Advocacy and Public Affairs

Some things to think about...

(Conquering Math Anxiety, Cynthia Arem, Brooks/Cole, 2003.)“. . .math is far more than the ability calculate, memorize formulas, or solve equations. Math trains your mind to think logically and succinctly. It requires you to perceive patterns, observe relationships, clarify and critically analyze problems, deduce consequences, formulate alternatives, test conjectures, estimate results, and enhance your problem-solving abilities. By sharpening your reasoning and thinking skills, you can become more productive in every facet of your life. Math provides you with the resources to comprehend the barrage of information communicated to you each day. It gives you the ability to be a critical reader of anything your read, from newspaper reports and research articles to insurance policies and loan documents. Math logic, reasoning, and thinking ability help you to ascertain possible risks or fallacies, to unearth biases, and to come up with suggestions and alternatives. It is no wonder so many careers require math skills. Employers want to hire individuals who can solve problems, who can think clearly on the job, and who can deal with new ideas, ambiguity and change.”

(Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences, John Allen Paulos, Hill and Wang, 1988.)“I’m distressed by a society which depends so completely on mathematics and science and yet seems so indifferent to the innumeracy and scientific illiteracy of so many of its citizens. . .and at the belief that mathematics is an esoteric discipline with little relation or connection to the ‘real’ world.”

(Engendering Development Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources, and Voice, A World Bank Policy Research Report, Oxford University Press, 2001.)“Just as there are positive correlations between a mother’s schooling and her children’s birth weight, health and nutritional status, a mother’s schooling is positively linked to her children’s educational attainment. Why? First, education improves the efficiency of human capital production: better educated mothers are better able to guide their children—through home school and the use of more educational inputs, and as role models. Second, the educational achievement of mothers is an indicator of their unobservable abilities, which are positively correlated with those of their children.”

(Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project, Robert P. Moses and Charles E. Cobb, Jr., Beacon Press, 2001. Robert Moses, founder of the national math literacy program, the Algebra Project, is a 2004 winner of The Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education.)“Today, I want to argue, the most urgent social issue affecting poor people and people of color is economic access. In today’s world, economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math and scientific literacy. I believe that the absence of math literacy in urban and rural communities throughout this country is an issue as urgent as the lack of registered Black voters in Mississippi was in 1961. . .I know how strange it can sound to say that math literacy—and algebra in particular—is the key to the future of disenfranchised communities, but that’s what I think, and believe with all of my heart.