What have I learned?

Creating this website was a really eye-opening experience. As an aspiring math teacher, I already knew just how important math education really is. What I didn’t realize, however, is how many people and organizations there are who are trying to reform mathematics education in order to increase math literacy. It’s a really great feeling knowing that there are people all around the country not only fighting to provide all students with a quality math education, but also a quality public school experience in general. In the news you so frequently here about what’s wrong with our schools, and it often times seems so bad that you think there is nothing we can do. Through my research I came to realize that this is not the case – there is plenty of hope for the public education system.

Before taking Urban Education at Bowdoin College, I didn’t know much about grassroots organizations. I knew that they existed, and while I occasionally would ready about one in the newspaper or hear about one on the evening news, I wasn’t really familiar with any specific ones either. After completing my research, I am truly amazed at the power of these organizations. I found some that were quite large and known around the country, while others were small and specific to one need of a high school. Regardless, they were all working towards one common goal- making students’ lives better. Some wanted to improve math literacy. Others wanted to help make the US perform competitively in mathematics with the rest of the world. And a few simply wanted to change the math textbooks the school district was using because they felt the math program wasn’t helping students to learn. These were the main reasons these organizations were created, but I found that all of them cared about more than just math. They wanted to see students excel in all areas of their lives. They wanted to make the public education system a place where people wanted to go to learn.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” -Helen Keller

When I hear the word organization, I am quick to think of business men and executives. With the grassroots organizations that I studied, however, many of them were started by parents. These parents saw something that wasn’t working within the education system and decided that rather than sitting around and hoping it would change on its own, they would go out and change it themselves. It really goes to show that if you get enough people together, you can make a difference. If enough people are willing to fight for something, your voices will be heard.

Equally interesting was that even in the grassroots organizations started by parents, they included other individuals as well. Teachers and administrators got involved, as well as educational experts and community leaders. Everybody has a unique story and situation, and they are all connected to public education in different ways. This is extremely useful when it comes to reform. Having multiple view points allows you to think in ways that you might otherwise not have.

“It’s not about what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings” -Ann Landers

One aspect of grassroots organizations that I haven’t reflected on yet is the students themselves. I was blown away with just how involved some students are. The Baltimore Algebra Project, for example, is based around student tutors. Without them, the project would be nothing. And if you think about it, it makes perfect sense to have youth involved in educational reform. Who does the reform affect? The students. They are the ones who live in the school day after day, so their voices need to be heard. It’s important for students to know that their opinions of their schooling matter.

I’m confident that urban education is moving in the right direction. While this class pointed to a number of things that are wrong with urban ed, there is plenty that is right with it, and even more is being done to make it better.