Is it true that because of the fight against racism in US schools, they no longer require correct solutions in math lessons?

On February 21, 2021, several Russian media reported that in the United States, “traditional” mathematics was considered racist—from now on, students should no longer strive to find the correct answer. We checked whether this is actually true.

Publications that American schools will henceforth teach a different kind of mathematics appeared in the Russian media under loud but contradictory headlines. For example, an article in a newspaper "Sight" was called “In the USA, algebra was considered racist,” material "Komsomolskaya Pravda" — ““Algebra is racist”: in the USA, a traditional mathematics course was considered politically incorrect,” and Lenta.ru in her headline she clarified that she was not talking about the whole country, but only about the state of Oregon. Nevertheless, the authors of these materials emphasized that according to Americans, the idea of ​​objectivity in mathematics is false, and some publications even suggested that the innovation would lead to an assessment of the correctness of the answer depending on the race of the student. Channel One reporter in his story emphasized, that from now on in Oregon schools, “trying to find only one correct answer is, it turns out, also racist.” They also supported their TV colleagues on RussiaToday, where told on Oregon's new position: "Focusing on finding the right solution to mathematical problems is a manifestation of white supremacy." Commenting on such reports, Chairman of the Federation Council temporary commission on information policy and interaction with the media Alexey Pushkov wrote in his Telegram channel that “in the United States, the craze for the “fight against racism” is intensifying.” The official suggested that after updating the educational standard, Oregon schoolchildren “will be taught the multiplication table at most. But if it is considered too racist due to the increased complexity, then the answer 7 × 7 = 47 will be declared correct and will immediately be accepted into the local university.”

Many Russian publications about the abandonment of “racist mathematics” are based on a report by the American television channel Fox News. February 20 host Tucker Carlson toldthat the Oregon Department of Education is encouraging teachers to enroll in a course promoting so-called ethnic mathematics. According to Carlson, in these classes teachers will be explained that focusing on finding the correct answer when solving a mathematical problem is a manifestation of “white supremacism.” The presenter discussed this news for several minutes with Libby Emmons, editor of the Canadian edition of the Post Millenial. At the same time, the statements of both participants in the conversation mainly represented value judgments regarding the problem of racism in American schools and “leftist ideology”, rather than an analysis of the initiative in Oregon itself, which served as an informational occasion.

Although Carlson speaks of ethnomathematics very ironically, for the first time this term used back in 1977, the Brazilian teacher and mathematician Ubiratan D'Ambrosio. Since then, more than one definition for this word has been proposed, but they all emphasized: different peoples explain the same mathematical patterns and make calculations in different ways. This difference is reflected most clearly in language: for example, in Russian the word for the number 80 means “eight times ten”, in French it means “four times twenty” (quatre-vingts). Throughout human history, there are known peoples and cultures that did not use the now generally accepted decimal number system. D'Ambrosio and his supporters call for taking into account such features in the teaching of mathematics, but do not at all demand that mathematical laws be rewritten because of them.

Tucker Carlson's message on Fox News was not the first to talk about the alleged initiative of Oregon authorities. Back on February 15, about the idea of ​​abandoning “racist mathematics” reported portal The Daily Wire. Chrissy Clark's post on the site was titled, "Oregon Department of Education: Asking Students to 'Show Work' in Math Class Is a Form of White Supremacism." The author of this post refers to an email sent to teachers in Oregon inviting them to enroll in a course called “The Path to Math Equity.” Note that The Daily Wire doesn't hide its conservative bent and openly states on its website that it “does not claim to be impartial.”

On February 5, the Oregon Department of Education will sent teachers a newsletter that included a similar invitation. Educators were informed about a short online course, “The Path to Math Equity,” developed independently of the department by the Path to Equitable Mathematics Education organization.

To read the textbook for the course, it was necessary to go to the website of this organization. In one of its sections presented several PDFs, one of which is called Eliminating Racism in Mathematics Teaching. On page 50 of this 82-page document it says, that “the culture of white supremacy is evident in math classes when students are required to ‘show their work’.” The authors of the manual explain that such a requirement is much more aimed at ensuring that the teacher sees the student’s thoughts without unnecessary effort, rather than at stimulating the learning itself. Instead of focusing on writing a solution, teachers are encouraged to encourage the student to explain their thinking through oral discussion, drawings, or short videos.

Investigating the media coverage of this initiative, the American fact-checking portal Snopes appealed for comments from the manual's authors and reviewers, as well as Oregon officials. Joan Rossi Becker, a professor of mathematics and statistics at California State University, San Jose, explained that the much-criticized recommendation is intended to encourage teachers to evaluate students' thinking beyond the written form. Oregon Department of Education Communications Director Mark Siegel told Snopes that in this guide, the term “demonstrate work” refers to teachers judging a student's written expression of their thoughts. “Although the teacher expects the same answer, students can arrive at the correct solution using different methods,” the official added. He also emphasized that neither the department nor the organizers of the online course are arguing that mathematics itself is racist, nor are they proposing that a student's solution be assessed or required based on the child's race.

Thus, many Russian media took out of context a recommendation from a not very popular textbook on how to help children of different nationalities learn mathematics more effectively. This tutorial is featured on the website of an educational project that organized a one-day online course for teachers, and the Oregon Department of Education actually distributed a link to these classes in their newsletter. At the same time, the department not only did not encourage all teachers to follow the recommendations of the “Path to Equitable Mathematics Education” project, but also did not oblige teachers to participate in their workshop. Neither the authors of the initiative nor the officials stated that mathematics or finding the correct answer to a problem is racist, but suggested that teachers think about the fact that children of African-Americans, Latinos and other national minorities may retell their train of thought in a form that is unusual for them and unconventional for mathematicians.

Mostly not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. https://theins.ru/antifake/239662
2. https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/education-oregon/
3. https://equitablemath.org/