[citation needed] She is the co-founder and faculty director of youcubed,[5] a Stanford centre that offers mathematics education resources to teachers, students and parents.

[10] Her mother attended Open University to study to become a teacher and in this way Boaler experienced "cutting-edge, play-based educational ideas of the day".

[10] In 2006, Stanford mathematician R. James Milgram filed a complaint of research misconduct against Boaler over the validity of her data collection methods.

[21][25] In addition to focusing on inquiry-based learning,[18] Boaler's research has highlighted the problems associated with ability grouping in England and the US.

[30] In 2012 Boaler published an article on her Stanford homepage, accusing Milgram, Bishop (and others) of harassment, persecution, and attempts to "suppress research evidence".

[35] In an Op-Ed signed by Boaler and several colleagues, the group praised the effort, claiming the repeat rate for 9th grade algebra dropped from 40% to 8%.

[10] A 2023 study by a team of Stanford Education academics found that this updated policy failed to improve ethnoracial gaps in advanced math course-taking.

In March 2024, 82 percent of San Francisco voters passed Proposition G, a non-binding resolution urging the school board to reverse its previous decision to delay Algebra 1.

[39] Boaler criticized New York State's 2015 implementation of a Common Core–based math curriculum as being too focused on speed and rote learning at the expense of students' ability to think about numbers creatively.

[45][46] For example, authors describing themselves as "a significant majority of black faculty across the UC system in fields related to data science (mathematics, statistics, and electrical engineering/computer science)" wrote an open letter expressing concerns that the proposed California Math Framework (CMF) and associated UC policy changes would cause harm to "Californian students, and especially on students of color."

[48] After several delays,[49] a revised Framework was approved in July 2023 by the state board of education[50] incorporating changes recommended by WestEd.

[52] As with the earlier complaint from 2006, the university declined to investigate the matter, stating that the allegations were reviewed and they "reflect scholarly disagreement and interpretation".