields. It was a fun day conference at the university campus in which you could take different workshops engaging in hands on math and science concepts, or meeting and having Q&A with female STEM professionals. If the concern is that minority students and "representation" is a factor, why not organize similar conferences for minority STEM professionals and students in a similar vein? And, yes, there are plenty of minority STEM professionals to participate before anyone asks.
The point being, the coursework shouldn't be guided towards "equity" by downgrading the content, but to provide more supportive resources and examples for students to have, even if they have to be identity based - or not. Provide examples of why "STEM" can be relevant, exciting, fun, or interesting - and perhaps importantly, a remunerative field economically speaking for an individual's future . It worked for me. I took all four years of high school math including pre-calc, and took Linear Algebra, Calc II and III in college. I ended up pursuing computer programming/CIS.
But this "lowering of standards" is a race to the bottom that benefits exactly no one, but I'm sure benefits some pompous academics that get to chastise criticism as "racism". I'm center-left/nominally progressive but I'm increasingly sick and tired of the activist/academic bent of "progressivism". It's lazy, stupid, and harmful.
A big part of the problem is an increasing educational teaching apparatus that is also not schooled in *how* to teach math properly, instead going off into bizarre methods to even teach *elementary school math*. I know this from having to help my son in the early oughts with his math homework, where, weirdly, the "old" ways of learning how to do complex computations (long division, multiplication using cross addition/subtraction) involved some very baroque ways of arriving at a "method" to get the answer, rather than just doing the operations. I had to teach him the way *I* knew because the instructions made no sense otherwise, and yet his homework would be marked down for not using their idiotic and cumbersome approach. No wonder we have a large student population that can't do basic math. Let alone the "literacy reading" debacle. Educational schools have a lot to answer for. But there does also need to be a concerted effort to recruit actually qualified professionals to teach - which does mean both raising the bar for being a teacher, but also raising the salary.
I also taught my sons the 'old' way of simple calculations because the methodology form school was bizarre and prone to error. They found 'my' way much more logical.
Sadly my daughter refused to change, and has struggled throughout her life with anything other than basic maths.
Funnily enough she has an accounting minor with her marketing major.
Typical. When confronted with civil, legitimate, and nuanced critique of an issue the only thing the critical theorists can respond with is "Racism." Same thing happened to me recently. I used to be a Liberal until they started to come for my white cis heteronormative oppressive ass. What I liked about the Left in the early '00s was that they were the party of reason and evidence, but they have become the monster they so hated and usurped the mantle of chief "head in sand" that I USED to associate with the religiously inspired Right.
I still consider myself center-left/liberal/progressive, but of a Gen-X flavor. it is very disturbing to see what is becoming of "liberalism", but at the same time the Republican Party/Right offers no rational alternatives. Sorry, but Trump, DeSantis, MTG, Gaetz and the rest of the crew, let alone the GOP's still rigid adherence to Reaganomics is not a "political home" for someone who still believes in a rational role for federal regulations, a more or less desire for a universal health care system, rational regulations on gun manufacture and ownership, and who does not want to see religious beliefs legislated against personal choices, and who needs to see some evidence of intelligence and competence in leadership, not weirdo Republican politicians dallying around white nationalism and whose politics extend no further than "owning the libs". Until then, I guess we just circle the drain?
I have this vision of the future where people are coming out of their huts, looking at the rusted hulks around them saying " Look at the wonderful things that they used to build! "
"It’s just very easy to drown, especially if you aren’t a strong swimmer."
Edgartown Great Pond, where he drowned has a mean depth of 3.0 to 4.3 feet with a tidal range of .6 feet and skill level 1 (flat water). Shouldn't have be a strong swimmer. Would seem that all he had to do was stand up.. something just seems off. Was he drunk?
Kudos to Julia Steinberg. Based on her background provided in the introduction to the interns I expected her work to be exceptional, and this article clearly reveals her skills, talent and tenacity. More Julia please.
Isn't California the place where the state mandated that reading must be taught to everyone using "look-say" instead of phonics ? First they came for reading, now for math.
How to treat a certain segment of children as "less than".
"(If we’re really in the midst of a cold war with China, we sure aren’t acting like it.)"
That's because the people who promulgate this bovine scatology want the U.S. to lose.
This is absolutely insane. My stepdaughter from Kazakhstan came to California for 8th grade. She was in calculus in 7th grade. The stupidification of American kids is going to crash the country. Arguably, we are already there with 2 generations of adults.
I was an absolute dolt at Math. Maybe in part because I was not gifted in that area. But mostly because I was an angry disenchanted kid from a broken home. By 13, I was getting stoned and Math went out the window. I was otherwise a reasonably bright and talented kid, when I applied myself. At 32 years with a sober mind and a lot of determination, I returned to college and needed to get through Algebra. By 3 weeks in I was completely lost and ultimately dropped the class and changed from a BS to a BA. It was an unbelievably humbling experience. I graduate Summa Cum Laude at the top of my class. In spite of all the frustrations I experienced around math in my years, I would never wish to diminish another's ability to push themselves to their limits. It never even dawned on me that if my best friend couldn't take AP calc, that would somehow make me feel better about myself and my desire to improve my math skills. This notion is completely mental.
As a teacher I was always amazed how some kids could figure out exactly what they needed to do pass a course. No more, no less. This is the kind of thinking that California is now putting into practice. If you don't expect kids to do well, they mostly won't. But the education policy makers will achieve their main goal: everyone will be equally mediocre at math.
I'm good friends with a professor of electrical engineering who's been teaching for over 30 years at a university on the east coast. He reports that affirmative action is making his job impossible, as he tries to support earnest but unqualified students, almost all of them black, who never learned how to do an algebraic equation. My understanding is that algebra provides the theoretical basis of electrical engineering; without it, one can't succeed in the field, and it's impossible for most students to catch up in a short period of time. If they can't find a suitable replacement major, they end up dropping out, despite his encouragement.
Now, to add insult to injury, the administration has decided to eliminate remedial math classes entirely. No explanation given. My friend is incredulous. I've known him a long time and I've never seen this dedicated teacher so frustrated and crestfallen.
It’s laughable that Boaler suggested she was merely a small cog in the wheel with these changes…she’s actually the catalyst. I hope someone Sue’s her for education malpractice and why the hell hasn’t she been tossed from Stanford yet?
I am always completely baffled that black and brown people aren't out screaming in the streets about things like this. If this isn't racism, nothing is. These people are basically telling POC that they can't keep up (inferior) so they (the white and asians) will baby them a bit! Because I went to all 12 years of school with a 50/50 race makeup, I know better. Black and White students were both smart and both not. It all depended on many factors, one being home life and expectations and the other being the ability to learn. That's it. Race didn't figure into it.
Good grief. As a female that studied and is employed in STEM, this is bizarre. There are many ways to pull "non-traditional" students into STEM that don't require lowering standards. My mother used to take me to a NYS University sponsored conference (in the late 80's through early 90's every year) "Females + Math = Success" to encourage girls to get into STEM fields. It was a fun day conference at the university campus in which you could take different workshops engaging in hands on math and science concepts, or meeting and having Q&A with female STEM professionals. If the concern is that minority students and "representation" is a factor, why not organize similar conferences for minority STEM professionals and students in a similar vein? And, yes, there are plenty of minority STEM professionals to participate before anyone asks.
The point being, the coursework shouldn't be guided towards "equity" by downgrading the content, but to provide more supportive resources and examples for students to have, even if they have to be identity based - or not. Provide examples of why "STEM" can be relevant, exciting, fun, or interesting - and perhaps importantly, a remunerative field economically speaking for an individual's future . It worked for me. I took all four years of high school math including pre-calc, and took Linear Algebra, Calc II and III in college. I ended up pursuing computer programming/CIS.
But this "lowering of standards" is a race to the bottom that benefits exactly no one, but I'm sure benefits some pompous academics that get to chastise criticism as "racism". I'm center-left/nominally progressive but I'm increasingly sick and tired of the activist/academic bent of "progressivism". It's lazy, stupid, and harmful.
A big part of the problem is an increasing educational teaching apparatus that is also not schooled in *how* to teach math properly, instead going off into bizarre methods to even teach *elementary school math*. I know this from having to help my son in the early oughts with his math homework, where, weirdly, the "old" ways of learning how to do complex computations (long division, multiplication using cross addition/subtraction) involved some very baroque ways of arriving at a "method" to get the answer, rather than just doing the operations. I had to teach him the way *I* knew because the instructions made no sense otherwise, and yet his homework would be marked down for not using their idiotic and cumbersome approach. No wonder we have a large student population that can't do basic math. Let alone the "literacy reading" debacle. Educational schools have a lot to answer for. But there does also need to be a concerted effort to recruit actually qualified professionals to teach - which does mean both raising the bar for being a teacher, but also raising the salary.
I also taught my sons the 'old' way of simple calculations because the methodology form school was bizarre and prone to error. They found 'my' way much more logical.
Sadly my daughter refused to change, and has struggled throughout her life with anything other than basic maths.
Funnily enough she has an accounting minor with her marketing major.
Typical. When confronted with civil, legitimate, and nuanced critique of an issue the only thing the critical theorists can respond with is "Racism." Same thing happened to me recently. I used to be a Liberal until they started to come for my white cis heteronormative oppressive ass. What I liked about the Left in the early '00s was that they were the party of reason and evidence, but they have become the monster they so hated and usurped the mantle of chief "head in sand" that I USED to associate with the religiously inspired Right.
I still consider myself center-left/liberal/progressive, but of a Gen-X flavor. it is very disturbing to see what is becoming of "liberalism", but at the same time the Republican Party/Right offers no rational alternatives. Sorry, but Trump, DeSantis, MTG, Gaetz and the rest of the crew, let alone the GOP's still rigid adherence to Reaganomics is not a "political home" for someone who still believes in a rational role for federal regulations, a more or less desire for a universal health care system, rational regulations on gun manufacture and ownership, and who does not want to see religious beliefs legislated against personal choices, and who needs to see some evidence of intelligence and competence in leadership, not weirdo Republican politicians dallying around white nationalism and whose politics extend no further than "owning the libs". Until then, I guess we just circle the drain?
I have this vision of the future where people are coming out of their huts, looking at the rusted hulks around them saying " Look at the wonderful things that they used to build! "
Great advertisement for RSM. I enrolled my son already:)
Maybe this has gone too far?
"It’s just very easy to drown, especially if you aren’t a strong swimmer."
Edgartown Great Pond, where he drowned has a mean depth of 3.0 to 4.3 feet with a tidal range of .6 feet and skill level 1 (flat water). Shouldn't have be a strong swimmer. Would seem that all he had to do was stand up.. something just seems off. Was he drunk?
https://massachusettspaddler.com/edgartown-great-pond-edgartown-dukes-county
I think you posted this on the wrong article..... but, I appreciate the information.
🤦 Sure did! Came back from linked site and must have had more than one comments window open. I appreciate you pointing out.
Kudos to Julia Steinberg. Based on her background provided in the introduction to the interns I expected her work to be exceptional, and this article clearly reveals her skills, talent and tenacity. More Julia please.