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

[apl68]

Regular indoctrination, on the other hand, is perfectly OK.

Marshy, can you be specific about the "indoctrination" you are observing here?

I see a literature lesson combined with a math lesson.  Angelou is a great poet for kids, BTW.  I'll say it again: What possible objection could anyone have to Angelou unless one is A) a racist, B) a chauvinist, C) anti-poetry, or D) reactionary without real thought? 

If these two subjects were separated, would these lessons still be "indoctrination?"

Heck, if they had combined poetry and math when I was a kid I probably would have done much better at math.

Marshwiggle doesn't think a math class should mention that she was sexually abused by a family member when she was a child, or that she worked as a pimp, stripper, etc.

How that rises to indoctrination, I'm not sure--except that I'd worry that (1) the presentation trivializes the issues, and (2) a cursory presentation of the subject (e.g. if some math instructor somewhere just adopted the worksheet without using it as part of a doubled class) does more to harm perceptions of Angelou, and of Black people in general. (But that, of course, is as nothing next to the sin of Politicizing Mathematics the Pure.)

Any way you look at it, this doesn't seem like an appropriate math work sheet.  Still, it's ludicrous to say that this has anything to do with CRT, or with CRT-informed efforts to indoctrinate K-12 students.  And I say this as somebody who does not think that this sort of thing is a phantom threat, however badly it may be exaggerated for political purposes.

My guess would be that somebody mendaciously and maliciously accused this textbook producer of CRT, and the Governor, without checking any details, leaped into the fray.  The sort of mindless hair-trigger reaction that has become depressingly common across the political spectrum.  Although it's fair to say that Florida's state GOP leadership has a notably bad case of it.

[Wahoo Redux]

If I were you, I wouldn't bother myself. The answer has to do with abstruse theory that's understood by persons of moral inclination. You'd just get frustrated wrapping your brain around it.
There. How do you like it?

I'm not sure exactly what "it" is, but I am perfectly fine with "it," mainly because "persons of moral inclination" are often reactionary self-appointed censors of other people's business.  They are welcome to their abstruse theories.  I will stick to reality.

[jimbogumbo]

Let me say this once more: it was not appropriate. The author revised it the first time someone objected (it made headlines that I know of in 2013 and 2015 in different states). The old version bounces around on the web as all things do once they are out there. It is not hard at all to find the revised worksheet if you look at the link I posted from the author, which gave backstory for how it came to be in the first place. It WAS appropriate for what he was doing at the time in a HIGH SCHOOL CLASS.

What has occurred to a much greater extent than was true at the time was that this algebra topic is being taught much earlier in middle school.

[jimbogumbo]

Detail not readily available on most sites: https://asrainvestigates.substack.com/p/apologies-for-maya-angelou-math-worksheet?s=r

[dismalist]

Detail not readily available on most sites: https://asrainvestigates.substack.com/p/apologies-for-maya-angelou-math-worksheet?s=r

Let me say this once more: it was not appropriate. The author revised it the first time someone objected (it made headlines that I know of in 2013 and 2015 in different states). The old version bounces around on the web as all things do once they are out there. It is not hard at all to find the revised worksheet if you look at the link I posted from the author, which gave backstory for how it came to be in the first place. It WAS appropriate for what he was doing at the time in a HIGH SCHOOL CLASS.

What has occurred to a much greater extent than was true at the time was that this algebra topic is being taught much earlier in middle school.

Revised, unrevised, this stuff is totally moronic. The math distracts from the woids and the woids distract from the math. Moronic at any age.

I no longer fear indoctrination, on account the math answers make the whole thing incomprehensible.  Keep up the good works, authors and publishers! [Just gotta get the kids to learn some math somewhere.] I, a decidedly non-Catholic, recommend Catholic schools as a cost-effective solution.

ETA: Authors and publishers.

[jimbogumbo]

dismalist: a sheet like this is typically used to provide answers for a separate assignment. So I take a short Angelou quiz/assignment. The algebra sheet provides answers to check. If you know the Angelou stuff you can tell if you did the algebra incorrectly, and vice versa.

[jimbogumbo]

Last post: here are some examples of why material was rejected. Two are from the same algebra homework in a text.

I hate them both. First, because I really dislike the Implicite Bias survey in the first place. Second, not because the results are displayed, but rather that it is a perfect example of misusing a bar graph by not starting at the minimum score on the axis.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-dept-of-education-releases-4-examples-of-math-textbook-content-rejected-for-public-schools

[dismalist]

dismalist: a sheet like this is typically used to provide answers for a separate assignment. So I take a short Angelou quiz/assignment. The algebra sheet provides answers to check. If you know the Angelou stuff you can tell if you did the algebra incorrectly, and vice versa.

If I fix the roof properly, then I can tell that I balanced my checkbook properly, and vice versa. Lovely!

