Principles for Making Middle School Mathematics More Equitable

The middle school math years can be difficult for students as understanding shifts to more abstract thought needed as a basis for higher math. The Middle School Mathematics Through Applications Project (MMAP) created a hands-on, technology-integrated, middle school curriculum based on real-world problem solving that rests on the following three equity principles to engage underserved students:

Relevance to the World Outside School: Professional work with math is too complex for middle schools, but textbook word problems often become distortions that can't be unlocked with common sense, so MMAP researchers opted to create simplified work scenarios. Students explored Alaska's methods in controlling the wolf population and the impact those methods had on the caribou population. Impassioned students did research, worked with mathematical models, and translated information into graphs and tables, in order to make a policy recommendation on controlling wolves. Students also used technology to work with "messy" numbers and huge amounts of data, just like real world practitioners, allowing them to avoid tedious calculations.

Hands-On Activities That Build on Student Experience: Students designed a dream house using computer technology. Researchers gave students design problems that the students could relate to and manipulate. Hands-on activities build bridges between everyday thinking, talking, and acting and mathematical thinking, talking, and acting.

A Math Curriculum Adapted to Student Needs: Math materials need to be adapted to the specific needs or interest of students. In one example, teachers took a project designing a heating system for an Antarctic research station and adapted it so students could design a heating system for a real community recreation center in their Alaskan village.

When educational leaders take steps to apply these principles, they'll increase their students' chances of staying engaged in math beyond the middle school years.

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