{"product_id":"the-math-mafia-how-a-persistent-group-of-reformers-standardized-american-education-paperback-softback-9780817362645","title":"The Math Mafia; How a Persistent Group of Reformers Standardized American Education (Paperback \/ softback) 9780817362645","description":"\u003cfont face=\"Georgia\"\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"6\"\u003eThe Math Mafia\u003c\/font\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\r\n\u003cfont size=\"5\"\u003eHow a Persistent Group of Reformers Standardized American Education\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"4\"\u003eEmily T. Hamilton (Author), Alexandra Evonne Hui (Foreword by)\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e9780817362645\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003ePaperback \/ softback, published 15 August 2026\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e264 pages, 11 B\u0026amp;W figures\u003cbr\u003e22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.4 kg\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Hamilton's polished prose recounts a story important to both scholars and the general public.\" —Peggy Kidwell, coauthor of \u003ci\u003eTools of American Mathematics Teaching, 1800–2000\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Emily Hamilton's book provides a thorough study of twentieth-century math education, grounded in interesting debates about the role of the federal government in classroom reforms.\" —Andrew Fiss, author of \u003ci\u003ePerforming Math: A History of Communication and Anxiety in the American Mathematics Classroom\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"Drawing on a wealth of wide-ranging primary sources, Emily Hamilton reveals the astonishing constancy of anxiety over mathematics achievement in the United States and how mathematics education became a model for today's assessment-oriented K-12 education.\" —Jemma Lorenat, author of \u003ci\u003eInstructing the Mathematical Imagination\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp align=\"justify\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow Cold War urgency, academic ambition, and federal power converged to make math the cornerstone of American education policy.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Math Mafia\u003c\/i\u003e by Emily T. Hamilton is a historical account of mathematics education reform in twentieth-century America and how that movement played a role in shaping the broader contours of national education policy. Hamilton contends that a cohesive and well-organized community of advocates was instrumental in the rise of standardized testing and curriculum reforms, as well as federal involvement in classrooms, especially during the Cold War. By positioning mathematics as central to national strength and security, these reformers established math education as a key area of federal focus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \"mafia\" at the center of Hamilton's story includes mathematicians, educators, and researchers from universities, as well as members of government-funded organizations such as the National Science Foundation and various educational psychology circles. Prominent figures such as Edward Begle, who led the School Mathematics Study Group during the \"new math\" movement, played key roles. Other influential participants include federal education officials, advocates from professional organizations such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and cognitive scientists, who contributed both research and theoretical frameworks that informed curriculum design and assessment methods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Math Mafia\u003c\/i\u003e offers historians, educators, policymakers, and other interested readers a compelling perspective on the legacy of the math education reforms on federal education policy in the United States and is a welcome contribution to ongoing discourse around \"teaching toward the test,\" educational equity, school performance, and other hot-button issues in US education today.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cfont size=\"3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eList of Illustrations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eForeword\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAbbreviations\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 1. Wake Up America! Your Children Are at Risk!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 2. The Old Origins of the New Math\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 3. Assessment to Reassessment: Reevaluation of the New Math Projects\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 4. The MACOS Scandal and an Anthropology of Reform\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 5. Assessing the Nation\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusion\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotes\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorks Cited\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/font\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\u003c\/font\u003e","brand":"University Alabama Press","offers":[{"title":"Brand New","offer_id":52574471422232,"sku":"9780817362645","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/freshlyprintedbooks.co.uk\/products\/the-math-mafia-how-a-persistent-group-of-reformers-standardized-american-education-paperback-softback-9780817362645","provider":"Freshly Printed Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}