Florida rejects 41% of new math textbooks, citing critical race theory among its reasons

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Buckeye said:
one of several textbooks from McGraw Hill that Florida rejected, encourages students to discuss how they feel about solving problems
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That does seem a bit strange, and outside of teaching math. Don't know why it would be in a textbook. Also don't see that it has anything to do with race...

When I was a kid I "felt" math was a kind of torture inflicted on otherwise fun loving kids. Talking about it in class would have been a waste of time...
 

Boy, is he behind the times.

When I was still teaching more than 25 years ago our staff decided to adopt a policy of "language across the curriculum". In practical terms this meant that in every subject we had to explicitly incorporate some aspect of spoken or written English. I was teaching Maths at the time I had my advanced Year 10 maths class listen to a 15 minute radio lecture on Fibonacci and take down notes. Then they were given a library assignment on Fibonacci numbers and their significance in fields as diverse as architecture and botany. The assignment had to be in their own words with proper referencing.

The girls complained bitterly that their brothers in the boys school never had to write an assignment in maths but in the end, they did exercise and develop their aural and written language skills.

In addition, every geometry problem or theorem is an exercise in mathematical logic and language. Maths is not just about calculation with numbers using a calculator.

For the darling little girls in the lowest class in Year 7 I decided to give each of them a unique assignment that would not be too hard for them. It could be as simple as "How do we add two fractions together if the denominators (numbers on the bottom) are different? The answer could be found in their maths text book. Next step was to prepare a chart on cardboard with the question and their answer making the chart as clear and attractive as possible. Then one by one, each girl stood at the front of the class and spoke to her chart, basically teaching the class one simple mathematical procedure. This was the spoken language component. They all received affirmation in the form of applause and all of the charts were displayed along the corridor outside the classroom for everyone to see. This was an emotional/social experience that these children seldom experienced, especially not in maths classes. All that was missing was asking each girl how she felt about the exercise but it wasn't hard to tell that they all felt good about themselves and this maths task.

Of course you don't do things like this all the time but a good teacher will meet the kids at their stage of development and bring them forward to new knowledge, understanding and skills. For that they need to have some sense of real and personal achievement.

The Governor needs to step aside and let the educators work their magic with whatever teaching materials work best with different ages and abilities, and in accordance with their cultural backgrounds.
 
Warrigal said:
Boy, is he behind the times.
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If by he you mean me, I am sure I am guilty!

Thanks for your thoughtful explanation, now I do better understand. What you say makes sense, and I learned something.
Warrigal said:
The Governor needs to step aside and let the educators work their magic with whatever teaching materials work best with different ages and abilities, and in accordance with their cultural backgrounds.
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Yep, my mother was an English teacher and rose to administration and principal of a small school before she retired. She always said that a good teacher was one who engaged, and liked and paid attention to the students. The approach or theory of their teaching was less important. The government needs to support successful teachers, with minimal interference, my opinion anyway.

Unrelated question - Do you know why y'all put and s on the end of math? Or maybe why we don't...
helenbacque said:
DeSantis will never step aside if there is a chance of getting his name in the headlines. His goal is to be the next POTUS and he needs the publicity.
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Yep, that's your governor in a nutshell...
 
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Unrelated question - Do you know why y'all put and s on the end of math? Or maybe why we don't...

I presume it is a British convention and a contraction of mathematics - first 4 letters plus the last letter

Looked it up. Here is the explanation

Both maths and math are shortened forms of the word mathematics, which is the study of number, quantity, and space. Math is the American variant. Maths is the British variant. Luckily, there is a very easy way to remember maths vs. math. Maths ends in the letter S, just like the river Thames in England.
 
I have always thought of the basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division as arithmetic rather than mathematics.
Once you move onto algebra, geometry etc. it becomes mathematics.
 
Georgiagranny said:
Hear that? Crickets. There is no example. See what I mean about this having gone too far?

