SLJ talks to the authors of the series “Data in Your World”

Courtney Koestler and Mathew Felton-Koestler teach about equity, diversity, and justice in math education in the Patton College of Education at Ohio University. Along with Rourke Educational Media, they have created a three-book series for grades 5–9: Understanding Finances, Exploring Our Schools, and Communities Near and Far. This series teaches basic financial and data literacy from a social justice point of view. Middle-grade readers will learn how to use their mathematical tool kit to address social problems like racial oppression and economic inequality.

What do you mean by “data literacy?”

Data literacy means that people are able to reason flexibly and meaningfully about data in their world. This includes reading and interpreting graphs, tables, and statistics they encounter in day-to-day life and in the media. A data literate person might question why the data are presented the way they are, whether these are the right data to answer the question being posed, and if alternative ways of thinking about the data could lead to different conclusions.

What are the key lessons for students in Understanding Finances?

At the individual or family level, students will learn about managing their money, thinking about needs and wants, and considering the costs of borrowing money. These topics are also connected to understanding our broader society. We explore the difference between a living wage and the minimum wage, human rights, and the unfair costs of poverty. The support for including these broader topics is one of the reasons we’ve enjoyed collaborating with Rourke Educational Media.

Why is it important for young people to understand basic finance?

Basic finance is a critical skill for navigating our world, both on a day-to-day level and for engaging as an active and informed member of our society. We want young people to recognize how they can approach their own finances more productively, and to be prepared to question unjust aspects of our society and push for change. In our book, we have made financial literacy accessible for upper elementary and middle schoolers to learn about issues that affect them right now and will in the future.

How does a data-centric series fit into a school library?

We see these books as a great addition to school libraries as an accessible way to get young people interested in and excited about mathematics and data. It provides opportunities for students to see the relevancy between data and their everyday lives, and allows them to make connections beyond the content in the books.

How did your worldview impact how you selected and arranged data for these books?

We come from an academic tradition that emphasizes that all knowledge, including mathematics, is not neutral. By this we mean not only how topics are approached and framed, but also what even gets discussed is a choice that benefits some and harms others. We want to support children in recognizing that data can help us not only better understand our social world, but also ask critical questions about how it could be more just.

How has math education changed since you were 6th graders?

With various math initiatives led by groups like the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Common Core, there is much more focus on children engaging in real problem-solving and applying their knowledge to real-world issues. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always carry over to actual education policy, especially in the context of state testing.

How are elementary school math students adjusting post-COVID?

Although COVID is certainly not over, many students and teachers are excited to be back in person learning together. It also is clear that children are interested and ready to connect to “real world issues.” Even though many of them had been isolated during the early years of the pandemic, they have emerged as resourceful, resilient, and ready to learn.

What are the benefits of combining social studies and math education?

School curriculum tends to artificially separate subjects, with math often being the most disconnected from the real world. This is one of the reasons we hear “when am I ever going to use this?” in math classrooms. Social studies and mathematics are enriched when they are combined. Mathematics can add a new lens to understanding social phenomena by helping students see patterns in different ways. Similarly, social studies enriches the mathematics curriculum by helping students understand the meaning behind calculations that might otherwise leave out the human side of the story.

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