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Articles, Videos, Research

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New paper by Jo Boaler & Tanya LaMar

Nicholas Letchford grew up in Australia, a quiet boy who loved to build and solve puzzles. In Nicholas' first years of school his parents were told that he was learning disabled, that he had a very low IQ and that he was "the worst child they had seen in 20 years". In 2018, Nicholas' mother Lois published her book: Reversed: A Memoir, describing their teaching and learning journey together. That year, Nicholas graduated from Oxford University with a doctorate in applied mathematics.

Our paper on special education aims to communicate scientific evidence in two main areas. First we share a growth approach to special education that draws from the latest neuroscientific work in brain training. Second we report on schools and teachers taking a multi-dimensional approach to the teaching of mathematics that works to honor many different types of thinking, valuing difference and rejecting ideas of deficit.
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New paper by Jo Boaler & Tanya LaMar Nicholas Letchford grew up in Australia, a quiet boy who loved to build and solve puzzles. In Nicholas' first years of school his parents were told that he was learning disabled, that he had a very low IQ and that he was "the worst child they had seen in 20 years".

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Getting Started Guide: New to Dreambox (with LIVE LINKS)

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Getting Started Guide: Remote Learning (with LIVE LINKS)

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Suggestions for how to utilize stations/rotations in a classroom setting.

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Reproducibles:
Username: Rentonteacher
password: ilovemath

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Pacing Guides

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Core Focus on Math Pacing and Acceleration

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The Core Focus on Math team encourages acceleration of prepared and gifted math students following the CCSS Appendix A Compacted Traditional Program. In this recommendation, students learn Grades 7, 8 and highs school Algebra I content within the two years of grades 7 and 8.

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PLC Slide Deck: Last Page has live LINKS!

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How to 1 pager for data reviews

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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PDF for your reference

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LIVE Links to Goalbook Remote Learning supports

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Interactive tools that allow you to build a custom playlist of inspirational maths activities and messages

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Choose your own maths adventure with our interactive tools that allow you to build a custom playlist of inspirational activities!

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High Quality Teaching Examples Archives - YouCubed

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Focus on Disability

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Achieving Elusive Teacher Change through Challenging Myths about Learning: A Blended Approach