Everything's a conspiracy. Everything is suspect. We all need to go back to first grade and start over using only books that contain no reference to critical race theory or anything woke, not matter how vague.

And science? Oh, my! Let's not believe any of that science cr@p. And while we're banning stuff, let's get rid of Chaucer. And Shakespeare. And throw in Charles Dickens for good measure. :rolleyes:

Let's add music to the mix. No more Bach or Beethoven or Mozart or von Weber. No Telemann. Opera. Blues. Jazz.

It's all part of a vast conspiracy to turn us into characters in The Stepford Wives. Chihuahua!
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The "crickets" were because I went off to play in an online bridge tournament, then had dinner and went to bed. Now I'm back.

Here is a link to the proposed Seattle curriculum.

https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS ES Framework.pdf

To quote from the article I linked to earlier:


"One leads students into exploring math’s roots “in the ancient histories of people and empires of color.” Another asks how math and science have been used to oppress and marginalize people of color, and who holds power in a math classroom.

Another theme focuses on resistance and liberation, encouraging students to recognize the mathematical practices and contributions of their own communities, and looking at how math has been used to free people from oppression."

This is the proposed Seattle math curriculum. Warrigal, take a look and see what you think.

https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS ES Framework.pdf

There are no examples of the Florida textbooks under discussion because the meetings were in closed sessions and the books haven't been made available to the public. A link to a proposed California study guide is below.

https://equitablemath.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/1_STRIDE1.pdf

No one wants to ban the teaching of science, Chaucer, Shakespeare or any other legitimate subject. Some people have objections to injecting race, ethnicity and "social issues" into every subject.

I have to laugh about the Scopes comparison. I've spent my whole life reading and learning. As an adult I've read all of Shakespeare, Paradise Lost, Plato, Gibbon, you name it. Our public schools are very ineffective in terms of money spent and results obtained; I don't think anyone can argue otherwise. I would like them to be more effective. I don't think "ethnomathematics" is a way to get there. Your opinions may differ.
I'll shut up for another month or so.

BTW This is what parents are dealing with:

https://californiaglobe.com/article...-admits-communist-indoctrination-of-students/
 
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Warrigal said:
https://www.k12.wa.us/site
Warrigal said:
https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS ES Framework.pdf

I don't know what that syllabus is but it is definitely not maths.

It seems to be some component of a social studies curriculum.
Perhaps an elective within the SS curriculum?

As for the teacher in the last link ...

https://californiaglobe.com/article...-admits-communist-indoctrination-of-students/

...he should be dismissed. Forthwith.
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It says right at the top, Math Ethnic Studies Framework.

And the California Study Guide is clearly for math.

I can only say, you don't have any idea of what's going on here. There is a cadre of absolutely crazy educators, school board members and politicians determined to foist this garbage on children. Meanwhile we rank something like 38th in math skills, and we're getting worse.

The DeSantises of the world don't care about children, either, just about scoring their own political points.
 
@JimBob1952
"One leads students into exploring math’s roots “in the ancient histories of people and empires of color.” Another asks how math and science have been used to oppress and marginalize people of color, and who holds power in a math classroom."

White boys. White boys held the power in my classrooms growing up. Girls were ignored. Books showed mostly white boys, rarely a white girl and never a child of color of either sex.

Wanting to be an astronomer was my first goal. In science class (I was in "special" classes for high IQ kids, we went to other teachers throughout the day) in sixth grade I wanted to know the details of how miles were measured, how did we know how far away the object was from earth? I was asking about the sun to earth. My male teacher said "We go out an use a tape measurer." Oh, he and the boys in the class laughed derisively at me. I was a shy girl at 11 whatever age I was. I felt humiliated and never asked a question again.

Kids of color have experienced even worse. There should be books showing ALL kinds of children,
not just white. It does make a big difference in learning. It won't kill white kids to see there are people other than them.

PS--that teacher affected my life and school career for Years. Years. Girls were squashed when I went to school, and I went to the very best of public schools.
 
Pepper, I was in a special math class too, but it was for kids who had to take the same course twice.

