The Stories We Tell: Math, Race, Bias, & Opportunity positions educators as professional decision-makers whose every day choices are deeply consequential. After exploring topics ranging from the early identification of talent, the use of demographic characteristics to make academic decisions, and the problematic casting of a ‘gap’ in mathematical performance as about the students themselves, the book explores how professional decision making, and a more precise use of data, can impact mathematical performance outcomes. With gentle precision, the book analyzes the patterns of practice in place as educators sort children according to perceived needs. Through case studies, the authors reconfigure the mathematics achievement gap as being about opportunity provided or denied at both the classroom and systemic levels. The book has implications for school personnel as well as others curious about how opportunity impacts outcomes and how data is (or is not) used to make decisions about children. Educators who challenge themselves to engage with the possibility of bias, and then face the stories we tell ourselves about the race/talent development/student merit relationship, will have the opportunity to write a powerful and equitable story going forward.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements Introduction Section I- The Gap-Maker Chapter 1- The Farce of Early Identification: A Hidden Story in Gap-Making The Promise of Promise Talent Development The Flawed Pillars of Early Identification Talent is Detected in the Young Talent is Innate A Restricted Talent Pool is Desirable The Story of Early Identification Chapter 2- Data Doppels: Professional Stories and Gap-Making Data and High-Stakes Decision-Making Beware the Data Doppel Decision-Making and Data Doppels in Action Heart Attacks and the Goldman Index Symphony Orchestras and Blind Auditions Baseball and Moneyball Data Doppels in Schools What student data drives mathematics opportunities? The “At-Risk” Model An imagined conversation Remediation as Elevation Data Doppels in Math Class National Data and Middle School Mathematics Placement How Should We Think About This? Section II- Academic Opportunity in Schools Chapter 3- Diversity in Our Schools: Cultural Preconceptions & Instructional Choices Multiple Dimensions of Student Diversity in Schools New Normals, Societal Scourges and Childhoods Lost? Intersecting Social Axes and Opportunity Gaps for Other People’s Children Beyond Diversity & The Abyss of Accountability Homogeneous Ability Grouping: The Smoke and Mirrors of Effective Teaching? Early Identification and Mindset in Grouping for Instruction Perceptions and Scapegoats Gap-Making through Teacher Decision-Making Cultural Difference as a Factor In Teachers’ Decision Making Teacher Preconceptions: Critical Indicators of Student Learning Potential? Heterogeneous Groups and Growth Mindset: Toward Neutralizing Problematic Decision Making Troubling Stratification Chapter 4- Follow the Data: Gifts, Access, Cuts, and The-Gap Rigor for All Different Strokes A Brief History of Giftedness Access to the Gift The Cut Following Data Campbell’s Law Beyond Gifted The Referral Pool Gap-logic The Achievement-Gap Mean Variance and Variety The mean doesn’t mean what you think it means Finding Students Section III- Decision Making in Schools Chapter 5- When Teachers Push Back: Data vs. Belief Mathematics Course Placements The Placement Decision The Professional Beliefs Adjustments: Changing the Terms of Engagement The Rules The Case of Alexander The Case of Laila The Case of Inconsistent Leadership Cumulative Impact Data vs. Beliefs The Path of Most Resistance Chapter 6- Unpacking Belief and Finding Change Unpacking Belief: Data & the Brain Confirmation Bias Certainty, Doubt & Confabulation Cultural Norms, Race, and Belief Finding Change #1 Recognize Conceptual Race #2 Free the Data, Free the Mind(set) #3 Less is more The Discomfort, and Reward, of Change Appendix- Chapter by Chapter Questions Bibliography About the Authors