How did the Algebra Project develop over time?
I took on more students at the Martin Luther King School. Not too long after that first year, I worked with a group of black undergraduates at Harvard University to create a transition math curric- ulum for 6th graders. We expanded into a couple of schools in Boston, and gradually, we branched into different places around the country. We really haven’t marketed the Algebra Project—we have expanded into schools that contacted us and asked for our assistance. We haven’t developed a central staff that goes out and runs projects, and the main reason is that education has to respond to local conditions. To be successful, people in a given community must be dedicated to making changes. What are some of the changes that need to be made? You have been teaching algebra for almost 20 years. Has your experience helped you identify some of the barriers minority students face when learning algebra? The chief barriers are the deficits that children carry with them into the classroom. You can deal wi
