Jo Boaler

Jo Boaler (born 1964 ) is a British education author and Nomellini–Olivier Professor of Education at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Boaler is involved in promoting reform mathematics and writes about equity in mathematics education. She cofounded youcubed, a Stanford research center with mathematics education resources for teachers, students and parents, and she cofounded a company that sells a math game app. She is the author, co-author or editor of eighteen mathematics books, including What's Math Got To Do With It?, The Elephant in the Classroom, As part of initial training to become an educational psychologist, Boaler spent two years of secondary school teaching in central London at Haverstock School in Camden. After teaching experiences there inspired her to change course, Boaler received a master's degree and a PhD in mathematics education from King's College London in 1991 and 1996. Her PhD research compared three-year case studies of two different schools.

Career Emigration to the US In 1998, Boaler became an assistant professor at Stanford University's Graduate School of Education. and 2008 publication. The study compared 3 cohorts of students, one from each school, each of whom started algebra in 9th grade, but under different conditions. At the two schools the study dubbed “Greendale” and “Hilltop”, where some students took algebra 1 in 8th grade due to "tracking", the study followed a track of students who took algebra 1 in 9th grade and were offered a "traditional" curriculum. These cohorts were compared against an unspecified subset of students at "Railside" school (over an hour north of the other 2 schools) which followed a "reform" curriculum and had all students start algebra in 9th grade (detracking). Findings from the study were used to support further reform efforts.

In 2006, Stanford mathematician R. James Milgram filed a complaint of research misconduct against Boaler over various concerns about methodology and data representation. Milgram later co-authored a paper along with mathematician Wayne Bishop of California State University at Los Angeles and statistician Paul Clopton, stating that Boaler's conclusions in the Railside study were "grossly exaggerated and do not translate into success for her treatment [of] students". A report published by Stanford stated that the allegations "do not have substance" and that Boaler offered a "scientific rationale" for each of the disputed claims. Describing the complaint as a matter of "academic debate", the university declined to investigate further. In 2012, Boaler published a statement on her Stanford homepage, accusing Milgram, Bishop (and others) of harassment, persecution, and attempts to "suppress research evidence". Bishop and Milgram each issued rebuttals.

Return to England In 2006, Boaler left Stanford for the United Kingdom. She was awarded a posting as the Marie Curie professor at Sussex University by the Marie Curie Foundation. While in England, Boaler authored two books, What's Math Got To Do With It? and The Elephant in the Classroom. Youcubed offers K–12 mathematics education resources to teachers, students and parents and sells professional development courses to teachers. In 2024, Boaler and youcubed partnered with Stanford's women's basketball team to use statistics to help students and players grades four through 10 improve and make decisions with data through basketball.

Struggly Boaler is one of several cofounders of a children’s math game web app called Struggly, a brand of Boggl Inc, which is a customer of denkwerk, a consulting and digital design agency with a history of awards for design. After Struggly’s 2023 launch, Struggly and denkwerk were jointly honored with several design-related awards.

California mathematics framework Boaler is one of five original authors of the 2021 and 2022 drafts for the California Department of Education's 2023 Mathematics Framework, which like the older 2013 framework, provides guidance for K–12 math teaching and learning in California public schools. Boaler is also the most cited author in the framework, with it citing Boaler 48 times, in addition to citing youcubed 28 times. The final version of the framework also reflects input from educators, parents, students, and others who commented during two 60-day review periods in 2021 and 2022.

Before its 2023 revision, the 2021 and 2022 framework drafts by Boaler et al faced considerable criticism and pushback. Stanford's math department's director of undergraduate studies Brian Conrad wrote an Article for The Atlantic expressing concerns that the proposed CMF risked derailing public school math education to the extent that "only the children of families with resources beyond the public schools" would be able to access adequate high school preparation for successful STEM degrees. After several delays, a revised framework was approved in July 2023 by the state Board of Education incorporating changes recommended by WestEd.

Dispute over Oxnard contract

In 2022, Boaler was involved in a public online dispute with Jelani Nelson, a computer science professor at the University of California, Berkeley and an opponent of the 2021 mathematics framework. Nelson had retweeted a public high school teacher's screenshot from a consulting contract between Boaler and Oxnard School District, from the district's website. The retweeted contract page showed $40,000 paid to Boaler for 4 2-hour sessions (plus any preparation). Nelson's retweet criticized charging fees of this size to "large minority populations" (it was 97% non-white), given her involvement in a California math framework draft that he said "states improving math learning for black students as central and has 0 black authors". Boaler sent Nelson an email accusing him of "spreading misinformation and harassing me online" and stating that "the sharing of private details about me on social media yesterday is now being taken up by police and lawyers". Nelson posted a screenshot of Boaler's email and wrote that "Black people disagreeing with you on Twitter is not a crime". Boaler told reporters she had not intended her mention of police to be perceived as a threat, and said authorities had instead been contacted about Boaler's home address appearing on a different tweeted page of the Oxnard-website contract, not retweeted by Nelson. She also said she had received threats because of the postings. She later tweeted that Nelson was "the black male professor" who "very cleverly changed my request to meet into a claim of racism".

Anonymous complaint

In March 2024, an anonymous complaint was sent to Stanford University's dean of research alleging Boaler had violated the research policies of the University. The complaint accuses Boaler of "disregard for accuracy", documenting 52 cases in which Boaler allegedly misstated or misconstrued external studies. As with the earlier complaint from 2006, the University reviewed the complaint and decided the matter did not warrant an investigation, stating "the allegations reflect scholarly disagreement and interpretation". Boaler responded to this with an article published by Threo and the American Association of University Professors Journal: Academe, about the attempts to suppress her work and research that focuses on equitable approaches to mathematics instruction.

Awards and honors 2000 National Science Foundation Early Career Grant 2014 NCSM (National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics) Kay Gilliland Equity Award 2016 The California Mathematics Council Walter Denham Memorial Award for Leadership 2019 The Nomellini–Olivier Endowed Chair and Nomellini & Olivier Professor of Education

Publications

Books

Boaler, J. (1997) Experiencing School Mathematics: Teaching Styles, Sex and Setting Boaler, J., editor (2000) Multiple Perspectives on Mathematics Teaching & Learning Boaler, J & Humphreys, C (2005) Connecting Mathematical Ideas: Middle School Cases of Teaching & Learning Boaler, J (2008) What’s Math Got to do With It? Boaler, J. (2015) Mathematical Mindsets: Unleashing Students' Potential Through Creative Math, Inspiring Messages and Innovative Teaching Boaler, J. (2019) Limitless Mind. Learn, Lead and Live without Barriers Boaler, J., Munson, J., & Williams, C. (2017–2021) K-8 Book Series. Mindset Mathematics: Visualizing and Investigating Big ideas Boaler, J. (2024) Math-ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics