Florida's rejection of math textbooks "due" to CRT

[newprofwife]

This might be a wildly off-topic comment and I didn't read all the comments.

I do worry about what is going on in Florida and whether children will not be taught historical facts if they relate to anything due to oppression, race, etc. For example, until very recently, it was common practice in some well-off schools to allow parents to tell their children that the holocaust wasn't real. Parents could opt-out of having their kids attend lessons/events about the holocaust. My worry is that now schools will go back in time where they don't teach about slavery or the holocaust or other events or schools give parents the choice to decline lessons for their children that are related to slavery/ the holocaust.

Here is a most recent example of a principal being fired for not being able to confirm that the holocaust was a fact:  https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-ne-william-latson-holocaust-final-vote-20201102-fdfcgjrbz5gg5kc5evnvv3tolu-story.html   

[marshwiggle]

This might be a wildly off-topic comment and I didn't read all the comments.

I do worry about what is going on in Florida and whether children will not be taught historical facts if they relate to anything due to oppression, race, etc. For example, until very recently, it was common practice in some well-off schools to allow parents to tell their children that the holocaust wasn't real. Parents could opt-out of having their kids attend lessons/events about the holocaust. My worry is that now schools will go back in time where they don't teach about slavery or the holocaust or other events or schools give parents the choice to decline lessons for their children that are related to slavery/ the holocaust.

Here is a most recent example of a principal being fired for not being able to confirm that the holocaust was a fact:  https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/education/fl-ne-william-latson-holocaust-final-vote-20201102-fdfcgjrbz5gg5kc5evnvv3tolu-story.html   

This is weird:

Latson had allowed students to opt out of Holocaust education despite the curriculum being required by the state.

If students can "opt out" of curriculum being required by the state, what does it even mean for something to be "required"?

[mamselle]

Breaking into the bromance argue-triangle with a factoid:

The 'rationale' for the choice of books banned has been publicized:

   https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/05/fldoe-releases-math-textbook-reviews-00030503

M.

[jimbogumbo]

"Social emotional learning" was the biggie. I'm copying and pasting from a Washington Post article that came out today. A common issue brought up was the idea that a mathematical growth mindset (in a nutshell, if I keep at it I can get better) was somehow evil. Stunning.

The bolded parts are from the quote, but are my emphasis btw.

Concerning a different first-grade math book, a reviewer remarked: "Some lessons include growth mindset concepts, which are a component of SEL learning." The state rejected that book for containing "special topics."
One reviewer noted that another book featured a question "that asks students to think about social and emotional learning competencies, including relationship skills and social awareness." That text was rejected.
But the majority of reviewers gave books perfect or near-perfect marks for complying with the state's rules about the inclusion of critical race theory or social justice teachings. And one reviewer questioned the point of the entire exercise.

"This question is irrelevant to a math textbook," the reviewer wrote.

Publishers must navigate not just the culture wars, but also instructions from the state that are rife with confusing terminology. In a letter to publishers issued in June 2021, Florida's Education Department warned "publishers and school districts to not incorporate unsolicited strategies, such as social emotional learning and culturally responsive teaching." But the state's original instructions seemed to contradict that, requiring publishers to include "multicultural representation" and to integrate it into the lessons in a way that would "promote a positive self-image for members of all groups, and provide for the development of healthy attitudes and values."
Common Core, one of the forbidden subjects, once had bipartisan backing. The framework was created by a group of governors from both parties to standardize basic math and literacy learning objectives across the country. Ultimately, 41 states adopted it, in part because of incentives from the Obama administration to do so. But even though adoption was never mandatory, Republicans began holding up Common Core as a symbol of federal overreach. Donald Trump attacked it during his 2016 campaign, calling it "a total disaster." DeSantis, following his party, decided to do away with the program in 2020.

"The authors of kindergarten and fourth-grade math books by Big Ideas, which were on the state's initial "not recommended" list, said they used "Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching" to guide how they wrote the math textbook. It offers educators techniques on how to calm students' anxiety about math so they can better absorb the lessons, a clear nod to social-emotional learning. And the book is sprinkled with encouragements to "persevere," "stay positive" and "participate in effortful learning" — words that could be interpreted as social-emotional learning.

[marshwiggle]

"The authors of kindergarten and fourth-grade math books by Big Ideas, which were on the state's initial "not recommended" list, said they used "Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching" to guide how they wrote the math textbook. It offers educators techniques on how to calm students' anxiety about math so they can better absorb the lessons, a clear nod to social-emotional learning. And the book is sprinkled with encouragements to "persevere," "stay positive" and "participate in effortful learning" — words that could be interpreted as social-emotional learning.

I think I'd avoid this book simply on the basis of excessive marketing hype.

• "Creative Math"; I'm not sure how "creative" one can be when the result of a particular calculation has a single specific value.
• "Inspiring Messages"; I'm not sure how much cheerleading from a textbook is going to affect student outcomes.
• "Innovative Teaching"; Innovation that has been proven to be effective is great; "innovation" that just sounds more fun isn't.

