Fundi - passing knowledge through direct contact with fundis (skilled instructors)

History

Dr. Robert Moses

an innovative math educator

who developed the Algebra

Project to improve underrepresented

student’s math skills.

Daughter – Maisha

Helps in classroom

Why mathematics Math is the tool needed to give hope to the

next generation. Citizenship requires literacy in math/science New technologies

Computers

Algebra Project• An organizing project

• Created using the methods of the civil rights movement

• Radical - For students underrepresented/poor, the usually excluded.

• Will help close the gap between universal education and universal completion of a college sequence in high school

Civil rights meets Math rightsOrganizer becomes part of the community ,

learning from it, being aware of the strengths, resources, concerns, and ways of doing business

Understanding changeCulture change in Mississippi

Pedagogy-Experiential learning

Starts where students are and experiences they share

Students reflect from their culture, form abstract conceptualizations out of the reflection and apply the abstraction on their experience

Pedagogy-Experiential learningFive steps in the Algebra

Project curriculum process

Pedagogy-Experiential learning1. Physical events – the curriculum begins with

a trip and is the central experience

Pedagogy-Experiential learning2. Pictorial Representation/Modeling

Pedagogy-Experiential learning3. Intuitive Language/People Talk - discuss the

physical event in their own language

Pedagogy-Experiential learning4. Structured language/Feature Talk –

Structured language that selects features of the event that are important for further study.

*Note - Students will develop mathematical models for the events

Pedagogy-Experiential learning5. Symbolic Representation – students

construct symbols to represent their ideas in teams and then in class

TeachersGoal - Teachers will make change in the way

they teach

Attend workshop (based on corporate education methods) geared on the five step process

Freedom to learn

 1995-96 1998-99 2001-02

(pre-Algebra Proj.) (Year 3 of Algebra Proj.) (Year 6 of Algebra Proj.) Lanier HS Lanier HS other HS Lanier HS other HS

GRADE 9 COURSES  Above Algebra I 1% 39% 26% 22%18%

Algebra I or equiv. 12% 38% 41% 67%45%

Below Algebra I 87% 22% 29% 11% 37%  GRADE 10 COURSES

Above Geometry 16% 33% 29% 24%23%

Geometry or equiv. 16% 40% 39% 58%39%

Below Geometry 68% 27% 32% 18%38% 

Ex: Algebra Project School Implementation at Lanier High School, Jackson,

MS: Enrollment in College Preparatory Mathematics Courses in Grades 9 and 10

Young People’s Project – a youth initiative to develop

college and high school math literacy workers who will lead

after school sessions for younger students invited from

community-based organizations

Locations• New Orleans, LA

• Halifax County, NC

• Jackson, MS

• Petersburg, VA

• Summerton, SC

• Miami, FL

• Cambridge, MA – originated

“The world that our students will become a part of will demand much of them. All students should have the opportunity to face those demands fully prepared. High expectations, translated into pedagogy that empowers students to reach those expectations, are imperative.”

Idorenyin Jamar & Vanessa R. Pitts

Workforce Requirement ChangesMoses (2001) noted:Central key to success is economic accessTechnological shift Cotton gin changed the demand for a workforce (machine

- $5.26 labor - $39.41)Automation changed the auto industry demand for

workforceNew technology emerges – fiber optics, computers and

electronics, polymers, research and development, and information technology.

What does this change imply?Need for the “knowledge

worker”Technical skillsInterpersonal skillsHigh-tech workers earned

more than 82% more than workers in other industries

Then and NowIn 1950 – 60% of

jobs were unskilled In 2005, 14% of jobs unskilled

86% require higher levels of training beyond high school diploma

In 2010, more than 2/3 of new jobs will require education beyond high school

Classified Ads:60% of new jobs will require

skills in which only 22% of the young entering job market have

Require use of computer and pay 15% more than jobs which do not

70% of jobs require technology literacy

BY 2010 ALL JOBS WILL REQUIRE TECHNICAL SKILLS (80% of these jobs still DO NOT exist)

NEED MORE QUALIFIED WORKERS-In 2002, 1.3 million high-tech jobs go unfilled

Education ReformNational Science

Foundation Chairman, James J. Duderstadt, “The most important factor affecting the long-term production of scientists is the tragic inadequacy of our primary and secondary science and mathematics education program.”

