An independent resource on the role of math in education equity, Just Equations works across educational segments to advance evidence-based strategies on the pathway from high school to college.
To elucidate our conceptual framework, Just Equations’ report, The Mathematics of Opportunity, describes how traditional approaches to mathematics education contribute to inequity and sheds light on emerging approaches for change. Our goal is to ensure that math requirements are more valid and aligned across educational systems to support equitable student outcomes.
Read the ReportMathematics is not just an academic subject: It’s a key mechanism in the distribution of opportunity. Solid quantitative reasoning skills are an underpinning of achievement in the classroom, in the workplace, and in other human pursuits. Yet, math can also be wielded in ways that arbitrarily close doors to educational advancement. In fact, math appears unrivaled in its use as a marker of intelligence that can limit access to future opportunity.
In mathematics, education inequity manifests in particular ways: misconceptions about math and math ability combine with existing inequities to restrict opportunities, and the use of narrowly-defined traditional math content as a form of pedigree creates an additional arbitrary barrier.
Just Equations' Principles for Equitable Math Pathways To and Through College illustrate how math education must be re-designed to ensure that characteristics known at birth—such as race, class, ethnicity, and gender—don’t restrict students’ chances of learning mathematics and accessing the opportunities that math proficiency can afford.
Read the Principles
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