Winerip On Math

NYT’s Michael Winerip turns in an interesting profile of his former high school and the predominance of Asian kids in the math club. Yes, it’s stereotypical…but he also does a nice job capturing the perspective of students who are recent immigrants.

But here’s where Winerip’s favorite punching bag, NCLB, comes in sort of handy. He wonders why, in a predominantly white school, are there not more white kids in the math club? Hmmm….The chart below sheds some light on that and also on the lack of representation by other minority kids. It’s based on 2003 numbers from this school and the state.

Source: www.schoolmatters.com

To be sure, as the chart shows it’s unfair to singularly blame the school for what is apparently a statewide problem, but it’s a problem nonetheless.