Equity and Quality of Mathematics Education: Research and Media Portrayals

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine and compare scholarly research and media coverage of equity and quality issues with respect to mathematics learning. Our focus is on equity issues that the media are likely to cover including mathematics achievements by gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic background, as well as aspects of school practices such as ability grouping and single-sex classes that are associated with potential variations in the quality of mathematics education experienced by some students. We describe the inevitable tension between the measured and detailed academic documentation of research findings and the media reporting of the same findings constrained by space and time pressures. Quality and equity concerns are discussed in both contexts. Often, however, the versions of the story found in the print media fail to convey accurately or completely the issues fuelling or combating equity and quality in mathematics learning and education more broadly.