Jo Boaler Talks Math Ed on Public Radio

KALW San Francisco's Jen Chien spoke to Stanford University math education researcher Jo Boaler about engaging women and minorities in STEM fields.

Boaler's mother encouraged her to pursue math, and Boaler was aware from a young age of the ineffectiveness of much math instruction. Current research suggests that timed tests contribute to math anxiety, Boaler says, and traditional teaching practices may further achievement gaps.

"The approaches that we know work from research—problem-solving, engaging with math visually, which is very important—are not good for a particular group of kids. They're good for all kids," says Boaler. "They're good for girls, boys, white, black, any color kid. It's really important that we have kids working in these ways because that's how math is used in the world."

Hear the conversation.