The Algebra Project is a noble and worthy enterprise, even if it hasn't led to the radical transformation in education that was still hoped for at the publication of the book.įirst, however, even with no math content or research into pedagogy, this is also simply a good report of the author's experiences in the struggle for civil rights. Radical Equations provides a model for anyone looking for a community-based solution to the problems of our disadvantaged schools. And we see the remarkable success stories of schools like the predominately poor Hart School in Bessemer, Alabama, which outscored the city's middle-class flagship school in just three years. Older kids serve as coaches for younger students and build a self-sustained tradition of leadership. We see the Algebra Project organizing community by community. We have to get the kids themselves to demand what everyone says they don't want.” Today, when kids are falling wholesale through the cracks, people say they don't want to learn. It wasn't until we got them demanding to vote that we got attention. Telling the story of this remarkable program, Robert Moses draws on lessons from the 1960s Southern voter registration he famously helped organize: “Everyone said sharecroppers didn't want to vote. Founded on the belief that math-science literacy is a prerequisite for full citizenship in society, the Project works with entire communities-parents, teachers, and especially students-to create a culture of literacy around algebra, a crucial stepping-stone to college math and opportunity. Begun in 1982, the Algebra Project is transforming math education in twenty-five cities. His quiet confidence helped shape the civil rights movement, and he inspired generations of young people looking to make a difference”- Barack ObamaĪt a time when popular solutions to the educational plight of poor children of color are imposed from the outside-national standards, high-stakes tests, charismatic individual saviors-the acclaimed Algebra Project and its founder, Robert Moses, offer a vision of school reform based in the power of communities. The remarkable story of the Algebra Project, a community-based effort to develop math-science literacy in disadvantaged schools-as told by the program’s founder

Radical Equations by Robert P. Moses