Margaret Wente Lambastes Faculties of Education

In a clever little bit of demagoguery Margaret Wente in the Globe and Mail on Thursday, Sept. 29, accuses faculties of education of not teaching teachers how to teach mathematics in favour of focusing on social justice issues. Her article is called Go figure, because teachers can’t. Titled differently online.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/too-many-teachers-cant-do-math-let-alone-teach-it/article2183700/

I sent the following letter to the editor, but my long-windedness will likely preclude the possibility of having it published.

Here is what I wrote:

To letters to the editor,

Re: Go figure, because teachers can’t. Sept 29 2011
It is not an either or, Margaret. I teach the Foundations course at York at the Durham Campus every Wednesday afternoon, a large part of my course is exploring social justice equity issues in the classroom, but all morning every Wednesday my students are being taught how to teach mathematics.
 
This past Wednesday we explored the recent data published by the TDSB which showed that while only 16% of students who took most of their courses at the academic level dropped out, 56% of students taking most of their courses at the practical level dropped out and 67% of students taking locally developed course did. Students living in neighborhoods like Lawrence Park or Forest Hill have a dropout rate of only 16%  while students living in areas like Jane/Finch or Regent Park, the dropout rate is 43%.
 
When you trace back the achievement of these students to their EQAO results in grade three  in math and literacy there  is a 20% difference in achievement between students coming from families earning over $100,000 per year and families earning less than $30,000 (below the poverty line),  and the gap widens by grade 6 . They are the students who end taking courses that predominately lead to dropping out.
 
When you examine the composition of that group of students from families earning under $30,000, they come predominately  from visible minority,  immigrant families, where English is the second language. They are disproportionately single parent moms,  boys, and/or with low levels of family education.
 
While we are committed to raising the achievement of all students in Ontario we are  also dedicated to narrowing the gap in achievement between students from advantaged homes and those less advantaged. According to the recent international test of students from over 65 countries (PISA), Canada has yet again had the narrowest gap in achievement of all 65 countries.  Yet we have a long way to go.
 
The disadvantages to living in poverty are not only hazardous to one’s growth and development, physically and mentally, but research shows that children born into poverty live their lives in poverty and it needn’t be so. We have narrowed the gap by not only focusing on these injustices in society and in schools but have developed programs and methods to narrow the gap and raise them out of poverty.
The costs to society are also a major issue. As pointed out in the Toronto Star on Wednesday,  it cost every household in Ontario $2229 per year to support the poor through welfare. healthcare housing etc. (The public cost of poverty in Canada in 2007 was low-balled at $24.4 billion!)   While Margaret cherry-picked some choice quotes from academic papers by our educational leaders, the reality is we teach math in the morning and social justice in the afternoon at my school. And, Ontario has the highest percentage of students taking advanced OAC math courses of any country in the world!
It is not an either or Margaret. Go figure!