Society, Minorities, and Mathematics

Illiteracy in mathematics is acceptable40% of students taking freshman Calculus failAfrican American make up 15% of population 1995 1.8% earned Ph.D. in computer science, 2.1%

engineering, 1.5% physical science, and 0.6% in mathematics17% of all U.S. scientists and engineers consist of minoritiesClose to 90% of minority students take remedial mathematics

– University of KentuckyMATH LITERACY and ECONOMIC access give hope to the

young generation

Setting up Failure?Of 74% of minority girls who want to take advanced math

courses only 45% of their schools offer it.Student completing bachelors degree with intense high school

curriculum 82% - least intense curriculum 9%82% of high school students plan to go to collegeLow-income and minority students have high college

remediation rates and low completion rates.Student noted, “They showed be how to fill our a McDonald’s

application in my Life Skills class. I think that they should have at least taught me how to fill out a college application or told me what the college requirements are.”

ALGEBRA???Algebra Project encourages the objective to provide math

literacy to studentsComputer age – “hidden culture of computers is math”Algebra – learn how to manipulate symbols and problem

solve, critical thinkingYounger generation needs algebra to – function in

society, prosper economically, function in society, participate effectively in the workforce, and control of life-altering decisions

What needs to be done?Algebra ProjectEncouragement and exposure to role modelsCareer OpportunitiesTeaching students to think not just memorizeParent involvement / home lifeSelf – Efficacy74% of minorities felt they needed more career counselingLess discrimination in math / sciences Programs such as “Career Linking” – “implemented by

teachers, counselors, and university faculty, and also was designed to increase students’ self-esteem through counseling, parent participation, and ‘real-world’ experiences.”

Early interventionNew methods of teaching – inquiry-based, discussions,

problem-solving, group projects, student-centered learning, less memorization, “discover and re-invent concepts,” HIGH EXPECTATIONS

“Organizing around algebra has the potential to open a doorway that’s been locked. Math literacy and economic access are the Algebra Project’s foci for giving hope to the young generation…Instead of weeding all but the best students out of advance math, schools must commit to everyone gaining this literacy as they have committed to everyone having a reading-writing literacy.”

Robert P. Moses

45 states require students to take certain courses to graduate from high school

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26 states require Algebra I

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19 states require Geometry

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Only 13 states require Algebra II

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References Aikenhead, G.S. (2006). Science education for everyday Life: Evidence-based practice.

New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Aikehead, G.S. (1996). Science education: Border crossing into the subculture of

science. Studies in Science Education, 27. 1-51. Brown, B.A. (2006). “It Isn’t No Slang That Can Be Said About This Stuff”: Language, Identity, and Appropriating Science

Discourse. Journal of Research In Science Teaching, 43(1), 96-126. Fouad, Nadya. A. (1995). Career linking: An intervention to promote math and science career awareness. Journal of

Counseling & Development, May/June, 73, 527-534. Hrabowski, Freeman A. (2003). Raising minority achievement in science and math. Educational Leadership, Dec./Jan., 44-

48. Jamar, Idorenyin & Pitts, V.R. (2005). High expectations: A “how” of achieving equitable mathematics classrooms. The

Negro Educational Review. 56 (2 & 3), 127-134. Jehlen, Alain. (2003). How to advance minority students. National Education Association. 26-27. Lee, O., and Luykx, A. (2006). Science education and student diversity: Race/ethnicity, language, culture, and socioeconomic status. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press Lubienski, Sarah T. (2007). What we can do about achievement disparities. Educational Leadership, Nov., 54-59. Moses, R.P. and Cobb, C. E. (2001) Radical equations: Math literacy and civil rights. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Moses, R.P., Kamii, M. Swap, S.M., and Howard, J. (1989). The Algebra Project: Organizing in the spirit of Ella.

