Adding Joy, Subtracting Limits: Aditya Nagrath’s Formula for Math Equality with Elephant Learning

Mathematics surrounds almost every aspect of life, but for many—kids included—it’s become a source of anxiety and a symbol of inequality rather than one of enlightenment. Aditya Nagrath, PhD, a computer scientist and mathematician, is on a mission to subtract the social limitations of math and make the subject fun again. Through Elephant Learning, an innovative educational platform, Aditya seeks to redefine the way kids experience and engage with mathematics. Passion, purpose, fail-safe methodology, and eccentricities included, Aditya is building the gateway between education and a functional life: mathematics, the great equalizer.

Aditya’s off-kilter step toward the larger movement of equitable, quality education for all stems from a profound understanding of math’s potential. In fact, Aditya defines math as ‘the tool you use to solve any problem.’ In this day and age, it’s vital to understand that mathematics isn’t confined to calculations and the memorization of multiplication tables. Calculating tips and understanding interest rates requires an understanding of percentages, and books on personal finance require an understanding of algebra—math is the matrix that precedes full participation in society.

However, Aditya recognizes that the way math is traditionally taught, through rigid memorization and rote learning, is not conducive to the understanding of the subject. He’s here to change that by bringing joy, curiosity, and meaning back to mathematics.

Elephant Learning, an educational app available on all devices and platforms, is designed to support each user in increasing their mathematical understanding by one year in Elephant Age™—over just three months of learning. With a simple, delightfully colorful, gamified curriculum that takes students on an individualized journey of puzzles and satisfying solutions, almost 180,000 students have shown improvement in their placement tests, demonstrating their potential for excelling in math.

After completing his thesis on universal algebra and the relationship between topological and algebraic spaces, as well as finding a novel proof that uses compactness twice, Aditya accomplished his PhD in Mathematics and Computer Science in 2008. In 2009, he moved to Ukraine to establish his contract software engineering company, Elephant Head Software. Between then and 2016, his team developed 35 product lines to bring to market with over 50 applications—some of which were for some of the biggest technology companies in the world.

Then, in 2016, Aditya reunited with his professors at the University of Denver, a meeting that sowed the seeds for Elephant Learning. They were developing math games for preschoolers but facing challenges with grants and funding. With a lifelong passion for math and an illustrious career in software development, Aditya took to the case and was able to create and fund the app’s development. He was ardent in completing his professor’s vision—a guarantee to teach a year’s worth of math in three months with as little as 10 minutes of daily use—after a pivotal conversation the two shared.

“Four out of every five students start kindergarten unprepared for the curriculum, which is counting to 10. The research shows that children who start behind stay behind,” he recounts.

His professor’s worries are more than backed by research on childhood development and educational inequality. Almost 60% of four-year-olds lack enrollment in preschool, and studies show significant differences in third-grade math and reading scores between those who did and didn’t attend preschool. Additionally, the pass/fail outcome of eighth-grade algebra is a strong predictor of high school drop-out rates—students who fail the class are more than four times as likely to drop out. Math has proven itself to be a significant factor in life outcomes, however, income brackets are an important interactant in a student’s access to quality math education from preschool to college. It’s confirmed that lower-income students fall behind by three years to their funded peers.

The lifelong gap introduced by income inequality and reified by lack of access to math education is why Aditya hopes to realize a world of freedom, possibility, and power through education; and apps like Elephant Learning. Now reaching the minds of over 179,000 students with 215,000 (and counting) years of mathematics, Elephant Learning guides students from the basics of counting all the way to university-level algebra with adaptive algorithms that mold curriculums to students’ needs.

He believes that empowering students with math skills opens doors to opportunity, as he did throughout his career. Through scholarship programs, the platform ensures accessibility to all household income levels. Tuition is based on need and is even offered for free for families who can’t otherwise afford the resource.

Aditya’s infectious enthusiasm for the power of math and down-to-earth, bookish charm make him a natural advocate for all-encompassing math education. Like other personalities who have brought the wonders of science and space to children across the world, Aditya aims to make math engaging and relevant for modern audiences. “The world is becoming more mathematical. AI is a mathematical tool, and because of digitization, understanding statistical analysis is a core skill required for business majors in college these days,” he notes. By teaching the concepts behind the calculations, Aditya believes anything is possible.

His second book, Treating Mathematics Anxiety, introduces strategies to address the cultural and psychological barriers that cause ‘mathematics anxiety.’ Aditya is also a frequent guest on education conferences, TV, and podcast shows. He’s got no plans to stop here and is now ready to integrate Elephant Learning into more schools’ curricula and expand its reach. With this, Aditya is showing the next generation of learners a world they can mold through mathematics. With every solved equation, Aditya is redefining how math is taught and understood through equality and curiosity.