Writing about class and race differences and similarities in early childhood mathematics: The case of one monograph

Abstract

This article reports on a literature review of 49 articles that cited a single monograph East Lansing written in 1981 about early learning in mathematics to make claims of similarity or difference across lines of race and class in early mathematics. The review found that while about two-thirds of the articles cited the monograph to make claims of no significant differences across race and class in early mathematics performances (which is the perspective taken by the monograph’s authors in their conclusion and summary), almost one-third of the articles cited the monograph to establish significant social class differences in early mathematics, despite the claims of the monograph’s authors to the contrary. Similarly, a major US government report on early childhood mathematics cited the monograph to establish both race and social class differences. The reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed, including the tendency in recent years to understand race and class in US education primarily in terms of achievement gaps.