Transforming Communities Through Math

What if the communities furthest from opportunity were equipped with the training, tools, and trust to change the systems around them? This is the question that’s inspiring a transformative wave in math education in classrooms and across campuses from California State University (CSU) to Howard University. 

For too long, mathematics and civic learning have existed on parallel paths in education. Students might wrestle with advanced calculus in the morning and discuss social studies in the afternoon, rarely guided to apply their mathematical skills as a lever for community impact. Today, however, math faculty from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) are leading a summer research experience with area community colleges and high schools that is merging these paths through real-world data science programs that build math skills as students learn about their communities.

The program was devised to help students foster positive attitudes toward STEM through seeing how data science and team-based approaches can address challenges affecting their community. Student innovators from CSU, community colleges, and high schools team up with nonprofit partners in areas such as youth engagement and health equity to answer research questions. This shift is grounded in a simple but revolutionary premise: Mathematics should be taught in a way that empowers learners to understand and change their world. 

“We matched them with community partners—nonprofits in their local areas—so that they would see how the power of statistical thinking and data science could impact real people in local communities,” noted Kagba Suaray, a math professor at CSULB and one of the project directors. “They felt very connected to the work and got to see how this kind of research can support people and impact society.” 

The program offers students a transformative, hands-on experience in data science and applied mathematics. Before students meet with their community partners to identify local challenges, they skill up on coding and methodological skills. Virtual team meetings help frame research questions and strategies. Students then participate in a two-week immersion at CSULB, where daily teamwork allows them to prepare, visualize, and analyze data using advanced statistical and machine learning tools to address real-world problems. 

In addition to technical skills in statistical reasoning and data analysis, students gain university credit. They also develop crucial soft skills, such as collaboration and teamwork. According to CSULB’s findings, all 29 students participating reported that the experience strengthened their ability to locate and analyze data and showed them how to design an engaging project from start to finish. Nearly all of the participating students also said that the program’s collaborative, multi-institutional model and guidance by faculty mentors enhanced their learning. 

CSULB also sponsors Data Day at the Beach, which brings together the entire community—local families, faculty members, nonprofits, and industry partners—for an all-day immersion in data science. Through panels, activities, and real-world projects, participants see firsthand how mathematical literacy can unlock careers, civic engagement, and creative problem-solving. 

At Howard University, the Quantitative Histories Workshop stands as a model for how mathematics can serve both scholarship and society when rooted in genuine collaboration.  Rather than limiting participation to those with the most formal training, the workshop welcomes students, faculty, and community members to share expertise and resources in pursuit of representative community-centered research. 

Gathering weekly, participants dive into U.S. census data using R and Python. Members tackle data analysis, swap visualization techniques, and explore statistical modeling. These meetings are not just focused on technical mastery; they are laboratories for collective action on community challenges, such as housing insecurity.  

The Quantitative Histories Workshop also hosts a series called Critical Computational Geographies, which engages participants to unravel major topics, such as segregation and inequality, through mapping and mathematical modeling. Open to the public and held virtually, the series brings together instructors and guest experts from Howard, Spelman, and Morehouse colleges, connecting the work to deeper explorations of land use, land loss, and community-driven research. 

Centering real-world problems and the voices of those who experience them, the workshop invites participants to develop both their data skills and their civic agency. Through transparent research practices and shared learning, this program proves that there are no boundaries to who can do math.