Education Week - September 21, 2022 - 16

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How We Can Finally End the 'Math Wars'
Children lose out on learning when teachers don't have clear direction
By Pedro A. Noguera & Morgan Polikoff
H
ow should we teach children math?
Given that over 50 percent of
Americans report that they fear and
hate math and a large proportion say
they experience math anxiety, this
is not a trivial question. Math is the
language of the 21st century, and who
learns and uses math has major implications for who will have
access to good jobs and other opportunities.
In many parts of the country, nonetheless, educators and
policymakers are embroiled in debates over how to teach
math. In Florida, the state's governor has decided to make war
against what he calls " woke math. " In California, the debate
over the proposed mathematics framework is at the center of
an all-out math war. While much of the public is oblivious to the
conflagration there, it appears likely that millions of California's
children will lose out in the conflict.
The high-level outlines of the math-curriculum wars have
hardly changed over the years. On the one hand are proponents
who advocate a " traditional " approach to take us " back to
basics. " This approach emphasizes mostly procedural fluency
in working math problems, traditional sequencing of courses,
and teacher-directed instructional approaches. On the other
side, are the advocates who call for a more " reform-oriented "
version of math. They argue that what is needed is greater
relevance and application of mathematics to students' lives,
more mathematical thinking and problem solving, and a focus
on more " modern " content like statistics and data science.
Although neither of us are math educators, we have followed
the policy debates closely and are familiar with the issues
involved. Both sides make valid points-but the combatants
miss the larger point: While they fight over their broad visions
for math instruction, educators are left with the impossible task
of figuring out on their own what to do in the classroom right
now as schools reopen. As is too often the case, kids are the
most likely to lose out.
Currently, millions of students across the nation are far
behind where they need to be in mathematics, and the
pandemic has only made this worse. In California, even before
the pandemic, just 40 percent of students were meeting state
standards in mathematics. Even fewer, just 29 percent, were
meeting national standards for proficiency on the National
Assessment of Educational Progress. Recent reports make
clear that student performance declined substantially during
the pandemic-as much as a 10-percentage-point decrease in
the proportion of children scoring at grade level in mathematics.
There are several reasons to be especially concerned about
mathematics. First, while recent evidence suggests some of
the reading losses during the pandemic have started to be
addressed, math declines actually got worse in the 2021-22
school year. Second, by all accounts, these declines are larger
in schools serving more disadvantaged kids-students of
color and students from low-income families. And third,
these declines are considerably larger in schools that were
closed for longer.
The good news is that schools have substantial supplemental
funding from federal and state governments to address these
glaring needs. The bad news is that schools are receiving little
guidance on how to use those funds to address the needs of
their students. State and national leaders must step in and
provide the guidance educators desperately need.
Here are a few ways leaders in state departments of
education and the U.S. Department of Education could help,
particularly with respect to math:
Good tools exist to identify what kids know and which
critical gaps in their knowledge must be shored up. State
leaders should help districts spend their COVID-recovery
dollars on assessments that are embedded in curriculum and
provide accurate, actionable information to teachers about
areas of student need. Schools should be advised to make datainformed
decisions and meet kids where they are academically,
even if that isn't at grade-level standards. Forcing kids to tackle
advanced skills before they have mastered the building blocks
will result in most kids falling further behind.
After-school programs can be used to ensure that students
have the time needed to acquire the skills necessary to learn
advanced math. Given that few colleges are expanding
remedial courses, it is essential that high schools enact
16 | EDUCATION WEEK | September 21, 20222 | www.edweek.org/opinion
NOGUERA is the dean of the University of Southern
California Rossier School of Education. POLIKOFF is an
associate professor of education at the school.
measures to ensure kids are prepared for college. Greater
communication and coordination between K-12 and higher
education systems will also be needed.
Individualized tutoring could be a great solution, but
there aren't enough highly skilled tutors available. Highquality
software programs such as Knowledgehook and online
tutoring programs such as Zearn and Khan Academy can be
used to help students and teachers; state departments should
advise districts on the best programs and sources of support
for these purposes.
Leaders should champion schools that provide curriculumfocused
professional learning and offer time for teacher
collaboration and for targeted intervention and support to
address math deficiencies.
These math wars follow similar fights over how to teach
reading. In those wars, specialists dug in, supporting either a
phonics or whole-language approach. Despite the prolonged
disputes, policymakers made progress by choosing a middle
path. A similar outcome here would make the most sense for
most students.
Leaders must find ways to make math relevant and
interesting, and they must ensure that their students are being
prepared for advanced courses like algebra, geometry, and
calculus.
The truth is, we cannot afford the math wars, the reading
wars, or any of the other tiresome debates that produce
paralysis and stymie meaningful action. Education should be a
nonpartisan issue, but increasingly, it's not. Instead of fighting
over how to teach math, we should be focused on how to
support teachers and students in gaining math proficiency.
Again, access to learning math is a critical equity issue for
our nation's future. Leadership at the state and national levels is
needed now to stop the fighting and begin moving our schools
in a more constructive direction.
http://www.edweek.org/opinion
Education Week - September 21, 2022

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