I empathize with kids who find math hard. I don't think "ethnicizing" the subject is the way to go, but there are a lot of promising new approaches. Some of the charter schools are exploring team learning and other ideas.

By the way, "people of color" are so prominent in media and elsewhere that most Americans think the percentage of the population that is black is about twice what it really is. I defy you to find a modern textbook that doesn't portray multiple ethnicities and genders. (Please understand that I'm not complaining about this.)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/4435/public-overestimates-us-black-hispanic-populations.aspx
 
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JimBob1952 said:
It says right at the top, Math Ethnic Studies Framework.
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The clue is in the link https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS ES Framework.pdf -

/social studies/.../Math SDS ES Framework

That indicates to me that it is under the umbrella of the Social Studies subject.

JimBob1952 said:
I can only say, you don't have any idea of what's going on here. There is a cadre of absolutely crazy educators, school board members and politicians determined to foist this garbage on children. Meanwhile we rank something like 38th in math skills, and we're getting worse.

The DeSantises of the world don't care about children, either, just about scoring their own political points.
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That is true. It seems there is no national curriculum in US as there is over here. Every state/county seems to have the right to write their own.
 
Maybe there is some "negotiations" that can address this seemingly dividing issue. This video is non-political even though it is "Fox" news. The professor Tucker interviews explains her organization to bring equality to teaching math and history.


Their website is

Welcome to NCSM:
Bold Leadership in Mathematics Education!
NCSM is the premiere mathematics education leadership organization. Our bold leadership in the mathematics education community develops vision, ensures support, and guarantees that all students engage in equitable, high-quality mathematical experiences that lead to powerful, flexible uses of mathematical understanding to affect their lives and to improve the world.

https://www.mathedleadership.org/
 
Warrigal said:
The clue is in the link https://www.k12.wa.us/sites/default/files/public/socialstudies/pubdocs/Math SDS ES Framework.pdf -

/social studies/.../Math SDS ES Framework

That indicates to me that it is under the umbrella of the Social Studies subject.


That is true. It seems there is no national curriculum in US as there is over here. Every state/county seems to have the right to write their own.
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That's true. We have a Federal system that delegates education to state and local levels. The Federal government spends about $80 billion on primary and secondary education but to what effect I'm not sure.
 
I've been hunting online for a definition of Critical Race Theory, and could not find any examples. Likewise, no examples of how it is being taught in children's math textbooks. The closest I could come was some tiptoeing around the subject, such as this link:

The Florida Department of Education on Friday rejected some 54 math books from state classrooms, a move that drew national attention when DeSantis claimed that the proposals from publishing companies contained lessons on “indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism” for elementary students.

Jeez, what does that even mean?
 
Here are examples....

1. The offending math texts call π an "irrational" number. As everyone knows, pi (π) describes the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its radius, a value that is approximately 3.1416. Florida's government knows that math cannot be irrational! This seems to be an attempt to insert Social Emotional Learning into math. Incidentally, Florida is in good company here: back in 1897, the Indiana State House passed a bill that declared that π equals 3.2. (It doesn’t.) Luckily, when the bill reached the Indiana Senate, a Purdue University professor was in the audience, and he helped the senators realize they shouldn't pass it. They didn't.
2. Many of the textbooks refer to "binary" numbers. Of course, if there are binary numbers, there must be non-binary numbers. Are these mathematics textbooks trying to sneak in references to sex and gender? Florida's Education Department can't allow that!
3. Some of the texts describe "magic squares." Magic, of course, is the work of the devil. Florida wisely decided to keep such offensive terms out of its math curriculum.(Aside: a magic square is a square filled with numbers from 1 to N, where the numbers are arranged so that every row, column, and diagonal sums to the same value. These can be fun puzzles for children and adults.)
4. A number of texts introduce the idea of the "golden ratio" and "golden rectangles." Clearly this is a reference to worshipping the golden calf, from the Old Testament, which everyone knows is a false god. What are those math textbooks trying to do here? Making matters worse, the golden ratio is another irrational number! See my discussion of π above.(Aside: two quantities a and b are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities; in other words, if (a+b)/a = a/b.)
5. Most of the offending math texts use the expression "higher power" to refer to exponents rather than to a deity. Obviously this cannot be permitted.6. Let's not forget the Pythagorean theorem. All the math texts describe this creation of a pagan mathematician from ancient Greece, whose philosophy resembled modern socialism.

