Dave Coffey and Kathy Coffey from Grand Valley State University discuss their new book, Designing Math Adventures: Using Design Thinking to Support the Teaching and Learning of K-8 Mathematics, available through Amazon. Book URL: https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Math-Adventures-Thinking-Mathematics/dp/B0D36HKT3X/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_2 Dave's Delta Scape …

Travis Weiland from the University of Houston (but soon to be at UNC-Charlotte) discusses the chapter "Preparing teachers of statistics: A critical read of standards, review of past research, and future directions" published in The AMTE Handbook of Mathematics Teacher Education (Vol. 5), with chapter co-authors Chris Engledowl and Susan Cannon. Boo…

Considering a journalists' job: "to find out what's true and to report it," former journalists Bob Herbert and guest, Eric Alterman ask what is the journalists' responsibility to the public, and why have so many journalists performed their jobs so poorly - particularly as it applies to the 2024 Presidential Election.…

Zandra de Araujo (University of Florida), Amber Candela (University of Missouri, St Louis), and Paul Wonsavage (University of Florida) join Sam Otten (University of Missouri, Columbia) to discuss their NSF-funded project entitled Practice-Driven Professional Development (PDPD). They share thoughts on why they are pursuing an incremental approach ra…

At 18 young people age out of foster care, many without additional support. New Yorkers for Children focuses on those 18-26, guiding to a better life. Denise Maybank, Alan Yu and CUNY play important roles, education, financial support - to a better life.

To advance his war against Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has politicized and weaponized homophobia using harassment, humiliation, sexual violence against gay POWs. Journalist J. Lester Feder writes about these abuses and severe campaigns against the LGBTQ community and civil society.

Luis Leyva from Vanderbilt University discusses his article, "Queer of Color Justice in Undergraduate Mathematics Education," published in the Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Volume 71. Article URL https://doi.org/10.1090/noti2875 Episode 1701 with Luis https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/mathed/episodes/2017-01-04T12_03_01-08_00 Other…

One of the most significant and traumatic developments in New York City's history was the fiscal crisis that erupted in the mid-1970's, and made unforgettable - by the Daily News' headline: "Ford to City: Drop Dead." Co-directors of a documentary of the era, Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn, discusses the crisis leading to the nation's movement away …

Melissa Gallagher from the University of Houston (soon to be at U.S. Math Recovery Council) discusses the article, "Adaptive teaching in mathematics: A review of the literature," published in Educational Review, Volume 7. Co-authors: Parsons and Vaughn. Article URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2020.1722065 Math with Melissa…

"Veselka" rainbow in Ukrainian is the name of a beloved restaurant in New York's East Village. Opened in 1954, as a newsstand, its current owners, Tom and his son Jason Birchard, tell us how Veselka evolved into a cornerstone of its community and, has now become a beacon of hope for staff and customers tragically affected by the war.…

Nathalie Sinclair from Simon Fraser University in Canada discusses her article, "Knowing as remembering: Methodological experiments in embodied experiences of number," published in Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education. Article URL https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40751-023-00132-7 Nathalie's professional webpage https://www.sfu.ca…

Scott Richman, ADL's Regional Director, discusses the dramatic surge of antisemitism. especially in New York and in New Jersey, following horrific events in Israel, including unprovoked physical attacks and killings at religious institutions, students threatened, bomb scares, and at public demonstrations - hateful anti-Jewish rhetoric. Richman says…

In this digest episode we hear summaries from Kelly Demirjian, Joshua Pope, Loella Lapat, and Samuel Otten about the following articles: [01:00] Stephan, M., Register, J., Reinke, L., Robinson, C., Pugalenthi, P., & Pugalee, D. (2021). People use math as a weapon: Critical mathematics consciousness in the time of COVID-19. Educational Studies in Ma…

Politics! weird politics, a fractured political process, the concern that committed voters may be reconsidering their crucial vote in 2024, court's "chipping away" at the Voting Rights Act effecting civil liberties and American democracy - are issues discussed with Fordham University Professor and Moynihan Public Scholar at City College, Christina …

Higinio Dominguez from Michigan State University discusses the article, "Young philosophers: Fifth-grade students animating the concept of space," published in ZDM Mathematics Education. Co-authors: Abreu and Peralta. Higinio's professional webpage https://education.msu.edu/people/dominguez-higinio/ List of episodes…

Paul Cobb from Vanderbilt University discusses his career in mathematics education research. Paul's Google Scholar page https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7bcDRVEAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra List of episodes

"Into the Bright Sunshine," Samuel Freedman's cultural biography of Hubert Humphrey, a "ruthless foe of anti-semitism and champion of civil rights," reminds us of lynchings, racism, segregation and more that existed in this country prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and of one of the "true acts of courage in American politics..." Humphrey's speech …

