Mathematics Ability as Property: Examining Mathematics Reform as a Racial Project Through Raciolinguistic Genealogy

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 11:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Continuing the Explication of the Roles of Race and Culture in Mathematics Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Few histories of mathematics education explore the discipline as a racial project. Using raciolinguistic genealogy, this paper examines two early mathematics education reforms in the United States, the progressive and The New Math movements. Employing mathematics ability as property, drawing on Harris’ (1993) concept of whiteness as property, the findings show how reforms drew on eugenics work in establishing status and this was instantiated through positioning pure mathematics as property. Further, “for all” language provided a veiled way to exclude Black, Latin*, and Indigenous students, which was systematized through assessment, curriculum, and tracking. The analysis connects to recent reports to consider residues of reforms, denaturalize who can do math, and connect the material impact to current injustices.

Authors

• Dan Battey, Rutgers University

• Tasha Austin, University at Buffalo - SUNY