Partners

This work requires the partnership of everyone, across generations, class and disciplines: mathematicians, academics, politicians, parents, teachers and students. The Algebra Project partners with people from all of these groups.

Center for Urban Education & Innovation, College of Education, Florida Int'l Univ.

About the Center for Urban Education & Innovation at the College of Education in Florida International University in Miami, FL:


Our Mission

The Center for Urban Education & Innovation is dedicated to the work of schools and communities who are in pursuit of social justice, equity, and academic excellence.

We are committed to:

• Assisting schools in providing an excellent education for those children who are typically underserved, particularly poor children and children of African descent.
• Developing initiatives to promote research and creative experiences that address critical issues of power and pedagogy in schools and communities, both locally and nationally.
• Supporting existing College of Education programs that are congruent with the mission of the Center.
  

The Reality We Face

Children and educators co-exist today in an environment that threatens our intellectual well-being. As more and more emphasis is placed on standardized tests like the FCAT, less and less attention appears to be directed to developing creative thinkers. Teachers are being “dumbed down” with mass-produced, programmed scripts, and children are asked to memorize countless facts with little meaning attached. We want The Center to be a force to counter the dehumanizing effects of these trends, and to bring the teacher’s thoughtful assessment of children’s work as well as the student’s excited and creative engagement back to the classroom.

 

See more at:

http://education.fiu.edu/urbaned/ 

Young People's Project

The Young People's Project was founded 10 years ago by alums of the Algebra Project. The YPP recruits, trains, and deploys high school and college Math Literacy Workers for mentoring middle and elementary school students. Math Literacy Workers come from the communities the Algebra Project seeks to serve, namely low-income urban and rural areas.

The Young People's Project believes that young people can and must demonstrate to younger students, and to their families and community members, that studying algebra and more advanced mathematics topics is important, fun, and "cool." In Boston, Jackson, and Chicago, YPP proved that it has the capacity to develop effective Mathematics Literacy Workers and workshops that can be implemented to serve local after-school programs and community-based organizations.


Over the next five years, the project hopes to develop about 700 college and high school Math Literacy Workers, 10 trainers and 20 assistant trainers, who will provide ongoing after school workshops for about 4000 younger students. They will also provide community events for their families and community members, and facilitate team organizing for ongoing math competitions.

Workshop materials will be experientially-based mathematics modules similar to those used in the Algebra Project and will include activities developed for younger students by the Young People's Project.

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute

Mathematical Sciences Research Institute

The Mathematical Sciences Research Institute exists to further mathematical research through broadly based programs in the mathematical sciences and closely related activities.

MSRI recently began a K-12 mathematics education initiative and invited AP President Bob Moses to serve on its Education Advisory Committee, www.msri.org/education/ .

Through its education workshops, MSRI connects math educators and mathematicians from around the country. This collaboration is based on the premise that improving students’ mathematics learning depends on improving mathematics teaching, for which teachers’ knowledge of mathematics is a key factor.

 
The Algebra Project has helped organize conferences and presented workshops at the MSRI.  To learn more about AP-MSRI collaborations, please see links below:


www.msri.org/calendar/workshops/WorkshopInfo/318/show_workshop

www.msri.org/calendar/workshops/WorkshopInfo/388/show_workshop

National Science Foundation

The National Science Foundation, Division of Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education  www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=ESIE  helps promote resources needed to improve preK-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education throughout the United States.

The Algebra Project is currently in partnership with the National Science Foundation in its work: Raising the Floor: The Development of Selected Experientially Based Mathematics Instructional Modules for Previously Under-Served Target Populations www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0137855

Two high-school algebra module are under development.  They will be developed consistent with current research on student learning. Each module will span from four to six weeks of classroom instruction; incorporate the use of technology; and include a curriculum unit, teacher guide, assessment materials and materials to support community-based mathematics literacy events.

One module will use the "Road Coloring Problem" to introduce students to functions and lay the groundwork for matrix multiplication.

The other module will use games to enhance students' mathematical understanding, and will help students learn polynomials and introduce elementary counting and probability concepts. The materials will embody a pedagogical approach whereby mathematics emerges from students' careful observation and systematic analysis of familiar events that are mathematically rich.

Teachers using the materials will form professional communities by collaborating online. The materials will be pilot- and field-tested in several geographically and demographically diverse sites.

Rural School and Community Trust

The Rural School and Community Trust www.ruraledu.org is the premier national nonprofit organization addressing the critical relationship between good schools and  thriving rural communities.

Working in some of the poorest, most  challenging rural places, The Rural Trust involves young people in learning linked to their communities, improves the quality of teaching and school leadership, advocates for appropriate state educational policies, and addresses the critical issue of funding for rural schools.

It has worked in partnership with the Southern Initiative of the Algebra Project  in schools across Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Arizona.