When I’m running workshops for school leaders, one of my favorite opening questions to ask is: “How many of you would say that you are math people?”

Typically, a few hands go up. I often see the same thing when working among teachers — the small shrug as they admit, “I’m just not a math person.”

Many brilliant, hard-working educators I work with simply don’t feel confident in their math skills, and thus their ability to teach math to others. On the other end of the spectrum, math teachers that have had a smooth and easy experience with the subject find it hard to tap into why some students struggle.

As the education field faces the challenge reflected in the latest dip in NAEP scores, we are reaching for tools and strategies such as high-dosage tutoring, extended learning time, personalized learning and more.

What math educators and leaders need to remember is that this “dip” is not new that the “new” strategies being implemented have already been tried in classrooms across the U.S.; the NAEP data shows that they have not had the intended impact. Where we need to focus is on the mindsets and dispositions foundational to the teaching and learning of mathematics.

This moment is not just about catching students up, but about helping kids create a healthy sense of confidence in their own math abilities. For too long, students (and adults) have been fed the narrative that they are just not good at math. Instead, we need students to see themselves as mathematicians and to recognize math in the world all around them.

We can’t do any of that if we as educators have not thoroughly examined our own “math identities” and the ways that we project our own math beliefs through the instructional decisions we make.

This is especially true when serving students of color who may be more likely to internalize society’s messages that math is not for them.

Read the full article about empowering students in math by Kimberly Melgar at The Hechinger Report.