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Samantha R. Neff is an adjunct professor in early childhood education at the University of Central Florida. She has been a collaborative team member in Seminole County Public Schools since 1997, writing mathematics instructional plans and participating in grant studies on formative assessment in mathematics and cognitively guided instruction. She is an elementary mathematics instructional coach in a Title I school. Neff works with teachers, students, parents, and administrators to enhance the teaching, learning, and assessing of mathematics to improve student achievement. Focused on mathematical practices that promote critical thinking and reasoning in the classroom, she has organized and implemented a flourishing professional learning community. Prior to coaching, Neff worked in K–5 classrooms for more than ten years. She is also a consultant for specializing in building mathematical content knowledge and assessment.
Neff was selected as 2019 District Teacher of the Year in Seminole County, Florida, and was a finalist for 2019 Florida Teacher of the Year. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education from the University of Central Florida.
To learn more about Neff’s work, follow @jasamneff on Twitter.
To book Thomasenia Lott Adams, Taylar B. Wenzel, Kristopher J. Childs, or Samantha R. Neff for professional development, contact [email protected].
Introduction
Juli K. Dixon, Edward C. Nolan, and Thomasenia Lott Adams conceptualized the Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching books as a “response to requests from teachers, coaches, supervisors, and administrators who understand the need to know mathematics for teaching but who do not know how to reach a deeper level of content knowledge or support others to do so” (Dixon, Nolan, Adams, Brooks, & Howse, 2016, p. 1). These books provide “guidance for refining what it means to be a teacher of mathematics. To teach mathematics for depth means to facilitate instruction that empowers students to develop a deep understanding of mathematics” (Dixon, Nolan, Adams, Brooks, & Howse, 2016, pp. 1–2).
The positive reaction to this series has strengthened our commitment to this message and has fueled our goal of improving the teaching and learning of mathematics worldwide.
Every endeavor has its teachable moments, and what we have learned since the first Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching book’s publication is that teachers, coaches, supervisors, and administrators also desire to learn more about teaching and learning mathematics to distinct populations of students, such as students with special needs and English learners. In fact, Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching the Small Group (Dixon, Brooks, & Carli, 2019) is an example of our responsiveness to the specific interests and needs of teachers who desire information about effective practices for teaching mathematics to students in the pulled small group. The context for this book, Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching Girls in Grades K–5, is also a response to those who called for focus on a distinct population of students of mathematics: girls.
Comparing boys and girls is a common phenomenon in various contexts in life, and so it is not surprising that questions about gender differences are present in discourse about schooling. We acknowledge that gender differences as presented in the research may arise socially, culturally, and in other experiences that interplay with gender identity. The interest in girls in the mathematics classroom emerges from long-term and ongoing results of education research and education testing that use gender as a variable to study the impact of classroom instruction on students’ learning and achievement (among other things) in mathematics. Questions that research and testing often ask are designed to describe possible differences in mathematics learning and achievement on the variable of gender to determine what leads to these differences, and to find ways to close any gaps on achievement present for the variable of gender. We in no way intend to discredit, dismiss, or disqualify any children and how they may identify regarding gender. We in no way attempt to address the complexities that might arise from gender identification. We definitely do not intend any offense toward any person. We offer our thoughts and ideas for the sole purpose of supporting all students to learn and succeed in mathematics.
Our general takeaway from countless discussions with colleagues in the field is that girls sometimes have less interest and focus in mathematics as they progress in school, especially when moving to middle and high school. We see assessment data at local levels concluding that girls’ achievement in mathematics is not what is desired and is not on the same level of achievement as boys. Colleen M. Ganley and Sarah Theule Lubienski (2016b) shed light on the importance of this matter:
Given that achievement is a consistent predictor of girls’ later interest and confidence in math, even after conditioning on current interest and confidence, [their] study suggests that small gender differences in early achievement could exacerbate later differences in interest and confidence. Thus, increasing girls’ achievement is critical for later achievement and math attitudes, and early math confidence and interest are also important. (p. 190)
This book is a response to teachers, coaches, supervisors, and administrators who seek support for addressing the needs of girls in the mathematics classroom in grades K–5. Our intent is to confront the challenge at the elementary level to serve as a stopgap for issues in the later grades and beyond.
Guiding Principles
We used several guiding principles to write this book. First, in no way do we support separating mathematics content by gender. Good mathematics is good mathematics. Good teaching of mathematics is good teaching of mathematics. A learner of mathematics is a learner of mathematics. There is not a body of mathematics for boys and a different set of mathematics for girls. Mathematics, in its entirety, is for everyone, and we believe that a deep understanding of mathematics is a valuable asset. If you desire an opportunity to make sense of mathematics for teaching, we refer you to the Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching grade-band books (Dixon, Nolan, Adams, Brooks, & Howse, 2016; Dixon, Nolan, Adams, Tobias, & Barmoha, 2016; Nolan, Dixon, Roy, & Andreasen, 2016; Nolan, Dixon, Safi, & Haciomeroglu, 2016) of interest, in which the authors address mathematics content and mathematical pedagogy in great detail. Our aim in Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching Girls in Grades K–5 is to follow up the series with a spotlight on particular perspectives and instructional moves that give space to girls to support their learning and achievement of mathematics.
Secondly, in the course of applying the ideas we present, we encourage you to include all students in your classroom. In no way do we want to say that our ideas are for girls only! By all means, apply any ideas from this book with any students you teach. Our greatest reward is for all students to succeed in mathematics. However, in sharing this book and its focus with you, we are only asking that you take the time to think about the ways you can make engaging girls in mathematics a better and more positive experience. We want girls to have an opportunity to overcome challenges to learning mathematics that are often present when gender (among other considerations) is a factor.
Finally, while we want to inform you about the mathematics gender achievement gap data on the variable of gender, we also want to position you to think deeply about your own and others’ perceptions about girls in mathematics. We follow this course because so much of what transpires for girls in mathematics is not data-driven but perception-driven. We hope this book will be a catalyst for how we think about girls in mathematics, because how we think influences how we behave and how we interact with others.
Mathematics Gender Achievement Gap
The foundation for our discussion is the gender achievement gap because this is a construct that most often drives discourse about girls and boys in mathematics. Here are two
