The so-called mathematics capital movements is a fraud.
Following a number of reports about its leaders in California, it has become clear that the math capital movement is based on flawed study and con artist advocacy.
The occurrence of “math capital” swept the country in recent years, accelerating during and after the COVID- 19 evacuations. At the most basic level, this action is driven by the same attitude that drives the whole diversity, equity, and incorporation movement—that differences in outcomes between groups is a result of structural discrimination and injustice.
Generally, the argument is that the way algebra is taught is prejudiced and is producing injustice. According to one example of equal mathematics instruction, it is” white dominance” for teachers to demand that students” display their work.”
The movement’s philosophical foundation was false at first, but that did n’t stop schools around the nation from adopting math equity standards to participate in the national “race reckoning.”
Turns out there was little evidence that plans that reduced standards had any kind of beneficial result, even for the individuals they were alleged to be supporting.
One recently complained to Stanford University’s notorious capital math guru, Jo Boaler, for a long time.
Boaler is cited in the problem as having “reckless disrespect for accuracy,” citing 52 alleged misrepresentations of study in her work.
The issue states that “our argument is that Dr. Boaler has misrepresented the results and/or techniques of a number of research papers, and that her falsely asserting that these papers support claims made in her job, when they do not, is a foolish disregard for accuracy.” Stanford claims to conduct research to advance world, but how would it do so if its findings were based on errors?
One of Boaler’s results is cited in the problem, which states that individuals performed better when they received teacher feedback rather than results. This conclusion was based on a 1988 study.  ,
However, the Washington Free Beacon noted that the” study did not involve an actual academic class taught over the course of several months—a restriction acknowledged by the study’s author but not by Boaler.”
In an interview with Fox Business on Monday, Boaler refuted the accusations. She claimed that the complaint is just the “latest attempt to silence and discredit me.”
Her defense claimed that those who criticize her work had a different perspective and that her findings were verified by” an independent party.”
The accusers disagree with my interpretation of the cited findings, with the majority of their accusations demonstrating a lack of understanding of educational research protocols and procedures, according to Boaler, according to Boaler. ” In my view, and in the view of others who have analyzed their output, this in no way reaches any level of academic misconduct, but rather points to differences in beliefs about education”.
Boaler is n’t just another lefty academic. She’s a math education professor who’s been at the forefront of pushing “equity” in math education.  ,
She was one of the authors of the statewide guideline called the California Mathematics Framework, which promotes social justice. The framework is the cause of San Francisco’s public schools ‘ decision to eliminate algebra from the curriculum in 2014.
Not only that, but Boaler’s work is cited nationally to promote other math equity programs. Her research has provided the movement with cover to impose ideology-based curriculum on students with a flimsy underbelly of proof that it produces beneficial outcomes.
Accordingto the New York Post, Boaler gets”$ 5, 000 an hour for Zoom consultations”.
The California math equity establishment also experienced scandals in the past month as a result of this. Yolande Beckles, a woman who has worked as a math equity consultant in the Golden State for years, was recently covered by the online publication Pirate Wires. Beckles currently serves as vice chair of the Parent Advisory Committee for the Los Angeles Unified School District.
She has pushed for equity-based gifted math programs to be discontinued in San Francisco schools.
In the early 2000s, Beckles was reportedly a reality TV star who “left her native United Kingdom with 19 standing court judgments levying almost £70, 000]$ 75, 845] in fines at her failed businesses and a front-page exposé revealing that she had defrauded underprivileged school children of £12, 000]$ 12, 999]” according to Pirate Wires.
Beckles is” set to give a webinar at Stanford next month with Jo Boaler”, Pirate Wires reported.
Despite the influence of authors like Boaler and Beckles, San Francisco will still offer eighth-graders algebra instruction.  ,
A ballot measure calling for the return of algebra was overwhelmingly supported by early March’s electorate. The tally was 83, 916 votes to 16, 105, according to an education news site, The 74.
San Francisco schools are back on track and making wise decisions, according to city board of supervisors member Ahsha Safa, a co-sponsor of the ballot measure.  ,
It’s good to see San Francisco’s leaders return to common sense. It only took them 10 years.
Before voters approved the ballot measure, the San Francisco Unified School District had already made the decision to reinstate algebra, but as we’ve learned, education is too crucial to be left to educated people.
What should be obvious, if it was n’t already, is that the math equity movement’s foundation is n’t really in improving outcomes for students.
It’s based on a desire to create equal outcomes, regardless of outcome. It’s not about ensuring that, say, black and Hispanic students achieve higher math proficiency. It’s about letting them know that they are doing better, even if that means sacrificing other students.
That system may be advantageous for those who receive a stamp of approval from the educational system and are pushed up the ladder of success regardless of merit. However, it’s disastrous for a society because competence takes precedence over identity and ideology.
What happens if a society accepts this standard for multiple generations as well?
The outcome is essentially the same as what took place in the Soviet Union. Sure, there were still plenty of intelligent and clever people at the top, but failure, dysfunction, and cynical complacency became generally endemic.
The result was decay and collapse.
The” soft bigotry of low expectations” movement in America is merely a codification of the math equity movement. The data behind it is flimsy, and the ethos is worse.
