Aftermath

When you hear the word “math,” what’s your gut reaction?

Facilitator note: You can just go around the room.  Or you might have everyone first jot down what comes to mind, and then share.  

Was there a specific moment — a teacher, a test, a grade, a class, someone’s reaction — that shaped how you felt about math . . . and yourself? How did that play out over the years? Did your math performance open or close doors for you? How did it affect your self-esteem?

For school-age children in your life (especially those in grades 7-12), is math a source of joy or angst? Most Aftermath chapters start with something that kids as young as age 10 can dive into.  In the next few weeks, would you try some with kids in your life?

Facilitator note: This is an important question for your group.  Encourage members to reach out in advance to children they care about. Ask these kids about their school math experiences. Share with the group what you learned.

How many of these high-school math topics do you use – or can explain? Why do you think this math stays in the curriculum? 

Facilitator note: You can share this graphic in advance, put it up on a laptop during your meeting, or have folks look at page xvii of Aftermath.  

Aftermath argues that our education system has weaponized math. Its principal role is to rank and sort children – not enlighten and empower them.  Scores profoundly affect a person’s future, with millions on the wrong end of the Bell Curve.  Chapter 10 delves into the role of the Bell Curve in our high-stakes exams.  Discuss its impact, and consider alternatives. 

Looking back, how much weight have you put on USNWR rankings and SAT test scores in forming an opinion of a school’s quality?  Did Chapter 3 change your thinking about how to gauge these rankings?  What else might you look for in gauging the quality of a school?

Chapter 4 invites you to set 80% Confidence Intervals for twenty phenomena — set upper and lower bounds that you think have an 80% chance of bracketing the truth. Review some of the items and compare notes. This exercise is consistently eye-opening; it’s human nature to be overly confident in the face of uncertainty. Are people surprised by the results? 

Facilitator note: For this discussion question, best to have participants set bounds in advance without peeking at actuals (see pp. 75–77 and Appendix A).  Then you might go quickly through the twenty actuals, letting each participant track whether it falls within, or outside of, their bounds.  Very revealing and fun!

Chapter 2 pulls back the curtain on the math behind headline numbers. Take unemployment: How would you define it? How would you estimate it? Critique a few recent news articles about last month’s BLS unemployment report. Does this lens shift how you consume news?  

Facilitator note: You may want to provide in advance links to 2-3 recent stories.

The author wrote this book because he believes we teach the wrong math, tested in the wrong way, causing far more damage than good. Is he right to wage war on the status quo?  Does this book motivate you to challenge the role of rote math in your local schools? If so, what’s one action you could take? 

Did Aftermath change how you view math?  Life?  If so, how?