Bob Moses Research Center for Math Literacy at FIU

Civil Rights hero and founder of the Algebra Project, Bob Moses, saw a correlation between the fight for the right to vote in the 1960s and the fight for quality education today. Moses recognized that math literacy is vital for economic survival and full citizenship in the 21st century. Following Moses’ vision, our Center’s mission is to: 

• advance student agency in math learning,
• improve math achievement and 
• foster systemic change in public education. 

 Today, our nation is facing a math education crisis: 

• 68% of all students in the USA fail to achieve proficiency in Mathematics.
• Florida's 8th-grade students face a staggering 77% failure rate in math proficiency.
• Globally, US education ranks a concerning 30th in student math proficiency.

 

These statistics are not just alarming; they're a call to action. Our children deserve better, and it's our responsibility and theirs to provide it. 

This GIVE MIAMI DAY we’re rallying our community to raise $50,000 to grow our South Florida community/school-based math programs and to support research initiatives where student, family and community voices are the center of the process. 

 Your GIVE MIAMI DAY 2025 donation will specifically support:

• Growing the Young People’s Project (YPP) at Brownsville Middle School. Through near peer math literacy work, underrepresented youth become agents of change to improve math education for all. Using fun/engaging math activities, students co-create a youth-centered environment, learning how to build relationships with each other and with math. At Brownsville 8th grade students are paid as Math Literacy Workers to instruct their 6th and 7th grade peers through math games.
• Sending a team of Brownsville students to compete in the National YPP Flagway Tournament in Boston, MA in May of 2026! Flagway, an exciting movement-based math game helps students deepen their understanding of number theory. There, young people from across the country will run, solve problems, work in groups and play like an athlete – while building math skills that stick for life. 
• Family & Community Math Events across Miami, where young people facilitate math games and conversations to broaden participation in the urgent call for math literacy. So far, we have hosted Family & Community Math Events with the Overtown Youth Center; The Black Archives Historic Lyric Theater, Miami Northwestern Senior High’s PiDay, Back to School Panther Prowl at FIU; and the Liberty City Health Fair. Help us bring these youth-led Family Math Events to neighborhoods across Miami and South Florida.

PLEASE JOIN US IN TRANSFORMING MATH EDUCATION!  Together alongside our youth, we can empower them and our communities to drive transformative institutional change and unlock a world of opportunities through math education.  

Support the Bob Moses Research Center program fund today!