(Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted by Betsy Armstrong, a former Becker school board member, attorney, and school district resident).
The Minnesota Department of Education (“MDE”) is required by Minnesota Statutes 2021, section 120B.021, to review the academic standards of various subjects in the K-12 curriculum every 10 years. As was done for social studies standards last year, MDE is now in the process of reviewing the standards and benchmarks for math.
A committee of 38 members issued its first version on Feb. 7, 2022, and the second version on May 16. Eight percent of the committee members are from Tribal Native/Indian groups, while the Native American population is just 1.1% of the state.
State law requires that “The commissioner must include the contributions of Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities as they relate to the academic standards during the review and revision of the required academic standards.”
This statement was included in the first and second versions of the 11 proposed “anchor standards” (see below) and the accompanying benchmarks for each K-12 grade.
The goals and expectations of the revised standards are set out as follows:
“Access and equity for each and every student in mathematics is accomplished by recognizing, respecting and attending to the diverse strengths of our students with the aim of ensuring that all students are able to learn and thrive... Mathematics education needs to evolve with the constant cultural and technological changes in our society.”
Additionally, the state statutes require our schools to:
• Collaborate with cultural perspectives and traditions like and unlike one’s own, allowing students to make sense of mathematical concepts and value various mathematical identities connected to lived experiences;
• Solve problems connected to place, story, cultural practices, language and perspectives relevant to historical and contemporary Dakota and Anishinaabe communities;
• Equip students to analyze information in a data-rich environment by including data science and computational thinking throughout the K-12 mathematics experience.
As described in Version 2:
“Anchor standards are a summary description of student learning that reflects all learning, spanning from kindergarten to graduation. This differs from the 2007 standards, which had grade-specific standards... The purpose of anchor standards is to provide a cohesive umbrella for learning across the grade levels to highlight learning progressions of the grade level benchmarks. The K–12 benchmarks supplement the anchor standards with the ‘specific knowledge or skill that a student must master to complete part of an academic standard by the end of the grade level or grade band.’”
The proposed anchor standards are replete with Ethnic Studies requirements as set out in Standards 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 11 with references to “various cultures, especially in historical and contemporary Dakota and Ahishinaabe communities.” The eleven Standards can be found here: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/Math/. Click on “Review the version two of the Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in Mathematics.
Dimensions are also included, encouraging integration of benchmarks with process (Dimension 1) and Dimension 2: Contribution and Context (CC): This dimension focuses on using context to do and learn mathematics. All students should make sense and persevere in mathematical problem-solving experiences using local contexts of the learning community and within the context of Minnesota;
• CC1: Connect mathematical problem solving experiences and contributions to place, story, cultural practices, language and perspectives relevant to historical and contemporary Dakota and Anishinaabe communities;
• CC2: Apply mathematical problem-solving experiences to real-world situations in contexts connected to students’ lived experiences, cultural perspectives and traditions.
The use of the words “equity,” “various cultures,” “lived experiences,” and “cultural practices” for example, have been identified as underlying factors in Critical Race Theory. A March 30, 2022, Pioneer Press article by Josh Verges stated that the math standards committee was dedicated to the concepts of equity, diversity and inclusion. Journalist and scholar Katherine Kersten wrote in the Spring 2022 magazine, Thinking Minnesota, that the new field of “Ethnomathematics” teaches that math began in ancient “empires of color,” was appropriated by the West to oppress BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), and should be taught, in part, through racial and ethnic storytelling. The constant emphasis on the contributions of Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities as related to the academic standards does just that.
The proposed Standards and Benchmarks are more complex than those of 2007 in which four strands were defined: (1) Number and Operation; (2) Algebra; (3) Geometry and Measurement; and (4) Data Analysis and Probability. State test results from the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment for grades 3-8 and 11 from 2008 to 2018 show that math scores have dropped 6% from 61% to 55% according to a Star Tribune article of October 12, 2019.
The question is whether the new Standards will lead to improved math scores and readiness for career and college. Factors involved might include the type of assessment test given, student motivation and grade readiness, mental health concerns, and student population statistics (race, income, family dynamics, etc.). The world has changed since 2008 and Version 2 attempts to take into consideration those changes and turn them into a positive outcome for all students. Examining the following benchmarks can give a clue as to that potential. Note that an ethnic studies basis is found in seven of the 11 Standards.
Comparisons of current Standards versus the equivalent new proposed Standards are:
Kindergarten:
Current: “Use basic shapes and spatial reasoning to model objects in the real-world.”
vs. Proposed: “Notice and wonder about data-rich situations to generate ideas and ask questions, with the teacher helping refine, direct and create statistical investigative questions; understand the purpose of data.” And “Make predictions using patterns from data visualizations, including data from Dakota and Anishinaabe tribal nations and other communities.”
2nd grade:
Current: “Solve real-world and mathematical addition and subtraction problems involving whole numbers with up to two digits.”
vs. Proposed: “Generate measurement data, including historical and present day ways of measuring from Dakota and Anishinaabe Tribal Nations and other communities, with whole unit lengths (using a variety of tools and the body) and display data on a line plot.”
6th grade:
Current: “Determine greatest common factors and least common multiples. Use common factors and common multiples to calculate with fractions and find equivalent fractions.”
vs. Proposed: “Determine greatest common factors and least common multiples. Use common factors and common multiples to calculate with fractions and find equivalent fractions [in various cultures, especially in historical and contemporary Dakota and Anishinaabe communities].”
9th grade:
Current: “Represent and solve problems in various contexts using exponential functions, such as investment growth, depreciation and population growth.”
vs. Proposed: “Analyze employment opportunities and their payment methods (e.g. per hour with or without tips, salary, per diem, piecework) to make financially responsible decisions [in various cultures, especially in historical and contemporary Dakota and Anishinaabe communities].”
Comments to Version Two of the math standards are due on or before June 13. Comments can be provided by completing the survey at the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2ndversionmath. A third and final version will be submitted to the MDE Commissioner for Rulemaking on August 22, 2022.
For additional information, contact Sara VanDerWerf, a 25-year mathematics teacher for Minneapolis Public Schools, at saravdw@gmail.com.