Forbes had the article but I can't find it.
 
Paco Dennis said:
Here are examples....

1. The offending math texts call π an "irrational" number. As everyone knows, pi (π) describes the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its radius, a value that is approximately 3.1416. Florida's government knows that math cannot be irrational! This seems to be an attempt to insert Social Emotional Learning into math. Incidentally, Florida is in good company here: back in 1897, the Indiana State House passed a bill that declared that π equals 3.2. (It doesn’t.) Luckily, when the bill reached the Indiana Senate, a Purdue University professor was in the audience, and he helped the senators realize they shouldn't pass it. They didn't.
2. Many of the textbooks refer to "binary" numbers. Of course, if there are binary numbers, there must be non-binary numbers. Are these mathematics textbooks trying to sneak in references to sex and gender? Florida's Education Department can't allow that!
3. Some of the texts describe "magic squares." Magic, of course, is the work of the devil. Florida wisely decided to keep such offensive terms out of its math curriculum.(Aside: a magic square is a square filled with numbers from 1 to N, where the numbers are arranged so that every row, column, and diagonal sums to the same value. These can be fun puzzles for children and adults.)
4. A number of texts introduce the idea of the "golden ratio" and "golden rectangles." Clearly this is a reference to worshipping the golden calf, from the Old Testament, which everyone knows is a false god. What are those math textbooks trying to do here? Making matters worse, the golden ratio is another irrational number! See my discussion of π above.(Aside: two quantities a and b are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities; in other words, if (a+b)/a = a/b.)
5. Most of the offending math texts use the expression "higher power" to refer to exponents rather than to a deity. Obviously this cannot be permitted.6. Let's not forget the Pythagorean theorem. All the math texts describe this creation of a pagan mathematician from ancient Greece, whose philosophy resembled modern socialism.

Forbes had the article but I can't find it.
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Let's not forget about the widespread use of the Native American sounding name — Sohcahtoa — in trigonometry. It's obviously an attempt to indoctrinate students into anti-American sentiment.
 
Sunny said:
I've been hunting online for a definition of Critical Race Theory, and could not find any examples. Likewise, no examples of how it is being taught in children's math textbooks. The closest I could come was some tiptoeing around the subject, such as this link:

The Florida Department of Education on Friday rejected some 54 math books from state classrooms, a move that drew national attention when DeSantis claimed that the proposals from publishing companies contained lessons on “indoctrinating concepts like race essentialism” for elementary students.

Jeez, what does that even mean?
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This is from Brittanica.com:

critical race theory (CRT), intellectual and social movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that racism is inherent in the law and legal institutions of the United States insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans. Critical race theorists are generally dedicated to applying their understanding of the institutional or structural nature of racism to the concrete (if distant) goal of eliminating all race-based and other unjust hierarchies.

To be clear, I think CRT is a perfectly valid subject for research, discussion and evaluation. But there is a lot of BS on both sides of the debate. CRT advocates try to slip these concepts into k-12 curricula and then claim otherwise. And CRT opponents see CRT everywhere, without really knowing what it is or what it implies.

I don't think math class is the place to fight racism, but what do I know? My kids are long grown. My one year old grandson will be going to Hebrew school, where I don't think CRT is a big deal.
 
A lot of the flap is based on a workbook for teachers (not a textbook) introduced in California. The introduction includes this section:

"The framework for deconstructing racism in mathematics offers essential characteristics of antiracist math educators and critical approaches to dismantling white supremacy in math classrooms by making visible the toxic characteristics of white supremacy culture."

