February 2020

“What can our schools, districts, or teachers do to impact the mathematics achievement of Black learners?” I am often asked some derivation of this question by educators who are looking to support Black learners in mathematics. Given that much of my work has focused on the mathematics experiences of Black learners, I expect such questions. However, I am surprised at the reactions to my response.

Recently, I tweeted about being asked, “How do we help teachers teach math to Black kids?” (see: https://twitter.com/robertqberry/status/1222904228072456196). In the tweet, I hoped that I conveyed that teachers should have an appreciation of their students’ cultures, understand the development of knowledge within students’ cultural frameworks, and recognize that the interpretation of information and mathematics happens within students’ cultural and experiential frameworks. I situated my tweet within a Black social and cultural context. As I reflect, I wish that I would have added that opportunities to learn mathematics have significant impacts. Black learners are less likely to receive mathematics teaching consistent with high-quality mathematics teaching practices, and they are less likely to be exposed to rigorous mathematics content. The lack of exposure to high-quality teaching and exposure to content impacts their mathematics achievement.

I believe, like many educators, in the brilliance of Black children in mathematics. To me, such a position is foundational when working with Black learners, and it must be acknowledged in the ways one interacts with, talks about, and embraces the cultural knowledge and resources Black learners bring to schools and classrooms. As educators, we must be concerned about what it means to be inside the social, cultural, and political histories of Black people and how these influence perceptions of the world, thoughts, feelings, identity, ways of being, and ways of interpreting information.

Early in my career, I struggled to find resources dedicated to the experiences of Black learners in mathematics. There were hardly any resources focusing on the contributions and experiences of Black people in mathematics. I wanted to learn about research and theories focused on Black learners. I read three books that were foundational toward getting me on the path to unpack the nuances of Black learners’ histories and contexts with mathematics teaching and learning.

• Challenges in the Mathematics Education of African American Children: Proceedings of the Benjamin Banneker Association (1997) edited by Carol E. Malloy and Laura Brader-Araje and published by NCTM.
• Changing the Faces of Mathematics: Perspectives on African Americans (2000) edited by Marilyn E. Strutchens, Martin L. Johnson, and William F. Tate and published by NCTM.
• Mathematics Success and Failure among African-American Youth: The Roles of Sociohistorical Context, Community Forces, School Influence, and Individual Agency (2000) written by Danny Bernard Martin and published by Routledge.

These texts gave voice to my experiences as a learner and teacher of mathematics. Many Black learners come to schools and classrooms with contexts rooted in the culture and traditions of the Black experience. As educators, I believe it is part of our work to know and understand the resources of Black learners and find ways to incorporate these into mathematics teaching and learning. Black learners are not melanated replicas of the dominant culture; consequently, we must be nuanced in our practice. Too often, policies and practices take on race- and context-neutral approaches that default to normalizing the mathematical experiences of White learners. My point here is not meant to imply that all policies and practices are detrimental to Black learners; instead, it is necessary to be thoughtful about the impact that policies and practices have on the experiences of Black learners.

For example, I grapple with the mathematical practice of constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others and whether this practice puts Black children at risk when it occurs in spaces beyond the mathematics classroom. When Black learners construct arguments and critique the reasoning of those in authority or engage in this practice outside of mathematics classrooms, this may put them at risk of negative consequences. I understand and appreciate the intent of this practice and believe that engaging in mathematical argumentation is valuable for mathematics learning. However, mathematics educators must be mindful of the ways this practice is framed within mathematics with the knowledge that learners may engage in these practices outside of mathematics. Engaging in mathematical argumentation may involve the projection of voice, tone, positioning of bodies, proximity, and so on. The potential risk for Black learners engaging in argumentation is when their ways of engagement do not align with perceived ways of participating in this type of discourse, thus creating the potential of negative consequences.

Below, I have provided some resources I believe are helpful for educators who want to support Black learners in mathematics. These resources are intended to provide some foundational support for building depth in understanding.

• Bonner, Emily P. 2010. Unearthing Culturally Responsive Mathematics Teaching: The Legacy of Gloria Jean Merriex. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
• Clark, Lawrence M., Eden M. Badertscher, and Carolina Napp. 2013.“African American Mathematics Teachers as Agents in Their African American Students’ Mathematics Identity Formation.” Teachers College Record 115, no. 2 (February): 1–15.
• Frank, Toya Jones, Deena Khalil, Beyunka Scates, and Symone Odoms. 2018. “Listening to and Learning with Black Teachers of Mathematics.” In Rehumanizing Mathematics for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students, edited by Imani Goffney and Rochelle Gutierrez, pp. 147–58. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
• Id-Deen, Lateefah. 2018. “‘It Will Help Me Do Better in Mathematics’: Building Trusting Relationships with Black Students.” In Access and Equity: Promoting High-Quality Mathematics in Grades 6–8, edited by Anthony Fernandes, Sandra Crespo, and Marta Civil, pp. 131–42. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
• Jett, Christopher C., David W. Stinson, and Brian A. Williams. 2015 “Communities for and with Black Male Students.” Mathematics Teacher 109, no. 4 (November): 284–89.
• Joseph, Nicole M., Meseret F. Hailu, and Jamaal Sharif Matthews. 2019. “Normalizing Black Girls’ Humanity in Mathematics Classrooms.” Harvard Educational Review 89, no. 1 (Spring): 132–55.
• White, Dorothy Y., Kanita K. DuCloux, Ángel M. Carreras-Jusino, Darío A. González, and Kirsten Keels. 2016. “Preparing Preservice Teachers for Diverse Mathematics Classrooms through a Cultural Awareness Unit.” Mathematics Teacher Educator 4, no. 2 (March): 164–87.
• Wilson, Jonee, Mahtab Nazemi, Kara Jackson, and Anne Garrison Wilhelm. 2019. “Investigating Teaching in Conceptually Oriented Mathematics Classrooms Characterized by African American Student Success.” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education 50, no. 4 (July): 362–400.

I encourage you to invest part of Black History Month toward deepening your understanding of Black learners in mathematics. Please share your reflections on MyNCTM.org and let’s get a conversation going on Twitter.

Robert Q. Berry III
NCTM President
@robertqberry