Whose Students?

April 2023

As I have met and interacted with mathematics educators during these past few months, I am constantly reminded and encouraged by their passion and dedication to meeting the needs of all students. I often hear that this school year feels closer to normal than the past few have in terms of routines and protocols. The other consistent theme I hear is that students this year have different skills and experiences than students from five years ago. With remote learning and other COVID-related protocols, our students today have had different opportunities than those in the past, which often requires more flexibility and learning for us as educators.

An increasing number of students are being identified as needing extra academic support in order to be successful in grade-level content in mathematics. Too often, though, students are being referred for testing to determine if they qualify for special education services. There are definitely students who need specialized services, but just because a student is experiencing academic struggle does not automatically mean they need such services. I wonder how often educators have hoped, either subconsciously or consciously, that a student will get a label so that they can shift responsibility for the student’s mathematics education to someone else? This mindset must change so that all students are seen as the collective responsibility of all teachers!

It is through collective responsibility that we can all grow in our strategies and skills to better serve the needs of every one of our students. General educators and special educators must collaborate with one another, and time and structures must be provided for them. Each brings perspectives to teaching and learning mathematics that the other can benefit from; likewise, neither has all the solutions to meeting every student’s needs. By coming together to collaborate as educators and by learning from each other, we can offer more students success in mathematics.

This collaboration must also occur in teacher preparation as well as among researchers. Unfortunately, the two fields often share and advocate for drastically different ideas. This often leaves teachers wondering what the best course of action is. Teacher educators and researchers should make a joint effort to find and build on what they agree on in order to best help students learn mathematics. Additionally, every preservice teacher should be required to take a course in special education, which currently is not the case in many colleges and universities. All teachers need to have the foundations to recognize and build on the diversity in classrooms.

Educators must come together so that students become “our students” rather than “their students.” Recognize that any individual does not have all the answers, and that through joint action, more student needs can be met. Ultimately, this will lead to increased success and opportunities for all of our students!

Kevin Dykema
NCTM President
@kdykema