Building Equitable Math Classrooms Where Every Student Thrives

Transcript

Building Equitable Math Classrooms Where Every Student Thrives

Today we’re previewing some powerful sessions from the 2025 Virtual Math Summit focused on equity and access in mathematics education. When this episode gets released we will have just wrapped up the summit.  The session replays are available through March 3rd so you can still go watch using the link we emailed out.  If you aren’t registered go to VirtualMathSummit.com to get the link to watch. 

The presentations I’ll highlight today share an urgent message about the need to transform how we teach mathematics to ensure all students can succeed.

Let’s start with some data from Christina Lincoln-Moore’s presentation that really frames why this work is so urgent.

Where she presents the data showing that at current rates, Black students won’t reach math proficiency until 2089.

“So let’s look at some data. This data came to me from my good friend Yolande Beckles, one of my favorite Brits, at CMC South this fall she presented this EdTrust-West data. So let’s take a look at it. Student achievement on College Prep measures. Look at the numbers. When, if we are continuing at the current rate, when will black students be proficient in mathematics? When? Latinx, 2046 in ELA, math 2060. Black students, reading 2071. In math, 2089. As Yolande Beckels said, that’s over a hundred years! This is unacceptable. This is why I have such a sense of urgency and why we need to do things differently. If we continue to teach mathematics in the same way we are going to get the same results.”

Dr. Pamela Seda reiterates this same message as she defines Equity and what it will look like when we have reached the goal of Equity in the classroom.

“Well firstly Equity is getting what they need to be everyone getting what they need to be successful and I have I find that it’s important for me to Define what Equity is in my terms because I would have never thought in the year 2024 that there will be people who think equity so I know that there are people who have misrepresented what the term Equity means there are people who think Equity means taking from The High kids and giving to the little kids and I don’t mean that at all I said Equity is everyone getting what they need to be successful but the reality is we know that everyone doesn’t need the same thing that what one student needs may not be the same thing as what another student needs and that we need to be mindful that and know our students so that we can give them what they need because we’ve taken the time to figure out what they need so how do we know of the reasons our goal is to create learning spaces word is no longer possible to predict math achievement and participation based totally on student characteristics such as race class ethnicity sex beliefs and Proficiency in the dominant language unfortunately in our country these student characteristics have for so long been better predictors of students success then actually instruction and so this definition just means we have work to do and that’s all and I just feel like us people like you coming to learn and attending these sessions and is putting our heads together we can accomplish and get closer to our goal.”

Another powerful message from Christina Lincoln-Moore was about seeing the brilliance in our Black girls. I want to share this clip in hopes of shifting how we might view certain student behaviors in our classroom. 

“I am a leader of many because that one teacher, she saw me. She saw all of my bravado and wasn’t threatened by it, but she nurtured it in just a short amount of time. And I am forever grateful to Miss Chapel. And Dr Watson wants all educators to know:

Black girls aren’t loud, they want to be heard. 

Black girls are not seeking attention, they want connection. 

Black girls are not aggressive, we just know what we want and sometimes we need a little help figuring it out. 

Black girls are not bossy, we’re born leaders. 

We’re fixers, we’re problem solvers, just help us with the mathematics and we can change the world.”

Instead of seeing these characteristics as problems to be managed, we can recognize them as strengths to be nurtured.  I personally have really loved this emphasis on strength-based teaching in the past few years.

Speaking of recognizing strengths, Dawn Dibley presents the Universal Design for Learning (or UDL) framework that challenges us to design our instruction differently. Rather than seeing student differences as problems to solve, UDL frames them as opportunities to create better designs that help everyone in these learning networks.

“As you can see the UDL framework is based on learning networks in the brain. The Affective Networks, which impact our interest, effort and persistence, and self-regulation. The Recognition Networks, which impact our perception, language and symbols, and comprehension. And the Strategic Networks, which impact our physical action, expression and communication, and executive function. As I’m sure you’re aware, every brain is different. There is no average brain. And there is variability in each of these Networks. There is also variability in how these networks might respond in different situations. We also need to keep in mind that students come to us with different experiences and knowledge. This is another area of variability that will impact student learning. That’s why we need to plan for students at the margins. There is no average student. Take some time to consider, what students are on the margins of your classrooms? Keep in mind that the margins of your classroom may change from year to year or even from day to day.”

