Conviction vs. evidence: What’s driving math education’s worst policies with Thomas Briggs and David Shuck (Ep 71)

About this episode

Anna Stokke discusses the persistence of ineffective educational practices with guests Thomas Briggs and David Shuck, focusing on the distinction between misunderstanding and conviction in math education.

In this episode, Anna Stokke continues the conversation from the previous episode on what happens when requests for evidence are dismissed with the phrase “research shows.” She is joined by Thomas Briggs and David Shuck from the Center for Educational Progress to explore why ineffective or unsupported practices persist in education. Thomas and David introduce an important distinction between misunderstanding and conviction: sometimes educators genuinely believe they are following best practices, while other times evidence is ignored or dismissed due to ideology. They discuss examples including flawed advanced math placement decisions, an update on the New York math briefs controversy, concerns around programs like YouCubed, and the impact of San Francisco’s math de-tracking experiment. The conversation examines how “research shows” can be used both in good faith and as a way to shut down debate, while offering listeners practical ways to think critically about evidence and education policy. This episode is available in video at www.youtube.com/@chalktalk-stokke Anna Stokke was recently a guest writer for the Center for Educational Progress. That article is available at…

People in this episode

Host: Anna Stokke

Guests: Thomas Briggs, David Shuck

Topics covered

• math education
• evidence-based practices
• educational policy
• misunderstanding vs. conviction
• math placement decisions
• critical thinking in education

Keywords

• math education
• evidence
• educational practices
• research shows
• critical thinking
• math de-tracking
• YouCubed
• New York math briefs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Center for Educational Progress, YouCubed

Places: San Francisco

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