3

K–12 Educational Contexts—Sparking Interests

Workshop co-chair Lynne Holden, M.D., reflected on the experiences of students in the previous session (see Chapter 2), which points to the importance of K–12 education. She moderated a session to examine the effects of early engagement and local environments on science, engineering, and medicine (SEM) outcomes for Black students. Presenters were Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph.D. (University of Texas at Austin) and Moseka Medlock (Thurgood Marshall College Fund).

LAUNCH YEARS INITIATIVE

Dr. Arrillaga said she became involved in educational policy to make changes at scale. She was born and raised in Mississippi and went to school with few other African American students. After getting bachelor’s and master’s degrees in math and in survey research, she earned a doctorate at Princeton University and has been involved in educational policy, which she sees as a leverage for change, for the last 20 years.

The Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin has the mission to advance public education at scale. A team of more than 50 people work across K–12 and higher education systems to bring a lens of equity to ensure every student has access to high-quality, relevant, and modern math and science education that is central to their postsecondary and career success. The center has more than 30 years of experience in the development of culturally relevant, student-centered, evidence-based curriculum development and professional learning that centers students and bridges the gap between K–12 and postsecondary, and promotes policies to support math pathways of the future, such as through math frameworks or expanding access to advanced math.

She noted that based on the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, the United States is not among the top 20 countries in students’ math abilities (OECD, 2018). One reason, she posited, is how the public conceptualizes math. She called attention to the response to a question on a survey conducted by the Global Strategy Group about

whether some students are innately good at math versus whether students can work harder to become more proficient in math. The “baffling” result is that while most respondents, including teachers and parents, thought math is essential to success, 80 percent said someone is either born to be good at math or not (see Figure 3-1). That opinion, she countered, would be an unconscionable idea if applied to reading, another basic skill. She said it is important to battle against the idea that a student is either good at math or not, because it infiltrates every layer of K–12 and of higher education. “At all levels, everyone needs math just like reading. And Black students must have math identity.”

Dr. Arrillaga went on to discuss Black enrollment in advanced math and science classes. Black men and Black women are 16 percent of the high school student population, but only 8 percent were enrolled in calculus and 12 percent in physics, according to U.S. Department of Education data in 2015–2016. While there is debate about the role of calculus, it is still considered necessary for SEM careers. In addition to being very uneven by race and income, a high percentage of students need to retake calculus in college. She noted that K–12 and higher education mathematicians do not talk with one another about what students need from their high school classes to succeed in college. In addition, students can only take these classes if they are offered. Nationwide, 80 percent of high schools offer Algebra II but only 74 percent of schools with high Black student and Latino student enrollment; similarly, 50 percent of all schools offer Calculus but only 38 percent of schools with high Black student and Latino student enrollment.

The good news overall, she said, is that the percentage of students who are earning credits in math and science has increased from 56 percent in 1990 to 84 percent in 2019. However, work remains to increase the number of students in STEM majors. In 2018–2019, only nine Black students earned Ph.D.’s in physics. It is worth highlighting that not offering physics in K–12 can have a negative effect years later; conversely, the trajectory could change if more students have K–12 access.

The Launch Years Initiative at the Dana Center is a collaborative movement for change, Dr. Arrillaga said. It aims for a seamless transition by reimagining math education and updating policies and practices for the “launch years”: that is, from grade 11 through the first year of postsecondary. The content of K–8 math seems about right, although questions remain about teacher preparation and other issues. There is some disagreement, however, about the content of high school math, and the link between K–12 and higher math, as well as the role of data science,

informatics, and other new fields within the math community. The Dana Center is bringing together communities of color and those in the math community to discuss what it would take to reimagine how to teach math. Despite some new ideas in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, math has been taught in the same way for years, she said: “lots of pencil and paper, teaching like computers do not exist, and students not seeing themselves reflected in the curriculum.”

The Launch Years Initiative is an effort to transform the teaching of math to see its relevancy. The initial focus of onsite work was in Georgia, Texas, and Washington State. For example, when the Georgia Algebra II/Advanced Algebra Standards were up for review, educators rethought Algebra II to incorporate tools that students need to take Calculus and to incorporate more data science. Work is also underway with the Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences, an umbrella group for 20 math organizations around the country. A 2020 report explores barriers, opportunities, and recommendations for a new vision for the transition from high school to postsecondary mathematics (Launch Years, 2020).

Dr. Arrillaga said she has seen that educator and school district administrators need to break down barriers to family engagement of the best student outcomes. She proposed a series of steps to inform, consult, involve, collaborate, and defer to (see Figure 3-2).¹

Dr. Arrillaga reported on recent conversations about math proficiency, such as one with Lakisha Young, executive director of Oakland Reach.² During the pandemic, Oakland Reach worked with parents to help them raise their children’s reading scores, which had been stagnant, while families were at home. She posited what could happen if parents were similarly engaged with building math skills. She also noted the Hidden Genius Project, which works with Black boys so that they can see themselves as good at math and coding,³ and Black Girls Code, which similarly provides young girls with skills and, more broadly, development of a math and science identity.⁴ She also reported on projects that have shown gains within the National Science Foundation’s INCLUDES (Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers

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¹ For more information on this initiative, see https://www.utdanacenter.org/our-work/k-12-education/launch-years-initiative.

² For more information, see https://oaklandreach.org/.

³ For more information, see https://www.hiddengeniusproject.org/about/.

