MathEquity Texas
Across Texas – and the nation – multiple math pathways has become an accepted approach in higher education to increase the number of students who complete math courses aligned with programs of study within their first year. Increasingly, state agencies are now enacting policies to allow school districts to attune math course taking requirements to the pathways available in higher education; Texas was among the first to do so.
Given the critical role mathematics plays in creating opportunity for upward mobility of students, as well as the social and economic prosperity of our state, now is the time to embrace a bold vision for equity and student success.
With MathEquity Texas, the Dana Center has organized a talented and diverse community of leaders from across the state. This group is focused on expanding and accelerating efforts to remove barriers that impede equitable outcomes for students. MathEquity Texas is supported by a grant from the Greater Texas Foundation.
Commitments to Equity
The MathEquity Texas project is currently in its first year. In Year 1, the MathEquity Texas community convened, learned together about equity dimensions and frameworks from published research, and created equity commitments. Over the next two years, the Dana Center will support the MathEquity Texas community as they take action, share their work, and monitor their progress.
| Mathequity texas community member | Commitments |
|---|---|
| Kim Alexander | I commit to focusing on equity for ALL students in ALL areas through continued collaborations with K-12, higher ed, and workforce in the "P-20 System Model for Student Success." |
| Kristin Boyer | I commit to learning more about multiple measures approaches to monitoring student progress to recognize the value of lived and acquired experiences as predictors of future success. |
| Linda Braddy | I commit to advancing Math CoReq implementation at scale by Fall 2020 to maximize the number of Texas students who will benefit in a shorter amount of time. |
| Suzonne Crockett | I commit to community outreach by conducting kids2college and embedding mathematical concepts and ideas that focus on an effort mindset. |
| Susan Dawson | (1) I commit to getting at least 12 districts within Pathways of Promise to commit to policy and practice changes to address racial and socioeconomic inequities. (2) I commit to mobilizing the MathEquity TX community in support of changes to the TSIA policy to more representative of the relevant mathematics skills and includes measure and cut scores to more appropriately place students in the right math for their aspirations for their future self. |
| Melissa Duarte | I commit to bringing awareness to district staff by bringing equity concerns to the forefront, and providing tools and resources to address them. |
| Betty Fortune | (1) I commit to promote 100% implementation of the math corequiste model by fall 2020. (2) I commit to encourage the HCC institution to adopt and implement multiple measures for placement. (3) I commit to the development and implementation of professional development modules to advance the integration of strategies in all math classes to ensure equity. |
| Dulari Gandhi | I commit to using communications strategies to foster learning about equity across K12, post secondary, and workforce constituents within our community of grantees and partners. |
| Leslie Gurrola | I commit to using effective approaching to communicating and storytelling to amplify the voices of diverse students and education leaders and advocates to influence the narrative on addressing inequities in student success in Texas. |
| Jose Ibarra | I commit to becoming a visible advocate for equity within my districts, including beyond the mathematics community to groups such as counselors, parents, and community leaders. |
| Sylvia Leal | I commit to using effective approaching to communicating and storytelling to amplify the voices of diverse students and education leaders and advocates to influence the narrative on addressing inequities in student success in Texas. |
| Tony Martinez | (1) I commit to review and change the process by which we identify students for accelerated Math Courses to actively seek and include underrepresented populations. (2) I commit to try to create and maintain a bridge between our regional PK-12 and HE systems to discuss issues/successes regarding HB 5. |
| Lucy Michal | I commit to focus on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and its importance for credentialing new 2-year college mathematics faculty and in the professional development of current 2-year college mathematics faculty. |
| Mario Morin | I commit to developing a professional learning series for higher education faculty, dual credit faculty, K-12 faculty, and Region One ESC staff to raise awareness of systemic barriers to equity, and provide tools and resources to address them. |
| Christine Ponce | I commit to working with our K-12 partners to offer more college readiness activities, including dual credit math courses. I commit to implement math co-requisites at scale. |
| Virginia Potter | I commit to advancing equity work being done in both K-12 and HE, specifically in culture change, change management, technical assistance, capacity building, disaggregated data, and transition from K-12 to IHE. |
| Reo Pruiett | (1) I commit to championing equity conversations that support changing behaviors, narratives, and outcomes for students, including by professional development with teams, networks, and other influencers. (2) I commit to support policy and research that illuminates the need for equity in all areas of education that is college, career and life ready. |
| Wynn Rosser | I commit to ensuring, through our rhetoric and our investments, that addressing persistent inequities is a priority in all of our work |
| Kristi Short | (1) I commit to creating conditions for practitioners to engage in courageous conversations about equity to inform both their internal and external facing work. (2) I commit to creating opportunities to bridge the divide between K12 and Higher Education through productive collaborations to create plans for acting on barriers to equity. |
| Lynda Villanueva | I commit to convening faculty and administrators across K-12 and IHE to have courageous discussions, to develop solutions around math equity, particularly in the areas of the psychology of learning math and privilege, institutional racism and white supremacy. |
Join the #MathEquity Conversation
Join the conversation about equity in mathematics on Twitter by following #mathequity.