Chapter 1: Equity and Social Justice in Mathematics Education: A Brief Introduction

In mathematics education, both at the research and policy level, measuring and comparing learners’ attainment are very common and highly favored, particularly by policymakers and politicians. For example, pupils’ achievement in mathematics can be compared with that of other school subjects, aiming at finding connections between, let’s say, performance in mathematics, science, and language (i.e., Ireson, Hallam, Hack, Clark, & Plewis, 2002). In experimental and interventional designs, pupils’ results before and after an experiment/intervention are compared, as well as examined in relation to those of control groups (that is, groups that have not participated in the intervention), to investigate, for instance, the effectiveness of an instructional program, curriculum, and/or particular teaching materials (i.e., Slavin, Lake, & Groff, 2017). Furthermore, large-scale international studies, like TIMSS and PISA, take measurements from many countries by employing standardized tests, make comparisons across national settings, and often present their results in ranking lists—as typically perceived and promoted by mass media—of inevitable losersand winners (Andrews, 2012).