We know the struggle with mathematics—for both teachers and students—all too well. Students’ math scores, as per the “Nation’s Report Card,” have plunged to record lows. Misconceptions in early grades ...

Few elementary education programs give future teachers enough exposure to foundational math concepts, like number sense and algebraic reasoning, before they reach the classroom. That’s the upshot of a ...

About seven years ago, some friends who had high school-age children urged me to attend a meeting to discuss our district’s math curriculum, called College Preparatory Math (CPM). Until then I hadn’t ...

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Linda Darling-Hammond is an expert on education research and policy. This blog was updated on June 24, 2026 to clarify a statistic ...

In the latest version of the Nation’s Report Card, students’ math scores fell an average of five points for fourth graders and eight points for eighth graders nationwide. This historic drop in scores ...

Far too many students enter math class expecting to fail. For them, math isn’t just a subject–it’s a source of anxiety that chips away at their confidence and makes them question their abilities. A ...

What mathematical knowledge do elementary teachers use in teaching? About 10 years ago, Deborah Ball and her colleagues at Michigan State University carried out a research project to address this ...

In its “State of the States” report on math instruction published last week, the National Council on Teacher Quality sharply criticized California and many of its teacher certification programs for ...

Imagine you’re a character in a math problem. You have three platters, but two cakes. All three platters need to have the same amount of cake. How would you split it? Without even saying the word ...