As mathematics education moves toward a more student-centered approach, it has become more difficult to ignore the multiple identities and related knowledge students bring to the classroom. Culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE) provides an opportunity to deepen student learning by drawing on students’ racial and cultural identities and cultivating critical consciousness in a mathematics context.

This brief calls on school and district leaders to invest in CRSE by providing teachers with consistent messaging and ample resources to better prepare them to implement CRSE in mathematics education.