Christa Jackson from Saint Louis University discusses the book series that she is editing for the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Powerful Mathematicians Who Changed the World. Christa's professional webpage https://www.slu.edu/education/faculty/christa-jackson.php NCTM's bookstore https://www.nctm.org/Search/?query=powerful%20mathemat…

Robert Q. Berry III from the University of Arizona delivers his plenary at PME-NA in Reno, NV. "Preparing teachers to engage students for equitable mathematics education." Robert's Professional Webpage https://provost.arizona.edu/person/robert-q-berry-iii YouTube video of this presentation https://youtu.be/jb9iPyalz4E?si=PEiPzb79rzlbBMre PME-NA Pro…

Kathy Sun from Santa Clara University and Jennifer Ruef from the University of Oregon discuss their article, "Examining and conceptualizing the relationship between teacher praise and the co-construction of mathematical competence in classrooms," published in the Journal of Mathematical Behavior, Volume 71. Article URL https://www.sciencedirect.com…

Barry LePatner commends research, advances in science, medicine, technology that allow 80 year olds to be the NEW 60's and in the United States - almost 90,000 centenarians to celebrate their birthdays. Mr. LePatner highlights the need for exercise and for social relationships - friends, family - to enjoy our "golden" years.…

This episode includes information about the 3 plenary presentations at the 2023 NCTM Annual Meeting and 2 summaries from presenters -- Gail Burrill from Michigan State University, Amanda Huffman-Hayes from Purdue University, and Lindsay Gold from the University of Dayton. The NCTM Annual Meeting and Research Conference were held in Washington, DC. …

Summaries of PME-NA presentations by Mitch Nathan, James Middleton, Lisa Lunney Borden, José Luis Cortina, Theodore Chao, Amy Parks, Melissa Gresalfi, Nathaniel Bryan, Naomi Jessup, Tran Templeton, and others. PME-NA 2023 was held in Reno, NV, led by Teruni Lamberg. http://www.pmena.org/ http://www.pmena.org/proceedings/ List of episodes…

Jeffrey Toobin discusses Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who in 1995 bombed the Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children. Toobin sites historic events: the government’s assault on Waco, racism, the Assault Weapons Ban as dynamics leading to the heinous crime. Linking the 90’s right-wing ideology to tod…

Jeffrey Choppin from the University of Rochester discusses the article, "The role of instructional materials in the relationship between the official curriculum and the enacted curriculum," published by Mathematical Thinking and Learning, Volume 24. Co-authors: Amy Roth McDuffie, Corey Drake, Jon Davis Article URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/f…

In Part 2, Bob Herbert and guest, Dave Zirin, author of “Jim Brown: Last Man Standing,” sports editor of The Nation, and podcast host focus on Jim Brown’s incredible nine-year career as a fullback with the Cleveland Browns, his long, remarkable career after football and his sometimes troubled life.

Michael Little-Crow from Arizona State University discusses his dissertation study, "Professional Development for Math Educators Podcast: Amplifying, Hearing, and Understanding the Voice of Community Educators," under the direction of Andrea Weinburg. Mike's Professional Webpage https://search.asu.edu/profile/1722986 As the Little Crow Flies podcas…

Many agree that Jim Brown was one of the greatest players to ever step onto a field. A lacrosse hall of famer, a star in numerous sports, the reality behind this legendary hero is complicated. In this two-part conversation, Bob Herbert and author, sports editor Dave Zirin, explore the extraordinary life and career of Jim Brown.…

Reviewing events: January 7, "hang Pence," book burning, mass shootings, white supremacy, Eric Alterman, distinguished professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College, and Bob Herbert comment that we're living in a "new" country, with a radical and sometimes fascist major party. Naming forms of fascism in recent history, Alterman comments t…

Julie Nurnberger-Haag discusses the article "Simplest shapes first! But let's use cognitive science to reconceive and specify what "simple" means," co-authored with Clarissa Thompson and published in Mind, Brain, and Education, Volume 17. Article URL (open access) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mbe.12338 Julie's ResearchGate Reach out …

Miles Rapoport, co-author with E.J. Dionne of "100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting" discusses compulsory voting in Australia where 91.9% of the electorate voted in 2019 compared with the 60.1% turn out in America's presidential election in 2016. Bob Herbert asks - is compulsory voting possible in the U.S. and would it be good for America?…

Record a 3-6 minute audio summary of some math ed research, either your own or something you've read that you think is worth sharing. Send your audio file to ottensam@att.net and put Math Ed Digest in the subject line. Within your audio summary, please introduce yourself and also give credit to all co-authors of the work. To hear examples of past d…