I deplore the expression "I'm confused", but friend, I'm confused.

[Wahoo Redux]

Sometimes people, even highly intelligent people, are simply stubborn when they have to admit they are wrong.

[ciao_yall]

The SEL terror reminds me of the "Secular Humanism" controversy from the 1980's, I believe. Christians were upset that schools were teaching morality without Hell or the redemption of Jesus.

[ciao_yall]

Last post: here are some examples of why material was rejected. Two are from the same algebra homework in a text.

I hate them both. First, because I really dislike the Implicite Bias survey in the first place. Second, not because the results are displayed, but rather that it is a perfect example of misusing a bar graph by not starting at the minimum score on the axis.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-dept-of-education-releases-4-examples-of-math-textbook-content-rejected-for-public-schools

G-d forbid that children learn how to cultivate conversation! The horror!

[jimbogumbo]

Last post: here are some examples of why material was rejected. Two are from the same algebra homework in a text.

I hate them both. First, because I really dislike the Implicite Bias survey in the first place. Second, not because the results are displayed, but rather that it is a perfect example of misusing a bar graph by not starting at the minimum score on the axis.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-dept-of-education-releases-4-examples-of-math-textbook-content-rejected-for-public-schools

G-d forbid that children learn how to cultivate conversation! The horror!

ciao: I just meant the two graphs. Agree about SEL and Secular Humanism. Being on a school board then was challenging, to say the least.

[marshwiggle]

Marshwiggle doesn't think a math class should mention that she was sexually abused by a family member when she was a child, or that she worked as a pimp, stripper, etc.

How that rises to indoctrination, I'm not sure--except that I'd worry that (1) the presentation trivializes the issues.

That's right. I don't think it belongs in a math class. I think you have it right; it's not so much indoctrination as trivialization. Do we really want the rape of an 8 year old to be just the background text for one question on a math worksheet?

It is tasteless at best.

Let me say this once more: it was not appropriate. The author revised it the first time someone objected (it made headlines that I know of in 2013 and 2015 in different states). The old version bounces around on the web as all things do once they are out there. It is not hard at all to find the revised worksheet if you look at the link I posted from the author, which gave backstory for how it came to be in the first place. It WAS appropriate for what he was doing at the time in a HIGH SCHOOL CLASS.

But the reason it "bounced around" for so long is that other teachers who did not have it in the context he did just picked it up and used it as is. That insensitivity and tone-deafness is something parents have a legitimate right to be offended by.

Last post: here are some examples of why material was rejected. Two are from the same algebra homework in a text.

I hate them both. First, because I really dislike the Implicite Bias survey in the first place. Second, not because the results are displayed, but rather that it is a perfect example of misusing a bar graph by not starting at the minimum score on the axis.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-dept-of-education-releases-4-examples-of-math-textbook-content-rejected-for-public-schools

But of course they did it that way! Otherwise it would be obvious how insignificant the differences are in absolute terms, which undermines the ideological narrative they want to provide. Math has nothing to do with it.

[jimbogumbo]

Last post: here are some examples of why material was rejected. Two are from the same algebra homework in a text.

I hate them both. First, because I really dislike the Implicite Bias survey in the first place. Second, not because the results are displayed, but rather that it is a perfect example of misusing a bar graph by not starting at the minimum score on the axis.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-dept-of-education-releases-4-examples-of-math-textbook-content-rejected-for-public-schools

But of course they did it that way! Otherwise it would be obvious how insignificant the differences are in absolute terms, which undermines the ideological narrative they want to provide. Math has nothing to do with it.

I'm going to respectfully disagree. You can find similar examples of poor use of graphs in all kinds of contexts. Authors don't pay any attention to the homework; that is farmed out as piecework to practically anyone who is breathing. It is all then put together by editorial assistants and others who know nothing about the math, and just want to get it done so it looks cool, without spelling and grammar mistakes.

[dismalist]

Last post: here are some examples of why material was rejected. Two are from the same algebra homework in a text.

I hate them both. First, because I really dislike the Implicite Bias survey in the first place. Second, not because the results are displayed, but rather that it is a perfect example of misusing a bar graph by not starting at the minimum score on the axis.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/florida-dept-of-education-releases-4-examples-of-math-textbook-content-rejected-for-public-schools

But of course they did it that way! Otherwise it would be obvious how insignificant the differences are in absolute terms, which undermines the ideological narrative they want to provide. Math has nothing to do with it.

I'm going to respectfully disagree. You can find similar examples of poor use of graphs in all kinds of contexts. Authors don't pay any attention to the homework; that is farmed out as piecework to practically anyone who is breathing. It is all then put together by editorial assistants and others who know nothing about the math, and just want to get it done so it looks cool, without spelling and grammar mistakes.

Yup! We need better math education. :-)