The full text is here.

https://equitablemath.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/11/1_STRIDE1.pdf

This movement, if it is one, is in its infancy. I don't think there are any textbooks incorporating this kind of language. Maybe some of the ones proposed in Florida did, but their contents have not been made public.
 
Pepper said:
@JimBob1952
If your grandson is near Hofstra in Nassau County I highly recommend HANC--Hebrew Academy in Nassau County. K-12; great school.
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Probably going to be in the New Rochelle area, but thank you so much Pepper.

His mom (my daughter in law) is super-smart and disciplined, so I have high hopes. Let's just say my son is a late bloomer.
 
Paco Dennis said:
Here are examples....

1. The offending math texts call π an "irrational" number. As everyone knows, pi (π) describes the ratio between the circumference of a circle and its radius, a value that is approximately 3.1416. Florida's government knows that math cannot be irrational! This seems to be an attempt to insert Social Emotional Learning into math. Incidentally, Florida is in good company here: back in 1897, the Indiana State House passed a bill that declared that π equals 3.2. (It doesn’t.) Luckily, when the bill reached the Indiana Senate, a Purdue University professor was in the audience, and he helped the senators realize they shouldn't pass it. They didn't.
2. Many of the textbooks refer to "binary" numbers. Of course, if there are binary numbers, there must be non-binary numbers. Are these mathematics textbooks trying to sneak in references to sex and gender? Florida's Education Department can't allow that!
3. Some of the texts describe "magic squares." Magic, of course, is the work of the devil. Florida wisely decided to keep such offensive terms out of its math curriculum.(Aside: a magic square is a square filled with numbers from 1 to N, where the numbers are arranged so that every row, column, and diagonal sums to the same value. These can be fun puzzles for children and adults.)
4. A number of texts introduce the idea of the "golden ratio" and "golden rectangles." Clearly this is a reference to worshipping the golden calf, from the Old Testament, which everyone knows is a false god. What are those math textbooks trying to do here? Making matters worse, the golden ratio is another irrational number! See my discussion of π above.(Aside: two quantities a and b are in the golden ratio if their ratio is the same as the ratio of their sum to the larger of the two quantities; in other words, if (a+b)/a = a/b.)
5. Most of the offending math texts use the expression "higher power" to refer to exponents rather than to a deity. Obviously this cannot be permitted.6. Let's not forget the Pythagorean theorem. All the math texts describe this creation of a pagan mathematician from ancient Greece, whose philosophy resembled modern socialism.

Forbes had the article but I can't find it.
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You must be joking!!!!! That is a send up, surely.
 
SeniorBen said:
Let's not forget about the widespread use of the Native American sounding name — Sohcahtoa — in trigonometry. It's obviously an attempt to indoctrinate students into anti-American sentiment.
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Now I know it is a send up.

To digress a bit. When incorporating Language across the Curriculum one year I had a very bright class of Year 8 girls. It was a Catholic school and the girls were reasonably well schooled in their religion.

I decided to give them a research assignment into Pythagorus and the cult of the Pythagoreans. This cult actually worshipped numbers for their special properties - primes and composites, square and cubic numbers and number sets that when used for the sides of triangles always produced a right angled triangle. Apparently these 'religious maniacs' were not popular with the locals on the island where they lived and they were driven out.

The assignment was to research the Pythagoreans and their beliefs and compare their religion to modern day Christianity and finally to speculate an answer to the question "Why is it today we only remember the Pythagorean theorem and Pythagorean triads and not all the other information about Pythagorus and his cult?"

The last question was open ended and allowed them to propose their own reasons. The maths elements were included in the Year 7/8 number theory section of the syllabus.

It was designed to stretch them intellectually and I would not have given such an assignment to more average students. Enrichment topics must be tailored to the interest and ability of each class or student.

Earlier someone pointed out the bias in maths teaching that disadvantages girls. It also disadvantages boys when it does not extend them in their language development.
 

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