Expanding Our Equity Lens to Support Students in Aligned Math Pathways

Over the course of the last decade, our national math community has made great strides in improving student outcomes in gateway level mathematics courses through the implementation of math pathways and corequisite courses at scale. As we look to the future, what can we, as math faculty, do to build upon the success of these national initiatives? How do we centralize equity in our classrooms to ensure our educational systems are inclusive of marginalized students and students experiencing poverty? Hear Frank’s Mexican American perspective on promoting equity in the classroom and empowering students by challenging dominant narratives. 

Frank has supported system-wide reform efforts in a variety of states and institutions by providing technical assistance in the design and development of math pathways and corequisite courses at scale, and collaborated with math faculty, deans, and other administrators to ensure equitable implementation of these models.

During his tenure at Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin, Frank has led the design, development, and implementation of the pathways to Calculus and Introductory Statistics for the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways, a transformative redesign to modernize entry-level college mathematics programs through working with states, systems, universities, and colleges. He has had the honor of presenting findings at national and regional conferences of professional mathematics organizations to inform the mathematics community about best practices in teaching gateway mathematics students.

Keep the Lines of Communication Open

Vertical articulation has been a topic of interest in K-12 mathematics for many years, but are high school mathematics faculty, 2 year college faculty and 4 year college faculty communicating with each other in a meaningful way.  Vertical articulation is more that what do we teach in each class but how it is taught and what terminology is being used.  This session will explore the the advantages and benefits of such communication and some methods that might be used to foster this type of ongoing discussion. 

Dr. Griffith retired in 2018 after 38 years as a mathematics educator.  She received her B.S.E. (1980) and M.S.E. (1982) from the University of Central Arkansas and her Ph.D. (1987) from The University of Texas. She was a professor of Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas (1988-2016) and completed her career as a mathematics consultant for the Wilbur Mills Education Service Cooperative.  She is a former president of the Arkansas Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Arkansas Association of Mathematics Leaders.  She served as both and elected and appointed member of NCSM Board of Directors.  She was a fellow of the Kellogg National Leadership Program.  She also serves as a National Instructor in the TI Teachers Teaching with Technology Program.