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RJEM Promising Math

Promising Math 2022

Promising Math 2022

Reimagining Early Math Education

This two day event addressed the commitments in the RJEM Call to Action by:

● Framing the ways that racial oppression and white supremacy affect early mathematics education;
● Examining our individual and collective responsibilities to address racial oppression and injustice in early math; and
● Contributing to new thinking around early math education that is worthy of children and families who have been historically underserved.

Promising Math 2022

We welcomed scholars, community leaders, teachers, activists, policymakers, and parents from all walks of life to take place in this essential event.

We dived deeply into problems of systemic racism and the ways they injure our youngest math learners. We thought collectively about how these systems manifest in the environments in which we live and work. Both at the event and moving forward we work to develop new approaches to ensure that historically marginalized children have every opportunity to make mathematics their own.

As part of the event, we heard from educators, parents, scholars, and community members who have developed creative and inspiring ways of providing mathematics education opportunities that circumvent or disrupt the systemic racial injustices embedded in our educational systems. There built several opportunities to connect with others who care about this work, building new relationships with like-minded colleagues.

Promising Math 2022 took place virtually on May 17th and 18th.

Explore Our Racial Justice Resources

racial justice

Developing a Framework for Racial Justice Centered Research in Early Math

racial justice

Using Math to Learn about Racial Representation in K-2

racial justice

Racial Justice in Early Math Resource List

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Sign the Call to Action


We call on the field of early math education to name and dismantle white supremacy and anti-Blackness in all of their manifestations. Add your name to the list!

Call to Action

2022 Speakers

Amy ParksAmy Parks is a Professor at the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Her current projects include investigations of the role of play in mathematical learning, the resources parents draw on when supporting their children in mathematics, connections between emotional relationships and content learning in primary classrooms, and the mathematical engagements that are possible in informal spaces. She is author of Exploring Mathematics through Play In the Early Childhood Classroom (2014).

Tambra JacksonTambra Jackson is Dean of the School of Education at Indiana University – Purdue University, Indianapolis. She considers herself to be a scholar-activist and is committed to social justice issues pertaining to the historical and contemporary oppression, miseducation, and liberation of children of Color in U.S. schools. She is author of Black Mother Educators: Advancing Praxis for Access, Equity and Achievement (2021).

Nakisha HobbsNakisha Hobbs is a Chicago native and fourth-generation educator. In response to the negative impact of high-stakes testing, Nakisha mobilized a group of peers to develop an African-centered tutoring program designed to empower marginalized youth. Nakisha continued her passion to address inequities in education by co-founding It Takes A Village Family of Schools in 2004 and Village Leadership Academy (VLA) in 2007. Recognized as a leader in education, Nakisha was tapped in July of 2018 to lead the State of Illinois’ Office of Early Childhood for the Illinois Department of Human Services. In 2020, she transitioned back to ITAV, now serving as Chief Executive Officer. Some of her areas of expertise include Strategic Planning, Educational Leadership, Legislation, Family & Community Engagement, Public Speaking, Budget Administration, Grant Writing, and Advocacy work.

Meralyn KirklandMeralyn Kirkland is the grandmother of Kaia Rolle. She lives in Orlando, FL with her husband, daughter, and 3 grandchildren. She works at a bank, loves gardening and traveling and is passionate about her grandchildren. Because of her granddaughter’s experience it has become a burning desire for Meralyn to see that no other child and no other family has to endure what happened to Kaia and her family.

Danny Martin, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jennifer McCray, Erikson Institute
Priscila Pereira, University of Illinois at Chicago
Gigliana Melzi, New York University
Penny Smith, Erikson Institute

Donna Johnson, Erikson Institute
Tonya Bibbs, Erikson Institute
Rebeca Itzkowich, Erikson Institute
Nathaniel Bryan, Miami University
Maile Hadley, Zeno Math

2022 Plenaries

Racial Justice in Early Mathematics: Facing Our Past and Reimagining a Future

Pulling from our lives as teachers, researchers and mothers, the presenters will explore the need for explicit attention to racial justice in early mathematics. Through the use of stories, videos, and photographs, the presenters will unpack productive theoretical language for making sense of racialized experiences in early math and will conclude by using current examples of liberatory practices in early education to construct with the audience a vision of what a racial justice in early math could be.


