to help you reflect on your own thinking and connect more personally with the book and to others who might be reading and discussing the book with you. There’s also opportunity for you to reflect on the chapter’s theme before diving into its content. We invite you to use these reflections as conversation starters with other teachers, coaches, supervisors, and administrators who engage you in conversation about girls in mathematics. Other pedagogical features include:
■ Do Now—As you read, you will notice figures called Do now, which instruct you to respond to questions, prompts, or both in relation to the content. These figures are opportunities to improve your reading experience, increase your takeaways from reading, and kick-start team discussion of student experiences in mathematics. See figure I.2 for the Do now symbol.
Figure I.2: Do now symbol.
■ Take Action—Each chapter includes figures with concrete actions that you can implement based on your role to make a difference in girls’ mathematics learning experiences. Of course, you may modify these actions to better fit for your context and concern. This is a place where you can consider possibilities.
■ Reflections—End-of-chapter reflection questions help you personally reflect on what you have read and how it aligns to your own personal perceptions, possibilities, and priorities. Use these questions to challenge yourself.
■ Further Reading—Finally, in each chapter we recommend research and data to the extent that you will be informed but not overwhelmed. You can use these suggested articles and books to gain more insight from the field. Go online to go.SolutionTree.com/mathematics to find these compiled into a single reproducible document.
We developed this book to provide a lens into girls learning mathematics. As you read through it, take time to truly reflect upon the ideas we present. Consider how you will make changes to your instruction and interactions with all students in your classroom as you consider equity across gender. The key is understanding that this will be a process that will improve over time. Allow yourself the opportunity and the freedom to grow and develop as an educator. Be patient and know that over time you will transform as an educator and most importantly the girls you serve in your respective environments will have transformational mathematics experiences. To begin this journey, let’s first explore the mathematics gender achievement gap.
CHAPTER 1
Mathematics Gender Achievement Gap
Some things will drop out of the public eye and will go away, but there will always be science, engineering, and technology. And there will always, always be mathematics.
—Katherine Johnson, Mathematician and Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom
What do educators know (or think they know) about girls learning mathematics? This chapter will address this question through the primary lens of the much-talked-about mathematics gender achievement gap. We will also begin discussion about the influence of teachers on girls’ learning mathematics and deepen our discussions on what we mean by perceptions, possibilities, and priorities.
First, however, start this journey by considering what some are saying about girls in mathematics. Perhaps you can recollect statements from conversations with friends and family, from the media, or unsolicited from strangers who learn that you are involved with the teaching and learning of mathematics. Complete the chart in figure 1.1 to record some of these recollections about girls in mathematics.
Figure 1.1: Educator recollections of what’s said about girls in mathematics.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/mathematics for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Circle the statements in figure 1.1 that are positive. How many of the statements did you circle? We would like all the statements to be positive, but that is most likely not the case. Often this is due to the negative portrayal of girls in mathematics. Many times girls have seen the field of mathematics portrayed as a male-dominated field, thus they are typically excluded from the narrative. Nonetheless, what we strive for is an environment that supports girls studying mathematics and for girls to receive positive influences to continue their trajectory in mathematics. When what is said about girls in mathematics is positive, the actions taken to support girls are more likely to be positive. Furthermore, because what people say to and about children easily influences them, the more we can make sure girls hear positive statements about their learning of mathematics, the better chance we have of positively influencing girls in their study of mathematics. (Who else would you consider for what they have to say about girls in mathematics? Feel free to replicate figure 1.1, page 7, using other groups of people to further the discussion.)
Before we continue, we ask you to share your own feelings (figure 1.2). Reflect on your own thoughts about girls as learners of mathematics using the questions and prompts. Your responses will help you examine and frame your thinking and reflections as you continue to read this book and as you teach mathematics to girls. If you are engaged in a book study with Making Sense of Mathematics for Teaching Girls in Grades K–5, you can also use the items to promote helpful discussions about girls’ experiences with mathematics.
Figure 1.2: Educator reflection on the gender gap in mathematics learning.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/mathematics for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Consider the voices of two elementary school girls as they reflect on their experiences with mathematics. Christina, a kindergarten student, says:
When I do math in school, I write numbers, and I can say them and count them and stomp them and clap them, and learning math is fun…. I think I will use math when I’m older to make money and be able to go places, and I will know how to do math to show other teachers all the math I know. (C. Latanza, personal communication, September 5, 2017)
Now, consider fifth grader Julia’s remarks:
At school when I learn math, I think that it’s fun, especially when I get to pick the strategy that works best for me to do the math…. I don’t really know all of the math that I would need yet (when I grow up), but I think I might want to be an engineer, and I know that I would have to use math every day for the planning and the building that I would be doing in that job. (J. Clements, personal communication, December 2, 2017)
Use figure 1.3 to detail what you would say to these students to maintain their interest.
Figure
