OUR MISSION:
Math Girl Movement seeks to eradicate the gender and racial inequities in mathematics education.
Math Girl Movement is not just a social movement. We are encouraging girls to physically move their bodies while learning math.
-Melanie Young, Founder
What the Research Say…
Black and Latina girl experience higher rates of math anxiety.
Although there were no mean differences in math anxiety between boys and girls, there was a significant difference in its longitudinal relation with mathematics achievement: for girls, but not boys, first grade math anxiety negatively predicted fourth grade mathematics achievement, controlling for earlier achievement. Math anxiety longitudinally contributes to minoritized girls’ long-term mathematics achievement.
(Casanova, S., Vukovic, R. K., & Kieffer, M. J. (2021). Do girls pay an unequal price? Black and Latina girls’ math attitudes, math anxiety, and mathematics achievement. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology)
“Students on average reduced their daily learning time of 7.4 hours by about half, the reduction was significantly larger for low-achievers (4.1 hours) than for high-achievers (3.7 hours). Low-achievers disproportionately replaced learning time with detrimental activities such as TV or computer games rather than with activities more conducive to child development. The learning gap was not compensated by parents or schools who provided less support for low-achieving students.
Grewenig, E., Lergetporer, P., Werner, K., Woessmann, L., & Zierow, L. (2020). COVID-19 and educational inequality: how school closures affect low-and high-achieving students
Covid-19 had contributed to major learning loss.
We need a focus on girls at every age level in math education.
Despite comparable academic preparation and within classroom performance, males continue to outperform females at the elementary, middle, and high school levels on standardized tools measuring math performance
(Mullis, Martin, & Foy, 2008; United States Department of Education, 2004).
Among elementary school students and middle school students, males scored higher on average than females in the mathematics content areas of numbers and operations, measurement, and algebra; while female students scored higher in geometry.
(National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP], 2007)
We need a focus on girls in specific math content areas.
We need to create access for girls taking advance math classes and standardized tests.
Among 2007 high school graduates, males tended to score higher on Advanced Placement mathematics tests in calculus and the math portion of the SAT. Fewer female than male high school graduates demonstrated readiness for college-level coursework that requires application of mathematical skills as measured by the American College Test (ACT).
(ACT High School Profile Report: HS Graduating Class, 2007).
Roughly equal proportions of females and males earn a bachelor’s degree in mathematics or statistics (National Science Foundation, 2008). However, there is a significant disparity when considering female degree attainment in fields that require application of mathematical skills such as engineering.
(National Science Foundation, 2008)
We need to create more pathways for girls to enter math related careers.
Movement-based math is important.
Research shows that movement and rhythm helps with self-regulation. Self-regulation is a skill that allows people to manage their emotions, behavior, and body movement when they’re faced with a tough situation. It also allows them to do that while staying focused and paying attention.
Developmental Psychology and Committee for Children reports that children with higher levels of self-regulation achieve higher scores in reading, vocabulary and math.
Math Girl Movement 