Sam Roberts writes, "people profiled in this book are among the most remarkable and noteworthy New Yorkers you've every heard of." Except, you may never have heard about them except in his book "The New Yorkers." Consider Andrew H. Green, the Father of Greater New York, who, consolidating the five boroughs, created greater New York, or, Philip A Pa…

Anne-Sophie Supply from the University of Leuven (Belgium) discusses the article, "It is probably a pattern: Does spontaneous focusing on regularities in preschool predict reasoning about randomness four years later?" published in Educational Studies in Mathematics, Volume 112. Co-authors: Wijns, Van Dooren, & Onghena Article URL: https://link.spri…

In her compelling new book, Linda Villarosa notes "African Americans live sicker and die quicker" than other Americans. Educator, journalist and author of "Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation," weaves the lives of real people - among them - the Relf sisters, and the medical profession's policy…

Gladys Krause from William & Mary, Melissa Adams-Corral from U Texas Rio Grande Valley, and Luz Maldonado Rodríguez from Texas State discuss their article, "Developing awareness around language practices in the elementary bilingual mathematics classroom," published by the Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, Volume 15. Article URL (free): https:…

Egan Chernoff from the University of Saskatchewan discusses the special issues of The Mathematics Enthusiast that feature reviews by math educators of books related to the popularization of mathematics. Egan also turns the tables and asks Sam some questions about the Math Ed Podcast. The Mathematics Enthusiast special issues: https://scholarworks.u…

Bob delves into the motives behind most mass shootings in this country, and the work that is being done to prevent such violence, with guest David M. Kennedy, one of America’s most knowledgeable experts on crime and violence, and violence prevention. He’s a professor of criminal justice at CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the directo…

We are now learning that one of the longest-lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is its impact on education. The latest results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, showed that math scores for fourth and eighth graders plunged, and reading scores weren’t much better. Gail Buffalo, an assistant p…

The Anti-Defamation League began tracking reports of harassment, vandalism and violence against Jews in 1979. The number of reports last year were the highest on record. Joining Bob to talk about all of this, and what can be done about, it is Scott Richman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of New York and New Jersey.…

Julie Nurnberger-Haag discusses the article "Gameplay in perspective: Applications of a conceptual framework to analyze features of mathematics classroom games in consideration of students' experiences," published in the International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology. Co-authors: Jamie Wernet and Judy Benjamin. IJEMST ar…

Americans spend more money on lottery tickets every year than they spend on streaming services, concert tickets, books and movie tickets combined. But what’s the truth about lotteries? Are the odds of winning a Powerball or Mega-Millions jackpot so big that you have basically no chance at all? Do the lotteries raise the huge sums for education or o…

It’s no secret that abortion rights are under attack across America. Bob talks about this crisis, and what can be done about it, with guest Jennifer Weiss-Wolf, the executive director of the Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at the NYU School of Law.

“Fiscal crisis” is a term that can send chills through New Yorkers' spines. As the city faces some enormous economic challenges, Bob talks about them, and what the city can do about them, with guest James Parrott, the director of economic and fiscal policies at the New School’s Center for New York City Affairs.…

After a period of relative prosperity, declining crime, and a real boost in the city’s spirits, New York is once again struggling. The mayor during most of that prior, more or less benign, period was Michael Bloomberg. Bob takes a look back at his administration – the highs, the lows and the in-betweens – with Lynne Weikart, a retired associate pro…

Chris Jett from Georgia State University discusses his book Black Male Success in Higher Education: How the Mathematical Brotherhood Empowers Collegiate Community to Thrive, from Teachers College Press. Chris's Professional Webpage Book from TCPress Episode 1911 with Chris discussing his JRME article on Black male persistence List of episodes…

Bob talks with Richard Aborn, a lawyer, and the president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City. The discussion centers on how a recent Supreme Court ruling, which struck down part of New York’s 109-year-old concealed carry law, is forcing some big changes in NYC, and what that will mean for the safety of the everyday New Yorker.…

Bob is joined once again by veteran sports chronicler, Kostya Kennedy, for part two of their discussion about Kennedy's book “TRUE: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson.” They pick up the story in the mid-1950s, when the lights are already dimming on Robinson’s amazing career.

In honor of the life and work of Jeremy Kilpatrick, this is a rebroadcast of the episode that was originally posted October 1, 2014. Jeremy Kilpatrick from the University of Georgia discusses his career in mathematics education, including his work on curriculum and the history of the field as well as the landmark report Adding It Up. Jeremy's Profe…

Fran Arbaugh from Pennsylvania State University discusses the article, "Investigating secondary mathematics preservice teachers' instructional vision: Learning to teach through pedagogies of practice," published in the Journal of Teacher Education, Volume 72. Co-authors: Graysay, Freeburn, and Konuk. Article URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/fu…