The idea that success in mathematics is only available to those born as "mathematics people" has been challenged in recent years by neuroscience, showing that mathematics pathways develop in the brain through learning and practice. This paper reports on a blended professional learning model of online and in-person meetings during which 40 teachers in 8 school districts in the US learned about the new brain science, challenging the "math person" myth, as well as effective mathematics teaching methods. We refer to the combination as a Mathematical Mindset Approach. Using mixed methods, we conducted a one-year study to investigate teacher and student learning in a Mathematical Mindset network. We collected data on teacher and student beliefs, teacher instructional practice, and student learning gains on state achievement tests. The results from our quantitative analyses found statistically significant positive improvements in student beliefs, teacher's instructional practice, and on students' math test scores. The mindset approach particularly raised the achievement of girls, English learners, and economically disadvantaged students. Based on our qualitative analysis, we propose that the success of the intervention rests upon two central factors: (1) The different forms of PD served to eradicate the learning myths that had held up teachers and learners; and that (2) Teachers had space for identity work as mathematical learners.
Full article
The Myth That Only Brilliant People Are Good at Math and Its Implications for Diversity
by Eleanor K. Chestnut, Ryan F. Lei, Sarah-Jane Leslie and Andrei Cimpian
A common misconception about math is that it requires raw intellectual talent or "brilliance." Only students who possess this sort of brilliance are assumed to be capable of success in math-related subjects. This harmful myth has far-reaching consequences for the success of girls and children from ethnic-minority backgrounds in these subjects. Because women and minorities are stereotyped as lacking brilliance, the myth that success in math requires this trait is a barrier that students from these groups have to overcome. In the first part of this paper, we detail the pervasiveness of this myth and explore its relation to gender and race gaps in math and beyond. In the second part, we highlight some potential sources of this myth in children's everyday experiences and offer some strategies for debunking it.
Full article
Myths of Early Math
by Douglas H. Clements and Julie Sarama
Myths about early education abound. Many beliefs people hold about early math have a grain of truth in them, but as a whole are not true-they are largely myths. But the myths persist, and many harm children. In this article, we address ubiquitous math myths that may be negatively affecting many young students. We conclude that avoiding the myths and listening to the findings of research and the wisdom of expert practice will serve both teachers and children well.
Full article
High School Algebra Students Busting the Myth about Mathematical Smartness: Counterstories to the Dominant Narrative "Get It Quick and Get It Right"
by Teresa K. Dunleavy
This article continues to challenge the robust myth that mathematical smartness is exemplified in individuals who consistently complete mathematics problems quickly and accurately. In so doing, I present a set of counterstories from three students in one ninth-grade Algebra 1 classroom. These students described transformative experiences in their perceptions of mathematical smartness. Analysis of interviews revealed four themes about their perceptions of mathematical smartness, including: (1) consistently and unapologetically affording time and space to value multiple solution strategies, (2) belief in mathematical justification and explanation as the goal for demonstrating mastery of mathematical content, (3) valuing mathematically valid ideas from all class members, and (4) valuing collaborative problem solving as a way to help group members, distribute mathematical knowledge and orient students toward learning with one another. I found that their interpretations of mathematical smartness are counter to the still-dominant myths around speed and accuracy. While the four themes that emerged have been previously studied in the frame of teacher practices, this research provides needed additional empirical evidence of students' voices describing what mathematical smartness can and should look like.
Full article
Counteracting Destructive Student Misconceptions of Mathematics
by Uffe Thomas Jankvist and Mogens Niss
In this article, we ask the question of what it takes for targeted efforts to be reasonably successful in altering students' misconceptions and unproductive beliefs and ensuing myths about mathematics as a discipline and a school subject and about themselves in relation to mathematics, so as to pave the way for satisfactory learning. We attempt to answer this question through the analysis of three cases of upper secondary school students, who all struggled with mathematics-related difficulties due to myths resulting from misguided beliefs, erroneous proof schemes, or mistaken interpretations of the didactical contract, the three theoretical constructs we employ in the study. We describe how specially educated teachers, so-called "mathematics counsellors", taking part in a professional development program conducted by the authors, were able, firstly, to identity these students, then to diagnose more precisely the nature of their difficulties, and finally to design targeted interventions in order to assist the students in actually overcoming (parts of) their difficulties and eventually dispelling some of the myths they were influenced by. We further offer an analysis of the elements responsible for the success of these interventions. More precisely, we identify five such elements. Finally, we zoom in on the role and intricate connectedness of the three theoretical constructs mentioned above.
Full article
"Indefensible, Illogical, and Unsupported"; Countering Deficit Mythologies about the Potential of Students with Learning Disabilities in Mathematics
by Rachel Lambert
This paper describes two myths that circulate widely about the potential of students with Learning Disabilities to learn mathematics: (1) that students with Learning Disabilities cannot benefit from inquiry-based instruction in mathematics, and only from explicit instruction; and (2) that students with Learning Disabilities cannot construct their own mathematical strategies and do not benefit from engaging with multiple strategies. In this paper, I will describe how these myths have developed, and identify research that counters these myths. I argue that these myths are the unintended consequences of deficit constructions of students with Learning Disabilities in educational research. Using neurodiversity to frame disability as diversity rather than deficit, I assert that students with Learning Disabilities can learn mathematics to the highest levels, and that these limiting mythologies hold them back.
Full article
Productive Disruptions: Rethinking the Role of Off-Task Interactions in Collaborative Mathematics Learning
by Jennifer M. Langer-Osuna
This paper confronts the myth that all off-task interactions in mathematics classrooms is detrimental to learning. To do so, this paper first explores links between participation, learning, and identity in mathematics education research that points to the importance of positional resources. Positional resources are related to identity processes and carry central functions that regulate learning and doing mathematics together. The paper then frames off-task behavior as an important positional resource in collaborative mathematics learning environments. With these ideas in mind, the paper then closes with new questions for research.
Full article
Against the Odds: Insights from a Statistician with Dyscalculia
by Katherine E. Lewis and Dylan M. Lynn
Students with dyscalculia are typically thought of by both researchers and educators as having deficits. The deficit language permeates studies of dyscalculia as well as assessments and documentation of students in schools. In this paper, we offer an alternative to the dominant narrative. We understand disabilities, and dyscalculia specifically, as resulting from cognitive differences-not deficits-which lead to issues of access. We provide a case study of Dylan (second author), an individual with dyscalculia who decided to major in statistics at University of California, Berkeley and become a statistician. Although she experienced significant issues of access-both in the standard tools used to do mathematics, and in navigating the structures at the university-she developed systems to enable her to compensate. She collaborated in this research enterprise in order to share with researchers, teachers, parents, and students her experiences with dyscalculia and how she was able to succeed in higher level mathematics. Informed by previous empirical work, we collected video recordings of Dylan's deliberate efforts to share insights and strategies with another student with dyscalculia. In this work, Dylan challenges dominant and problematic myths about ability and mathematics.
Full article
Rejecting Platonism: Recovering Humanity in Mathematics Education
by Frederick A. Peck
In this paper, I consider a pervasive myth in mathematics education, that of Plato-formalism. I show that this myth is ahistorical, acultural, and harmful, both for mathematics and for society. I argue that, as teachers, we should reject the myth of Plato-formalism and instead understand mathematics as a human activity. This philosophy humanizes mathematics and implies that math education should be active, cultural, historical, social, and critical-helping students learn formal mathematics, while also learning that mathematics shapes their lives, that this shaping is a result of human work and choices, and that students are empowered to shape those choices.
Full article

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Dispelling Myths about Mathematics - YouCubed

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A Special Issue of Education Sciences with Guest Editor Professor Jo Boaler Many students of mathematics are held back in their learning because of ideas about mathematics or mathematics learning, that are inaccurate. This Special Issue features a range of articles that tackle some different "myths" that restrict learning opportunities for students, and the ...

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Interactive Games for Math

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Youcubed has joined with Polyup to create interactive lessons where students use Poly, their AI sidekick, to explore mathematical relationships. The student goal is to modify (mod) the poly machines. Each Machine contains 1 or more Chips that are representations of the problems posed in the Machine. In each case we have thought about learning goals that are important steps in a path towards deeper understanding of mathematical concepts. It is our goal for students to explore, create and make mistakes as they help Poly learn to solve problems.

Elementary school teachers, join us online or in person this fall for professional development on teaching mathematics through big ideas!

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Youcubed has joined with Polyup to create interactive lessons where students use Poly, their AI sidekick, to explore mathematical relationships!

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Classroom Inspiration

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Inspire ALL Students with Open, Creative Mindset Mathematics

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SEL/CRT for SWASD during Remote Learning

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SEL/CRT for SWASD during Remote Learning