How is understanding algebra linked to citizenship?
People who don’t understand algebra today are like those people who couldn’t read or write in the industrial age. Computers have made elementary mathematics as important as reading and writing. Knowing algebra is the new floor, so to speak. To participate fully in a world driven by computer technology, to be able to get a job that supports a family, you have to be literate in math—and that requires that you have to be at least literate in algebra by the time you go to high school. Also, understanding algebra is a powerful tool that we can use to a much greater end. It can give students access to higher-level math courses, which is important because many school systems still track poor children and children of color into lower-level math courses. What may be more important, though, is the self-confidence that students gain when they master algebra. Many of the students I’ve worked with in the Algebra Project simply weren’t expected to learn this math—and they were somehow convinced that
