'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.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 (Feb.)Forecast: Moses's status as a legendary civil rights activist, a MacArthur Award recipient and a dynamic voice in education should help garner an enthusiastic reception for this book, particularly in cities like Boston and Los Angeles, where he has established divisions of the Algebra Project and where an author tour is planned.Ĭopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

An important step forward in math pedagogy and a provocative field manual, this book is a radical equation indeed. Moses's main argument should resonate with concerned parents and community leaders as well as educators. Peppered with anecdotes and quotations from participants, this dense book is surprisingly captivating.

He also explains why the project's success rate is so much higher than that of traditional math programs. In part two, Moses shows how the same grassroots organizing can be applied to make change in the classroom. Drawing its inspiration from the civil rights movement's organizing tactics, the first part of this book is devoted to detailing how black Americans undid the white choke hold on Southern politics. It aims to nurture collaboration between parents, teachers and students in order to teach middle-school kids algebra-a course that Moses believes is a crucial stepping-stone to college level math and, thus, lifelong economic opportunity. Moses's Algebra Project, which he initiated in McComb County, Miss., in 1982, is not a traditional program of school reform. 'The ongoing struggle for citizenship and equality for minority people is now linked to an issue of math and science literacy,' argue Moses, an educator and civil rights activist, and Cobb, a cofounder of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Radical Equations by Robert P. Moses