Math Achievement

Although American students’ math achievement improved slowly between 1990 and 2013 and then plateaued, it fell back sharply during the pandemic. American 15-year-olds rank behind 30 countries and regions on one international test and fourth graders trail 14 countries on another. Math is frustrating for many students, and policymakers agree the U.S. needs to do better in the subject to remain competitive in an increasingly technical global economy. Poor math skills exacerbate inequality, prevent many students from earning high school and college degrees, shut people out of jobs and make it hard for voters to understand complex issues such as the cost of healthcare and the size of the national debt.

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Thrown into the deep end of algebra

An experiment put remedial math students into ninth grade algebra and many succeeded

The Math Problem

This back-to-school-season, the Education Reporting Collaborative, a coalition of eight newsrooms, will be documenting the enormous challenge facing our schools and highlighting examples of progress. The three-year-old Reporting Collaborative includes AL.com, The Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Dallas Morning News, The Hechinger Report, Idaho Education News, The Post and Courier in South Carolina, and The Seattle Times.

AI might disrupt math and computer science classes – in a good way

Racial gaps in math have grown. Could detracking help?

Disabilities in math affect many students — but get little attention

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Some schools cut paths to calculus in the name of equity. One group takes the opposite approach

While some states and districts rethink advanced math classes, the Calculus Project sees that coursework as critical to the success of Black, Hispanic and low-income students

The habits of 7 highly effective schools

Nonprofit counts more than 1,300 U.S. schools where students beat the odds

A decade of data in one state shows an unexpected result when colleges drop remedial courses

Students earned more credits at first, but graduation rates didn’t increase at Tennessee’s community colleges

Reviving a successful math strategy for the early grades

Milwaukee is working to boost teacher confidence in the subject

Building better early grade math teachers: Milwaukee goes back to an old playbook

Twenty years ago, the district launched a math initiative that saw success before the funding ran out. Now, it’s trying to bring back the effort for the early years

Kids who use ChatGPT as a study assistant do worse on tests

Researchers compare math progress of almost 1,000 high school students

Researchers combat AI hallucinations in math

Success in algebra but more work needed in statistics

Schools are embracing summer learning — just as the money dries up

Summer learning options swelled after the pandemic, including in Massachusetts, where the rich-poor gap widened more than in any other state. They have yet to make a significant dent in Covid-related learning loss.

PROOF POINTS: A little parent math talk with kids might really add up, a new body of education research suggests

Mentioning numbers during everyday activities could be more beneficial than workbooks and exercises

Mathematics test scores in some countries have been dropping for years, even as the subject grows in importance

Persistence, motivation, and digital device use are among the concerns raised by a survey of students around the world

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