Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project [Paperback]

Robert P. Moses (Author), Charles E. Cobb (Author)

Book Description

Release date: February 1, 2002

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"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. Moses's Algebra Project, which he initiated in McComb County, Miss., in 1982, is not a traditional program of school reform. 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. 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. In part two, Moses shows how the same grassroots organizing can be applied to make change in the classroom. He also explains why the project's success rate is so much higher than that of traditional math programs. Peppered with anecdotes and quotations from participants, this dense book is surprisingly captivating. Moses's main argument should resonate with concerned parents and community leaders as well as educators. An important step forward in math pedagogy and a provocative field manual, this book is a radical equation indeed. (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.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

They seem like unrelated concepts: civil rights and math literacy; Freedom Summer and the Algebra Project. When the individual who links them is Bob Moses, however, the unanticipated connections are worth exploring. Moses was a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organizer in Mississippi in the 1960s. In part 1, he discusses the lessons of that experience, particularly involving the entire community and defining a goal (in Mississippi, voting rights) that empowers the community to address its other needs. In the twenty-first century, Moses argues, "the most urgent social issue affecting poor people and people of color is economic access . . . [and] economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math and science literacy." For two decades, Moses and his associates have been developing an approach to middle-school math aimed at preparing every child for high-school and then college mathematics. Part 2 of Radical Equations traces that effort, its experiential pedagogy, and its application in urban and rural school districts. A surprising study of continuity and change in the struggle to reduce inequality and empower communities. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807031275
• ISBN-13: 978-0807031278
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.7 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #160,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Text from a Brilliant Life February 26, 2001

By Richard J. Gibson

Format:Hardcover

Robert Moses, whose life traces the best aspects of the civil rights movement, always grasped the relationship of organizing for justice and good teaching. This accessible book addresses much more than math education, but equity, justice, and democracy-and shows how they fit together quite nicely. It's a book for both theoreticians and practitioners, demonstrating the unity of ideas and social practice in a classroom where the goal is to struggle for what is true. Robert Moses' main message is, I think, "What you do counts." Makes double good sense in a math classroom.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Civil Right - Math Literacy January 13, 2002

By watzizname VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Robert P. Moses, a leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's, has (correctly) reached the conclusion that Math literacy is, in these times and for the predictable future, a prerequisite for first-class citizenship, and since he still wants everyone to be a first-class citizen (and rightly so) he has embarked on a campaign to enable every child to be mathematically literate, and he has enjoyed a considerable degree of success. There is still a long way to go; his program (or more accurately, the program developed by Moses and his associates and the children, parents, and teachers they have worked with) has so far been adopted only by a small minority of the schools, but in those schools where it is in place, math achievement has increased significantly, and (SURPRISE!) reading scores have also improved significantly.

THIS IS A RESULT THAT EVERY TEACHER AND EVERY SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR SHOULD KNOW ABOUT! THIS BOOK SHOULD BE IN EVERY SCHOOL LIBRARY!

I have only one small carp with this book. On page 7 is the statement: "The result was the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), the world's first programmable computer. I asked three Afro-American students, ages 15-21, what was the world's first programmable computer, and not one of them mentioned ENIAC. Rather, they all replied that the first programmable computer was the Zuse Z3. They were all correct. The Z3, disigned and built by Konrad Zuse in Germany, and operational in 1939, approximately 2 years before ENIAC, was the world's first programmable computer. Fortunately, the German High Command didn't take Zuse and his computer seriously.

However, the error is understandable. Most textbooks on the subject in America incorrectly credit ENIAC with being first (I would expect that few if any German texts fail to give credit where it belongs.) Moses was probably innocently repeating what he had been taught at Harvard. And in any case, this one minor error is but a very minor blemish on a very relevant and valuable book. If you are a parent of school-age children, you should get this book, and then get together with other parents and with your children to demand that your school adopt the Algebra Project curriculum. Your children deserve the best education possible, and that means using the Algebra Project curriculum. Also, buy and read Victory in Our Schools: We Can Give Our Children Excellent Public Education, by John Stanford. The two books complement each other.

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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Radical Equations: Math Literacy and Civil Rights April 17, 2001

By Pat Anderson

Format:Hardcover

The voices from Mississippi in the 60's and again in the 80's, 90's and on into this new century come right off the page in this tremendously important book. Bob Moses and Charles Cobb ground the reader in the earlier civil rights movement, laying the foundation for the current struggle for citizenship of minority youth-which plays out now in terms of competing in today's job market. They discuss their approach and demands (of themselves, of the kids, of the parents and teachers, of the community) in terms of "setting the floor." The authors show that we as a society need to leave behind the expectations that these youth can't make it and give them the tools so they can advance. The quality of the writing makes the concepts very accessible and the message is one of great hope. I've already thought of 10 different people who should read this book ASAP!