This was the best semester of teaching stats in the 20 years I've taught that class. Why? Because I feel like they truly achieved the course objectives and can now use statistical thinking in their lives. It wasn't about me and what content I "got through." It was about how much they learned.

It’s no secret that higher education has an equity gap problem. But this isn’t a new issue or one caused by COVID-19. This has been an ongoing concern for far too long. Let’s take a look at what educational equity is, how it’s affecting our education system, and how implementing effective developmental math redesigns can aid in eliminating equity gaps.

Higher education already had problems before Covid-19. The inconsistent and inequitable solutions colleges and universities were implementing to improve retention, persistence, and completion are insufficient. Remote learning only made the problems more apparent. Here’s what we’re doing to change that.

We need to be cognizant that we and our students have different cultures, ethnicities, and backgrounds and work to shape our instruction to be inclusive. In this week’s blog, we take a look at the racial and ethnic gap in the STEM workforce in the United States

Closing the gender gap in STEM professions requires a thoughtful review of why the gap exists. Contrary to popular belief, boys aren’t inherently better at math than girls. There are far more nuanced reasons why women don’t choose to pursue STEM professions. One of them being, that they don’t see themselves in these professions.

STEM-based occupations are projected to grow more than any other in the next ten years. So there is a need for more students to study STEM to fill those jobs - a need that could be filled by reducing the gender gap. This brings up many questions. How big is the gap? When does it start? Why is there a gap? And the most important, what can we, as teachers in STEM, do to help close that gap?

There are implicit biases that individuals may not be aware of having that can then lead to behaviors that harm others. With awareness of implicit bias that can affect students comes the desire to make schools a place of equality for all.

Almy Education doesn't condone any kind of racism, overt or subtle. That's easy to write, even though I mean it sincerely. But as I often say to my children, who we are is not about words, but actions. That's true for many things, especially being against racism. Words are only a start.