Dr. Amy Parks, Michigan State University
Dr. Tambra Jackson, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis
Panelists: Leon Jackson, Hasaan Rashid, Dawn Cagna, Leslie Etienne, Jukobie Russell

Reflecting on our Role in Racial Justice in Early Math

In September 2019, Kaia Rolle, a 6-year-old Black female student, was arrested in Orlando, FL on a charge of misdemeanor battery after she had a tantrum at school and made physical contact with a member of the school personnel. After two police officers arrived at the school, Kaia was handcuffed with zip ties and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center, according to news reports and her grandmother, Ms. Meralyn Kirkland. Kaia also had her mugshot taken. The officer who arrested her was subsequently fired, and Kaia’s record was expunged. After a short presentation of the case, this plenary will be a conversation between Ms. Donna Johnson, Erikson Institute, and Ms. Kirkland, who will share information about Kaia’s life before the incident, her recollection of the day it happened, Kaia’s well-being since the incident, and the impact on Kaia’s family. Drawing from this presentation, attendees will be asked to reflect on our individual and collective roles in supporting racial justice against the backdrop of childhood trauma and racial oppression.


Ms. Marelyn Kirkland
Donna Johnson, Erikson Institute
Case Analysts: Tonya Bibbs; Rebeca Itzkowich; Donna Johnson, Nathaniel Bryan

Beyond Mathematics: Social Justice & Praxis

It Takes A Village Family of Schools (ITAV) is a birth to eighth grade social justice educational model located in the City of Chicago. The goal of the program is to provide high-quality, culturally responsive education and life-empowering social services that inspire students and families to positively transform and advance their communities, nation and world. During this presentation, conference participants will be introduced to the schools’ founding story, learn about key components of the social justice curriculum, including how math is used to empower students both inside and outside of the classroom, and be provided with an overview of outcomes for students, families, and the broader community.


Ms. Nakisha Hobbs, Co-Founder, It Takes a Village Family of Schools
Panelists: Dayo Harris, Principal; Antwan Reed, Teacher; Jasmine Span, ECE Coordinator; Brittney Blakey, Parent

RJEMTalks

Supporting the Participation of Black and Latinx Students in Mathematics Practices: Insights from Black teachers on Countering Racial Narratives

Alyssa Sayavedra
CSU Monterey Bay

Summary: How can teachers counter racial stereotypes while supporting participation by Black and Latinx students in math practices? This research talk draws insights from two experienced, Black teachers of sixth grade mathematics. Videotaped lessons in each class show teachers supporting math practices through student presentations and a debate. Both teachers supported these math practices with power conscious classroom talk that explicitly addressed injustice in school and the broader society. In debrief interviews, the teachers explained the connections between their power conscious moves, math practices, and countering racial stereotypes.

The Library, Me, and the World: K-2 Students’ Investigations in Representation for Racial Justice

Holly Tate and Amy Christensen
Alexandria City Public Schools

Summary: Our RJEMTalk will describe a community-based mathematical modeling task focused on racial justice in primary classrooms. Our group of K-2 teachers and an instructional coach will describe the implementation of a vertical task where kids considered the fairness of racial representation of main characters in their classroom libraries. We will reveal reflections, tensions, and the development of critical consciousness as students determined a plan for sorting and counting books in their classroom libraries, created graphs using their findings, and took action in communicating with the principal for purchasing new books for a more fair library.

