“Counted Out” Crunches the Numbers on Math Education
Math is a difficult school subject for a lot of kids and we accept that some students just aren’t “math people.” Where does that leave those kids, though, as they become adults in an increasingly math-driven world? Vicki Abeles’ documentary, Counted Out, is a deep dive into the role of math in the modern world and how the way math is taught impacts the way we see ourselves and our culture. In a blistering ninety minutes, Counted Out makes the case for all of us to reconsider what it means to be a “math person.”
Early in Counted Out, a shocking fact fades onto the screen: 2 out of 3 Americans cannot pass a numeracy test. It’s a damning statement, but one many viewers will understand because of their own history with the subject. The American school system has built its math program with a series of funnels and barriers to limit the number of students who have access to high-level courses. If a student struggles with a basic concept, unable to understand the way math is being taught, they’re left behind. There’s some shame around those who can’t quickly grasp math concepts, and while that may not seem like a big deal during the school years, the effects of limited math knowledge have ripples into adulthood.
courtesy of Counted Out
Counted Out argues that a crisis in math is also a crisis in civics. There’s perhaps no better example of this than what has been described as “The Excel Error Heard Round the World.” In 2010, Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff wrote a paper that made the case for global austerity policies. Reinhart and Rogoff’s paper stated, with the support of math, that if a country’s debt made up 90% of its GDP, the country saw significantly slower growth. Governments used this information to cut pensions, public services, and education. Thomas Herndon, an economics student, discovered that the calculations made by Reinhart and Rogoff were wrong. Four small errors in their Excel spreadsheet snowballed into real-life political and socioeconomic decisions. In the documentary, one of the subjects mentions that the only reason the errors went undetected for as long as they did was because the findings matched Reinhart and Rogoff’s hypothesis. If their work had disproved their theory, then they would have crunched the numbers numerous times. It’s a staggering example of how mathematical literacy needs to be something all of us have a grasp of.
courtesy of Counted Out
One issue with the way math is taught is that it’s presented in an extremely black-and-white manner. Counted Out brings up word problems and considers them to be worthless. What good is it to calculate the rate at which someone drinks a milkshake when no one consumes a milkshake at a standard rate? The film argues that math needs to be a dialogue rather than numbers nebulously existing on a page that students only study for one class period per day. Math exists in art, literature, music, social studies, and pretty much every other subject. And now our lives are quietly being shaped by algorithms. Another example from Counted Out relates to prison parole sentences. Instead of humans taking the time to read the case files for prisoners up for parole, the information is sent through an algorithm that spits out a recommendation. Math rules our lives, and we need the tools to understand it.
Counted Out ends with a group of middle and high school students who are part of a group that takes math out of the classroom. They spend time traveling around their city and learning about history. When they return, they translate their experience into the language of math. Suddenly, the numbers are grounded in something the students can understand. Bob Moses, a civil rights leader and MacArthur Genius, believed that access to math in a digestible fashion was the civil rights issue of our time. In reference to altering how math is taught, Moses said, “Don’t tell me it’s not doable.” Counted Out unlocks the door to the larger issues that arise at the elementary education level and lays out a path on which we can move forward.
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