Image courtesy of CUNY / Audrey C. Tiernan

“In all of these neighborhoods we had people who were Spanish speakers. Spanish as their first language. And lots of people on the street also preferred to speak in Spanish. By going out and doing those interviews, anyone who knew Spanish was pushed automatically up to be a leader because they needed to be the ones to translate. So there were students who had been silent in the classroom, and then all of a sudden, they were authentically needed and that was an opening of the curtain.” 

Professor of Mathematics Education Laurie Rubel discusses City Digits, a New York City based educational project to engage minoritized students in thinking about and using math in their local contexts. Read the full interview at the Data Feminism publication on Medium.