One area you might take a look at whether you are teaching to the margins, as Dawn says, is when you are asking students to share their thinking.  When I sat with Susan Jo Russell and Deborah Schifter to record their session about getting students to talk in math class, I really had to reflect on my comfort in some of the situations they shared. Here’s one of those situations that gives us a powerful classroom example that challenges our typical rushed pace of instruction.

“She draws students’ attention to a poster of the two problems that includes representations of the problems that students had developed in a prior lesson. She begins the discussion by asking if students notice any similarities or differences between the first problem and the second problem. And whether the first problem could help them solve the second problem. As she begins the discussion she notices a student who has never before raised his hand to speak in these discussions about noticing patterns in the operations. This two and a half minute video clip shows Ms. Schooler calling on this student, Jeuri, and what he says. We’ll now move out of the slides to our final video clip:

‘Anything we notice about the first problem that helped us with the second problem? Jeuri, talk to us.

Jeuri: So….so…..

Ms. Schooler:  Jeuri, what was similar about the first problem and the second problem? Or what was different?….Hands down, we’re letting Jeuri think and talk.

Jeuri: It’s minus 5 and then it was 7 left so it was…

Ms. Schooler: You got this, Jeuri.

Another Student: We believe in you.

Jeuri: 12 minus 5 equals 7.

Ms. Schooler: Now what’s the same about that as what was in the first problem, Jeuri?

Jeuri: You mean this? (pointing to the poster)

Ms. Schooler: Yes.

Jeuri: Oh. So it was seven and then it makes it together (with hand motions).

Ms. Schooler: So the first problem is together?  What do you mean?

Jeuri: I mean adding.

Ms. Schooler: Oh, ok.

So here’s some questions for you to consider. How does the teacher in the class show support for Jeuri’s ideas? You can see, by the way, that the spelling of his name and the way it’s pronounced are fairly different. Reflect on your own response to Jeuri’s contribution. As you watch Jeuri take time to articulate his idea, were you uncomfortable with his pauses? And how are you thinking now about your responses to students’ hesitation, backtracking, and revision?”

Did that make you as uncomfortable as it did me? But what’s particularly powerful about this moment is how the teacher creates space for this student to work through his ideas. As Russell and Schifter point out repeatedly in their session, what might look like hesitation or struggle is actually an essential part of developing mathematical understanding.

These presentations collectively remind us that equity isn’t about lowering expectations – it’s about raising them while providing the support and access all students need to reach them. It’s about seeing and nurturing the brilliance that exists in every student who walks into our classroom.

Let me leave you with some key actions you can start implementing in your classroom tomorrow based on what we’ve heard from these amazing educators:

1. Define what Equity means to you: Dr. Seda gave us a great definition of equity and see how that aligns to your definition.  Then reflect whether the assessments you are using are in line with that definition.
2. Create Space for Student Thinking: Take a lesson from Ms. Schooler’s example with Jeuri – resist the urge to jump in and rescue students when they’re working to articulate their ideas. Those moments of pause and revision are valuable parts of learning.
3. Reframe student behaviors into strength-based: Remember Christina Lincoln-Moore’s powerful message about shifting your thoughts to see the strengths in students’ behaviors.
4. Design for the Margins: As Dawn Dibley emphasizes, look at your lessons and think about the variations happening in your classroom currently…how can you adjust the lessons to meet your students’ needs?
5. Set High Expectations with Support: Make sure your classroom environment communicates that everyone can achieve at high levels.

Remember, transformation doesn’t happen overnight, but even small changes in how we see and support our students can make a big difference. I encourage you to pick just one of these strategies to focus on this week.

If you’d like to dive deeper into any of these sessions, you can access them and many more at the 2025 Virtual Math Summit. The Summit brought together leading voices in mathematics education who are committed to transforming how we teach math to ensure every student can succeed. If you are registered, you have the link in your email to watch the sessions but you’ve only got through March 3rd.  If you still need to get registered go to VirtualMathSummit.com and you’ll get the link to be able to watch the replays of the sessions.

Until next week, my fellow Recovering Traditionalists, keep letting your students explore math, keep questioning, and most importantly, keep Building Math Minds.