⁴ For more information, see https://www.wearebgc.org/.

in Engineering and Science) portfolio.⁵ Black Girl Magic sends boxes of math activities to students in grades 3 to 9. Black female mathematicians are prominently featured. As Robert Moses, founder of the Algebra Project has stated, algebra should be a civil right.⁶

TEACHER QUALITY AND RETENTION PROGRAM

Ms. Medlock reported on the Teacher Quality and Retention Program (TQRP),⁷ which she directs at the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. It is set up to support Black teachers in SEM, although she commented that the approach is also applicable to students. It amplifies Black teachers’ voices and is based on the recognition of the strength of solutions within the Black community. Ms. Medlock shared a short video with interviews with several participants.

TQRP is a 5-year fellowship supporting the development and retention of new and aspiring teachers. Support includes year-round professional development and a summer institute with culturally responsive, trauma-informed content from a social-emotional learning approach. A close network of diverse educators serving high-need urban and rural communities is formed. They celebrate accomplishments as well as share and develop solutions for common challenges. Ms. Medlock reported that 88 percent of participants who complete 3 or more years of TQRP remain in education compared with 58 percent who are in the program for 2 years or fewer. In addition, 90 percent of supervisors agree that TQRP would increase retention of new teachers. Areas of focus are Black males, STEM, and new teachers. Some teach at the secondary level, where they may focus on a STEM subject, while others are in elementary and/or special education where they teach all subjects, including math and science.

Data informs why it is important to support Black teachers and why a program like TQRP is needed (see Figure 3-3), Ms. Medlock continued. Having even one Black teacher in elementary school lowers the high school dropout rates of low-income Black boys by 39 percent and raises the college aspirations of male and female poor Black students by 19 percent. Black students taught by Black teachers have higher academic and social gains. Black teachers have lower rates of using exclusionary discipline measures with

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⁵ For more information, see https://www.includesnetwork.org/about-us/who-we-are.

⁶ For more information, see https://algebra.org/wp/.

⁷ See https://www.tmcf.org/students-alumni/tqrp/.

Black children. However, only 7 percent of public school teachers are Black and only 2 percent are Black males.⁸ Black teachers have a higher turnover rate than white and Hispanic teachers. If they work in low-income districts, they will earn up to $16,000 less than if they taught in a high-income school.

The fellowship model, Ms. Medlock said, is to “support them early and often,” beginning in the third year of college through their third year of teaching. A 10-day summer institute starts to build relationships and practicum experience. Ms. Medlock reported the current cohort lives in 96 cities, teaches in 63 Title I schools, and includes students from 26 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Approximately 40 percent are Black males. Seventy-five percent are certified or seeking certification to teach a STEM content area. Data from an external evaluation show almost all rate the program as excellent or good, feel that participation puts them at an advantage (which, she noted, speaks to self-efficacy), and would recommend the program to others. Participants in the last complete cohort year reported they had tangible improvements in instruction, classroom management, designing and using assessments, teaching diverse learners, and technology. Virtual teaching was a key part of the period during the pandemic. Four participants won Teacher of the Year awards, including three males, in their school systems.

Their own comments and evaluations from supervisors support this quantitative data, such as:

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⁸ For current National Center for Data Statistics (NCES) data on the demographics of U.S. public school teachers, see https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/clr/public-school-teachers.

Ms. Medlock concluded that TQRP shows the value of amplifying Black voices, making decisions based on research and data, providing support early and often, and building relationships.

DISCUSSION

Dr. Holden asked Dr. Arrillaga about recent initiatives to support data science literacy. Dr. Arrillaga agreed that data literacy is an important part of math identity and, in fact, brings more students into math as a relevant, concrete tool.

In response to a question about how TQRP recruits male teachers, Ms. Medlock described efforts to recruit from Thurgood Marshall College Fund schools. They contact current Black educators, use social media, reach out to fraternities and sororities—basically, she commented, “we recruit every way we can.” She said she was fortunate to have resources to build a strong program. If she could change anything, it would be to do a deeper dive into participants’ content and instructional needs with more site visits and a differentiated coaching component.

Dr. Arrillaga said she would like to see more states work to align high school and college math, and to make math content more consistent. Algebra II course content, for example, is different from state to state. She also noted a decrease in math doctoral students over the past years. While the pandemic was not helpful, she urged the math community to address the issue. Many students are going to what she called “math-adjacent” majors such as informatics and data science. Math departments are reticent to change by integrating data science into their discipline, but they are in danger of losing the next generation of math Ph.D.’s, she posited.

Because of the pandemic, Ms. Medlock said, TQRP provided year-round support to their cohorts, including a social-emotional support component. The teachers met virtually, and they also learned to teach virtually. Ms. Medlock noted the challenge considering they are new teachers.

Dr. Sullivan asked Dr. Arrillaga about the role of different stakeholders, including school boards and teachers’ unions. She replied that in communities that make the most progress, efforts are made to get these groups onboard with the changes. The most important levers are parents, she added. When they articulate the changes they want to see, leaders are more likely to change.

Ms. Medlock and Dr. Arrillaga concluded by recognizing the overlap between TQRP and the work of the Dana Center to support math educa-

tion. TQRP’s effort to recruit Black STEM teachers depends on the pipeline of students entering college and professional schools with a STEM identity and skills that can be gained through the Launch Years Initiative and other work at the Dana Center.

REFERENCES

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