Two years ago, a national think tank, 100kin10, committed to solving one of the most pressing issues in the US- ensuring that all students get a meaningful and rigorous STEM education. Among its priorities was to support a project team that would focus on designing Culturally Relevant Mathematical Practices (CRMPs). The CRMPs were drawn from leading work on culturally relevant pedagogy, culturally relevant mathematics teaching and standards for social justice.
The Project Team led by Dr. Lou Matthews (Urban Teachers) and Colleen Hinds-Rodgers (Teach for America) spent more than a year conducting an extensive literature review, framework analyses and co-generative dialogue with students, teachers, and experts. Project Team members included representatives from Urban Teachers, Teach for America, Charles A. Dana Center, Virginia State University, University of Missouri, Teaching Matters Inc., EnCorps STEM Teachers Program, ExpandEd Schools, Downtown Denver Expeditionary School, and California State University.
Finally, the project team arrived at a subset of 5 practices that are inspiring, humanizing, and joyful -- showing the way for teachers and teacher preparation programs for what type of learning can be true for students in mathematics classrooms across this country - seeing the work of liberation and education as inextricably married. This is not meant to be another static directive in time but rather our hopes are that the mathematics education community at large contributes questions, suggestions, and resources as we continue to iterate our thinking in pursuit of better access to empowering STEM learning for all.
Project Team
Lou Matthews, Urban Teachers (Co-Lead)
Colleen Hinds-Rodgers, Teach for America (Co-Lead)
Lisa Brown, Charles A. Dana Center
Daniel Levitt, ExpandED Schools