UW–Madison’s Erika Bullock, a professor in the School of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, is featured in a recent PBS Wisconsin “Here and Now” segment exploring math education and the role of numeracy in everyday life.
The story highlights a local screening of “Counted Out,” a documentary about the importance of math learning. Bullock appears in the film and has taken part in multiple screenings aimed at helping families better understand how to support students in math.
“I love teaching, period,” Bullock says in the segment. “Math, for sure, but I don’t care what it is.”
She notes how critical these skills are. “I think it’s really difficult to convince people that there’s value in math, even though we use it all the time,” she says.
Throughout the piece, Bullock emphasizes how frequently math shows up in everyday activities and decision-making — from estimating travel time to calculating discounts or measuring distances.
“The goal (of the film) was to get people exposed to the importance of mathematics in our lives,” she explains. “When people are thinking about screening it, they think about, OK, this is going to help parents to understand how they can help their child with mathematics.”
The PBS Wisconsin story also presents data on math proficiency among Wisconsin students and highlights efforts by educators and schools across the state to improve outcomes and support student learning.
Read the full story from PBS Wisconsin.