The tedious underlying message is that somehow the inherent difficulty in learning can be avoided by the correct approach. (Indeed, growth mindset is all about encouraging people to keep working because hard work pays off. This kind of marketing undermines the growth mindset message.)

[jimbogumbo]

What you cited isn't the text though. The last sentence of your quote is more to my point that rejecting was a ridiculous decision.

And, I'm sorry, but there are many ways to be creative in math. Just because there are some questions that are simple and straightforward doesn't mean that much of the subject is not.

[dismalist]

It's already been about 20 years when my daughter was in an early grade and had a math homework problem, from the textbook, that said: There are six children and six ice cream cones. How do you divide the ice cream cones fairly?

I went through the roof, going so far as to complain to the teacher that fairness could mean many things and that it didn't belong in a math problem. She had no clue what I was complaining about.

That's when the idea of Catholic school first came into my head.

[downer]

It's already been about 20 years when my daughter was in an early grade and had a math homework problem, from the textbook, that said: There are six children and six ice cream cones. How do you divide the ice cream cones fairly?

I went through the roof, going so far as to complain to the teacher that fairness could mean many things and that it didn't belong in a math problem. She had no clue what I was complaining about.

That's when the idea of Catholic school first came into my head.

Obviously the person who bought the ice cream should sell to make the highest profit. What is this insanity of "fairness"?

In Catholic School, Jesus gets the ice cream.

[jimbogumbo]

It's already been about 20 years when my daughter was in an early grade and had a math homework problem, from the textbook, that said: There are six children and six ice cream cones. How do you divide the ice cream cones fairly?

I went through the roof, going so far as to complain to the teacher that fairness could mean many things and that it didn't belong in a math problem. She had no clue what I was complaining about.

That's when the idea of Catholic school first came into my head.

Clearly the teacher should have had a better understanding, but, you are incorrect about the word fair in mathematics. And yes it has several meanings. See below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_division

[marshwiggle]

It's already been about 20 years when my daughter was in an early grade and had a math homework problem, from the textbook, that said: There are six children and six ice cream cones. How do you divide the ice cream cones fairly?

I went through the roof, going so far as to complain to the teacher that fairness could mean many things and that it didn't belong in a math problem. She had no clue what I was complaining about.

That's when the idea of Catholic school first came into my head.

Clearly the teacher should have had a better understanding, but, you are incorrect about the word fair in mathematics. And yes it has several meanings. See below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_division

"Equally" would have been unambiguous mathematically, and would have avoided any philosophical and/or ideological issues, that, if they were to be discussed, should be in another course. (Unless "math" has the entire instructional day so that every subject is addressed under "math", which would be confusing and stupid, but would at least prevent the time being taken from one subject to be used for another.)

[jimbogumbo]

You and I both agree that problems are written poorly I suspect. I was just letting dismalist know (as a public service, heh) that he was a tad incorrect.

[dismalist]

You and I both agree that problems are written poorly I suspect. I was just letting dismalist know (as a public service, heh) that he was a tad incorrect.

They wasn't teaching game theory.

[jimbogumbo]

You and I both agree that problems are written poorly I suspect. I was just letting dismalist know (as a public service, heh) that he was a tad incorrect.

They wasn't teaching game theory.

Well aware; it goes far beyond game theory.  I was hoping you'd look at the definitions of fair. In elementary school fair division implies equally. Think also in probability where fair means equally likely.

[dismalist]

You and I both agree that problems are written poorly I suspect. I was just letting dismalist know (as a public service, heh) that he was a tad incorrect.

They wasn't teaching game theory.

Well aware; it goes far beyond game theory.  I was hoping you'd look at the definitions of fair. In elementary school fair division implies equally. Think also in probability where fair means equally likely.
[/quote

But they weren't studying probability theory, either.

If one says: In elementary school fair division implies equally, one is claiming truth by definition.

[Anselm]

It's already been about 20 years when my daughter was in an early grade and had a math homework problem, from the textbook, that said: There are six children and six ice cream cones. How do you divide the ice cream cones fairly?

I went through the roof, going so far as to complain to the teacher that fairness could mean many things and that it didn't belong in a math problem. She had no clue what I was complaining about.

That's when the idea of Catholic school first came into my head.

Obviously the person who bought the ice cream should sell to make the highest profit. What is this insanity of "fairness"?

In Catholic School, Jesus gets the ice cream.

At mine we each got a paper bag with a treat inside.  Some got 2 cookies while others got 1.  Some had 1 cookie and 1 cracker.  The goal was to see if we would look around and share with others.  I had no problem eating my 2 cookies.  This was some new faddish social justice experiment.

Anyhow, regarding the ice cream, I would expect to see evenly instead of fairly.

I must admit that I am too lazy to read this whole thread but did anyone come up with an actual example of CRT being used in a math class?