Radical Equations

by MOSES, ROBERTCOBB, CHARLES E.

• ISBN13: 9780807031278
• ISBN10: 0807031275
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2002-02-01
• Publisher: Beacon Press

Summary

At 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. Begun in 1982, the Algebra Project is transforming math education in twenty-five cities. 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. 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. It wasn't until we got them demanding to vote that we got attention. Today, when kids are falling wholesale through the cracks, people say they don't want to learn. We have to get the kids themselves to demand what everyone says they don't want." We see the Algebra Project organizing community by community. Older kids serve as coaches for younger students and build a self-sustained tradition of leadership. Teachers use innovative techniques. 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. Radical Equations provides a model for anyone looking for a community-based solution to the problems of our disadvantaged schools.

Author Biography

Robert Moses is an American teacher and civil rights activist. He is best known as the leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's Mississippi Voter Registration Project, the co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and the founder of the Algebra Project. Moses has been the recipient of several awards, including a MacArthur fellowship and a Heinz Award in the Human Condition. 

Co-author Charles E. Cobb, Jr. has thirty years of experience as a journalist for major magazines and is currently senior writer at allAfrica.com.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
David Dennis
PART ONE In the Spirit of Ella: The Algebra Project and the Organizing Tradition of the Civil Rights Movement
Algebra and Civil Rights?	3	(20)
Learning from Ella: Lessons from Mississippi, ca. 1961	23	(35)
Standin' at the Crossroads: From Voter Registration to Political Party	58	(33)
PART TWO Radical Equations: The Story of a Grassroots Education Movement
Bouncing a Ball: The Early Days of the Algebra Project	91	(23)
Pedagogy: The Experience of Teachers and Students	114	(20)
South Again	134	(18)
Weldon, North Carolina: The Spirit of Ella Baker	152	(17)
Shaping Demand: The Young People's Project	169	(26)
Appendix The Mathematics of Trips	195	(26)
Acknowledgments	221	(6)
Index	227