Harvard Educational Review, 59(4), 423-443. Norman, O. Ault, C., Jr., Bentz, B., & Meskimen, L. (2001). The black-

white "achievement gap” as a perennial challenge of urban science education: A sociocultural and historical overview with implications for research and practice. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 38, 1101-114

Perry, T. and Delpit, L. (1998). The real ebonics debate: Power language, and the education of African-American children. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

Tobin, K. Elmesky, R. and Seiler, G. (2005). Improving urban science education. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.

West, M.M. and Davis, F.E. (2005). Research related to the Algebra Project’s intervention to improve student learning in mathematics. Evaluation report. Cambridge, MA: Program Evaluation & Research Group, Lesley University.

http://www.achieve.org/node/306 http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b25-0000 http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#b25-0000

Department of Labor StatisticsAmerican Electronics Association

(AEA) defines high-tech workers as those versed in computers, photonics, software services, data processing and defense electronics

High Tech workers earned 82 % more than other fields

60 % of new jobs will require skills possessed by only 22 % of young people entering the job market

Department of Labor Statistics70 % of all jobs require technology

By the year 2010 all jobs will require technical skills

80 % of all new jobs do not exist yet

In the year 2006 – 1.3 million high tech jobs were not filled

Unemployment and wage estimates in the U.S. in 2008

The # of unemployed persons = 7.6 million

The unemployment rate = 5.0 % in April

Job losses totaled 240,000 in the first quarter of this year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Where are the jobs?

Go to the following website for job categories;

Total employment =146.3 million

The employment population ratio is 62.7 %

Employment and wage estimates in the U.S. from April 2008

Part- time work increased by 306,000 to 5.2 million (This level was 849,000 higher than in April 2007)

Construction declined by 61,000 jobs (Since its peak in September 2006, construction employment has fallen by 457,000)

Manufacturing employment fell by 46,000 jobs in durable goods manufacturing

Employment in retail trade continued to trend down, with a decrease of 27,000 jobs

Where are the jobs?Employment and wage estimates in the U.S. in April

2008Health care = 37,000 jobs

Ambulatory health care services = 22,000 jobs

Hospitals = 9,000 jobsProfessional and technical services =

27,000 jobs Computer systems design = 10,000 jobs Accounting /bookkeeping services =

9,000 jobsEmployment in temporary help services

continued to trend down.

Where are the jobs?Employment and wage estimates in the U.S.

Food services 18,000 jobsColleges, Universities, and Professionals

180,670 jobs pay ranging from $74,590 Junior Colleges 81,750 jobs pay ranging from

$67,840 Science research and development 2,390 jobs

pay ranging from $76,280 Other schools and instruction 1,220 jobs pay

ranging from $44,730 Business school and computer training 1,190

jobs pay ranging from $56,580

Prisons are the fastest growing public sector

Prisons grow enough each year to fill New York’s Yankee stadium

A young man born this year has 1 out of 20 chance of living some part of his life in jail

If he is black his chances jump up to 1 out of 4The crime rate in teens is going up 1% each year

(oas.samhsa.gov) Washington D.C., attorneys Joseph B. Tulman

and Mary G. Hynes write, “in overwhelming percentages, they are poor children and they are children of color. Large percentages of children in the delinquency system and adults in the criminal system are severely undereducated, and literacy skills in these populations are strikingly low.” (p. 12 Radical Equations)

Issues and Trends in Science and Math Education

The demand for high tech skills is expected to double

These trends shed light on an old problem – the inadequacy of our primary and secondary math and science education

N.S.F chairman James J. Duderstadt, “The most important factor affecting the long-term production of scientists is the tragic inadequacy of our primary and secondary science and math education program.” (p. 9 Radical Equations)

Forty percent of students taking freshman calculus in U.S. universities fail

Math and Science literacy as a tool for liberation

Are we going to have a society where only a small group of people are prepared for the future, where there is a huge knowledge gap?

How does such a society stabilize itself?

Who does the Algebra project target?

The key word here is you