From Chapter 2 "Teaching for Equity and Engagement" p40: > Ms. Ross teaches fifth grade at the Jackie Robinson Academy. She has been focusing on developing her

From Chapter 2 "Teaching for Equity and Engagement" p40: > Ms. Ross teaches fifth grade at the Jackie Robinson Academy. She has been focusing on developing her students’ sociopolitical consciousness through language arts and wants to bring mathematics into their thinking (SMP.1, 2). To begin the process, the class is led in an analysis of word problems from their fifth-grade mathematics textbook (NF.1, 2, 4, 5, 6). Ms. Ross selects three word problems to connect with the class’s current read-aloud of George, a novel by Alex Gino that shares the story of a 10-year-old transgender fourth grader and her struggles with acceptance among friends and family. In doing so, the teacher is reflecting the recommendations of California’s Health Framework, which suggests that sensitive discussions of gender are important for students > The word problem analysis serves as a springboard for students to investigate their own questions. One student asks, “Are there word problems that have a male knitting a scarf, cooking, cleaning?”; and another ponders, “Does the textbook always use girl names for girl stuff and boy names for boy stuff?” Lastly, another student asks, “Are there word problems that challenge gender stereotypes?” When examining the entire textbook, the students noted that there were a few instances of gender-fluid problems (e.g., David’s dad baked a dozen cookies to share with him, his sister, and his mom); however, the problem continued to conflate gender with a heterosexual identity. The class could not find problems involving non-nuclear families (e.g., two moms, a single dad) or gender nonconforming characters (e.g., John cutting ribbon). Ms. Ross has students notice these patterns, but also asked students to question why certain items (e.g., toys, activities, careers) are perceived as being “for” only girls or boys, and the implications for these assumptions. She continues to engage her students by asking, “Why does this matter? Who does this privilege? Who is silenced?” This lesson is highlighted as an exemplary instance of mathematics education. The students go on to "fix" the word problems (in one instance completely losing the sense of the original problem). I think it's good to re-write mathematics textbook word problems to be more inclusive. I don't think it's good to have students play out that process in their math class. Math class is for learning... math. They can learn how to perform a social justice critique in social justice class. If this is representative of the direction the state wants to move in, then I don't have a lot of optimism for the future of public education in California.