Engaging Communities To Meet the Moment

Numeracy helps us make sense of and engage with the world. As soon as we wake up, we’re using math—from powering on our devices to understanding our voting rights. But too often, students are being disconnected from meaningful math and routed through an outdated education system that doesn’t prepare them for college, civic life, and the workforce of the future.

Our eighth annual conference, The Mathematics of Opportunity 2026, explored how we—as educators, researchers, policy leaders, and advocates—can meet the moment and ensure that math education becomes a gateway to opportunity for all students.

From Student Voices to System Change

As nearly every speaker noted, we have to start by centering student needs, interests, and experiences. Brianna Wright, doctoral student at UCLA, emphasized this point during the student voices panel: “Number one, listen to students, and be able to respond to the different pathways and backgrounds that they have.” 

Traditional modes of math instruction do not prioritize student voice or choice, and lead to inequitable outcomes, particularly for Black, Latinx, and lower-income students. As Annie Shan, a high school senior at BASIS Independent Brooklyn, pointed out: “The current math curriculum prioritizes procedural learning and rote memorization of formulas and concepts over real-life learning that is contextualized in the lived experience of students.” Math courses must respond to student interests, the ever-changing digital world we live in, and workforce needs.

Improving curriculum and pedagogy means making math come alive and keeping students engaged throughout, Aisha Lowe, associate vice chancellor at Los Rios Community College District, told participants. “It cannot simply be equations on the board. It needs to be connected to things they interact with in their lives.” 

This focus on student needs calls on institutions to rethink their approaches, noted Brendan Kelly, director of introductory math at Harvard University. “There's a lot of conversation about students being college ready. What if we shift that frame and ask if our colleges are student ready? And do we have systems and structures in place that really help them?” 

‍Transforming Math Education 

Several speakers, including Allison Scott, CEO of the Kapor Foundation, labeled this moment as one of transformation—and even disruption. “How do we use this opportunity to design something different?” she asked. 

Panelists explored a range of policies shaping the future of high school and postsecondary math education, including dual enrollment. Aurely Garcia Tulloch, research analyst at the Community College Research Center, shared data showing how dual enrollment has been expanding college access, especially Black, Latinx, and low-income students. 

Engaging Communities Through Mathematics

The conference also highlighted the role communities play in shaping the future of mathematics. Communities need to be more involved in what’s happening in school, and schools need to be more integrated and involved with what’s happening in the community, Kiera Brodsky Chase, director of instructional design and research at ConnectED, told participants. 

Kagba N. Suaray, professor at Cal State Long Beach, shared the powerful example of a data science learning community that includes a local school district, area community colleges, and community partners working with the university to solve local problems. “We’re all at the table together as equal partners, with a singular vision that was cast and defined by the community.” 

Math also brings power and resources to communities through the electoral redistricting process, underscored Ryan P. Haygood, president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “Our charge is to ensure a full count every decade, so that our communities are accurately reflected in the census and ultimately the redistricting process,” he said. “I encourage math teachers to encourage their students, for students to encourage their parents, to answer [the census questionnaire] however they can.”

Ashley Stone, senior director at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Center for Policy Analysis and Research, brought it home with a call to action for all of us: “If you’re an educator, it’s about ensuring that all students are exposed to a rigorous, engaging math curriculum. If you’re an advocate, it’s about supporting policies and funding that expand access to advanced coursework, stronger instruction, and STEM pathways. And if you’re a community member, it’s about simply asking the question: What opportunities do students in my community actually have and who might be missing out?”

From the opening keynote dialogue to the closing session, the ideas shared will undoubtedly shape the next chapter of math education. And the most profound part of the conference is that the dialogue did not end on April 16. It is ongoing, as we individually and collectively advance policies to reimagine the role of math.

Just Equations’ policy agenda captures the actions needed to get us there—including redesigning high school math to provide students with multiple avenues to establish a strong math foundation, rethinking math admissions requirements to expand equitable access, creating postsecondary math pathways that best prepare students for careers, and ensuring K–12 and higher education systems align policies and curriculum with workforce needs.

Together, we must meet this moment for transforming math education. As Ben Blum-Smith, assistant research scientist at Johns Hopkins University, stressed, if we fail to do so, it will be at our own peril: “Math is being done to you.” You can actively learn and apply math or not, he said. “But it’s being done to you. So … what’ll it be?”