Nature-Based Math (An Equitable Approach)

Mars Caulton
Student at Erikson Institute

Summary: Exploring nature and natural materials is a profound learning experience for young children and their adults. With the mindset of “math is a process, not an answer,” adults can help children develop the foundational ideas of numeracy, attributes, sets, comparisons etc. using a nature-based curriculum of inquiry and discovery. It is a violation of social justice when certain communities have wide access to natural areas and materials while often children of color, their families and their schools do not. Communities of color deserve the experience of exploring math in nature.We can bring nature inside the classroom to reap the same benefit.

The City Study: Reflecting on Mathematical Thinking Through the Lens of Community in a CPS PreK Classroom

Kirstin Roberts and Anne Kellogg
CPS, Brentano Elementary Blended PreK classroom

Summary: Teachers and students in a Blended PreK Classroom in the Chicago Public Schools embark on a long term study of their city–Chicago! While centering this study on the questions and ideas children have about their city, teachers listen and watch for opportunities to embed math learning and thinking into the study in ways that are meaningful for their preschool students.

Found at the Intersection of Unschooling, Racial Justice and Math: Love and Empowerment!

Sisa Pon Renie and Ambrose Renie
The Renie Homeschool Academy of Joy and Curiosity

Summary: This presentation will detail our educational journey from an independent school centered on Black identity and empowerment to unschooling. We will discuss why we unschool and will provide a window into our unschooling experiences, with foci on racial justice and early childhood math.

Big Idea Talk and Play: Co-Discovery of the Power of Open-Ended Math Exploration with Teacher Candidates in Metro East, Illinois

Rebecca Anne Swartz
Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville

Summary: In my RJEM Talk, I plan to highlight how I have re-envisioned my course CIED 418- Mathematics in Early Childhood Course for our Early Childhood Off-Campus Students (EChOS) students in our teacher preparation program. I will highlight the opportunities that were provided for the students to engage in hands on “Try-Its” in their Preschool for All and Head Start Classrooms in the Metro East/East St. Louis area. In the course, students were able to practice with math focused picture books and a variety of materials with the goal of increasing mathematics talk in their classrooms.

2022 Advisory Committee

Tonya Bibbs, Erikson Institute

 

Kimberly Brenneman, Heising-Simons Foundation

 

Nathaniel Bryan, Miami University

 

Sarai Coba-Rodriguez, University of Illinois at Chicago

 

Maile Hadley, Zeno Math

Gigliana Melzi, New York University

 

Maria L. Ortega, BPNC

 

Amy Parks, Michigan State University

 

Aisha Ray, Erikson Institute

 

Penny Smith, Erikson Institute

Thanks

Thanks to Dr. Gilo Logan and facilitators from Dr. Logan Consulting, Kimberly Brenneman and Heising-Simons, and our partner, the College of Education at the University of Illinois Chicago.

And a special thanks to our Home Group facilitators:
Penny Smith, Wendy Yanow, Priscila Pereira, Tonya Bibbs, Sarah E. Dennis, Tonya Bibbs, Sisa Pon Renie, Rebeca Itzkowich, Tracy Olasimbo, Lisa Ginet, Donna Johnson, Ronald Whitemore, Erin Reid, Nathaniel Bryan, Rahul Sharma, Lauren Solarski, Kimberly Brenneman, Gilo Logan, Rakhee Dodia, Amy Parks, Rina Campbell, Jie-Qi Chen, Maile Hadley, Durene Wheeler, Jeanine Brownell, Gigliana Melzi, Jared Davis, Melissa Kirk

This conference is organized by the Racial Justice in Early Mathematics project at Erikson Institute – a collaboration with the University of Illinois at Chicago’s College of Education and generously funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation.

Growing Mathematical Minds

Available now

Our latest book Growing Mathematical Minds bridges research and practice. We translate research on early mathematics from developmental psychology into terms that are meaningful to teachers and readily applicable in early childhood classrooms.

  • Order a copy

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Our Bulletin Board is continually updated with early math ideas from our favorite websites, blogs, and social media. Stay current with the latest in the field.

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