The collapse of the California mathematics framework

The Stanford Education professor who inspired the elimination of 8^th grade Algebra I in San Francisco public schools (now repealed) and who was the impetus for the equity-based California Mathematics Framework (CMF) has been accused of numerous instances of “reckless disregard for accuracy” in her research supporting these initiatives. 

As reported by Susannah Luthi at the Free Beacon:

The anonymous complaint [filed with Stanford’s provost and the dean of research], backed by a California-based group of math-and-science focused professionals, alleges that Professor Jo Boaler—the most prominent influence on California’s K-12 math framework that nudges schools away from accelerated math pathways—has in 52 instances misrepresented supporting research she has cited in her own work in order to support her conclusions.

These instances of “citation misrepresentation” are divided into three groups: Group A: those that were identified by Stanford’s Dr. Brian Conrad, appeared in the CMF and Dr. Boaler’s work; Group B: those that appear in her work but are not in the CMF; Group C: those that appeared in the CMF and appear in her work but not identified by Dr. Conrad. 

The 52 appear here, where cited passages are painstakingly compared and analyzed.

Here’s one example (passages omitted):

Firstly, this paper is a study of adults, not students. Participants guessed the numbers of dots in large arrays of dots and then performed arithmetic. There was no brain imaging in this study at all, and it is entirely unclear what the CMF means by “brain communication.” Furthermore, the paper has no claim that numbers are seen as “visual objects”, and it isn’t made clear precisely what such a statement even means. There is no basis…for the CMF to draw conclusions about optimization of mathematical learning and performance, since that is not at all what the paper explores. The paper reports on some basic experiments with visual and symbolic information processing, suggesting some ideas to explore for those who struggle with math; the dramatic way its conclusions are described in the CMF is a genuine distortion.” (Conrad – CMF Public Comment #2, Section 1.1, pg. 5-6 and Section 1.2, pg. 8.)

Here’s another:

[W]hat is that higher-level content in middle schools? Looking at the paper, it is Algebra I for all 8th grade students (in a “diverse suburban school district”). The CMF omits to mention this extremely pertinent fact. In other words, the study shows benefits from accelerating all students to take Algebra I in 8th grade and so the CMF cites the paper for its great success in heterogeneous education but doesn’t tell the reader that this was done with Algebra I in 8th grade (that wouldn’t fit the CMF’s preferred narrative). This omission puts the focus on heterogeneity…and away from the highly relevant context of 8th grade Algebra I. The CMF should not hide behind obfuscatory buzzwords and instead be crystal-clear that it is actually offering great praise for teaching the Grade 9 math class to everyone in 8th grade. (I am not personally advocating that everyone should take Algebra I in 8th grade. Rather, I am just noting the actual meaning of what the CMF is praising in a specific paper it chooses to cite.)  (Conrad – CMF Public Comment #2, Section 4.2, pg. 14 and Section 5.3, pg. 16.)

More succinctly, the evidence used to support eliminating Algebra I from the 8^th grade curriculum was really evidence against eliminating Algebra I from the 8^th grade curriculum.

In case you’re disappointed that the complaint was anonymous, remember what happened during COVID to Stanford’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, one of the three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration advocating focused protection of the elderly and most-at-risk but otherwise avoiding lockdowns. 

Despite that the Declaration was essentially identical to the pre-COVID government coronavirus pandemic strategy, was signed by thousands of scientists in the field, and turned out to be right, Bhattacharya was criticized and abandoned by most of his colleagues, including at Stanford, and Dr. Francis Collins — at the time the head of NIH — wanted to know why there wasn’t yet a “devastating takedown” of the Declaration by the media. 

Well, the above complaint is in totality a devastating takedown of the evidence used for eliminating 8^th grade Algebra I in San Francisco and for the CMF.  The Framework was made out of popsicle sticks and has now collapsed.  Don’t bet on any consequences for the members of the California State Board of Education who rushed to vote in favor of this woke initiative, resulting in its approval.

Add equity-based math to the collection of narratives we were supposed to accept without question or risk getting canceled, doxed, fired, and maybe even spied on by the FBI, only to be debunked after the damage is done.

W.A. Eliot is a pseudonym.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License