Changing How Math Is Taught—and Experienced

In a world where math class often conjures dread instead of delight, Dr. Raj Shah has made it his mission to flip the script. A former physicist and R&D engineer at Intel, Dr. Shah's journey took an unexpected turn in 2008 when he left the corporate world behind to found Math Plus Academy — an after-school STEM enrichment program for elementary and middle school students.

Since then, he has steadily built a reputation not as a conventional teacher or textbook author, but as a thought leader, keynote speaker, and coach for educators desperate to bring real thinking and curiosity back into the math classroom.

From Physics Lab to Math Playground

Dr. Shah earned his Ph.D. in Physics in 1999 and spent almost a decade in R&D, working in environments where struggle was not something to be avoided but expected. In laboratories and engineering teams, problems were rarely well-defined, answers were experimental, and progress depended on persistence and collaboration.

What struck him later, when he began working with students and teachers, was how different school math felt.

In classrooms, struggle was a liability. Speed was rewarded. Answers were revealed quickly. Curiosity was often treated as a detour rather than the point.

Students who could spend hours grappling with complex video games shut down when faced with problems in math class.

Shah began asking a question that would shape his work for decades: What if math class were designed less like a worksheet and more like a video game?

That question led Shah to found Math Plus Academy, a STEM enrichment company that served students and families for almost 20 years, ultimately leading to a successful exit in 2025.

The academy became a testing ground for his ideas: rich problems that sparked student curiosity, and classrooms built around thinking rather than telling.

The impact was consistent and measurable. Thousands of students who once labeled themselves as "not a math person" began leaning in. Confidence grew alongside competence. Parents noticed not just higher achievement, but a shift in how students talked about themselves and math.

Best program ever. I teach math and science in a public school. I enrolled my son almost a year ago and I have seen amazing changes in self-confidence, an increase in strategies used, excitement about solving word problems, etc.

In 2025, Shah successfully exited the business to focus on influencing classroom math instruction at scale across schools and districts.

Principles over Procedures

At the heart of Dr. Shah's philosophy lie three core beliefs:

Rather than handing students algorithms, he encourages teachers to launch tasks that spark questions, allow for exploration, and even invite struggle. He argues that many textbook problems — laden with words or rigid structure — kill any chance of genuine engagement. In response, he shares "rich tasks," puzzles, games, visual challenges, and open problems that provoke wonder, conversation, and deep thinking.

This isn't about lowering standards or avoiding challenge — quite the opposite. Dr. Shah believes the most meaningful math comes when students are allowed to wrestle with difficult ideas, make mistakes, and keep trying until they see solutions from unexpected angles.

A Movement, Not Just a Method

Over the years, Dr. Shah's influence has grown far beyond his enrichment academy. He's a founding member of Global Math Project, an initiative that has reached millions of students and thousands of teachers worldwide by sharing the joy of mathematical thinking.

He is also a contributing author to McGraw Hill's Reveal Math K-12 textbook series, bringing his proven methods into one of the most widely used curricula in the country.

He has delivered keynotes at national and international conferences — including state math conferences, virtual summits, and even a TEDx talk — often leaving audiences energized, inspired, and eager to try something radically different the next time they step into a classroom.

Today, Shah works primarily with teachers, schools, and districts, helping them rethink how math is taught and experienced.

The through line in all of his work—whether professional development, keynotes, or curriculum design—is not methodology, but mindset.

He asks teachers to delay answers.

To pose questions differently.

To see student brilliance before student deficits.

And, perhaps most difficult of all, to trust that productive struggle is not a detour from learning, but its engine.

What Teachers Notice

Teachers who encounter Shah's work often describe a shift that is as personal as it is professional.

It was one of the best PDs I've participated in. My mind literally exploded as I understood math with an inquiry mindset.

Others see the impact immediately in their classrooms.

I was afraid it would take away from class time. But students actually work faster on regular assignments and are more willing to tackle new concepts without panicking.

My kids are excited to come to math class now. And I can't believe how much they are capable of.

Why Schools (Especially Today) Need Someone Like Dr. Shah

In an era when automation and AI threaten to neutralize routine computation — the once-dominant skillset of school math — what remains indispensable is one's ability to think, reason, and persevere in the face of complexity. Dr. Shah argues that if schools continue to equate math with memorization and quick procedures, they will graduate a generation ill-equipped for a world that demands creativity and conceptual understanding.

What students will need, he argues, is not just correctness, but confidence in the face of uncertainty; not just answers, but the ability to reason, adapt, and persist.

In that sense, Shah's work is less about math content than about human capability.

A Career Built on Practice, Not Prescription

Dr. Raj Shah is not a theorist removed from classrooms, nor a motivational speaker offering platitudes. He has taught students, built a business, exited it successfully, contributed to national curriculum, and spent thousands of hours alongside teachers doing the slow, careful work of change.

Put Dr. Shah in front of your teachers and you're not just getting a speaker: you're getting a catalyst. A chance to rethink what math class can be, to rekindle wonder, and to give students the experience of thinking deeply.

If you want math classes where students lean in rather than check out, where curiosity trumps compliance, where mistakes are sources of insight, not failures — you want Dr. Raj Shah at the helm.

His message is consistent: meaningful improvement in math education does not come from more programs, but from better questions—and from believing, deeply, in students' capacity to think.

The work begins there.