The Math Problem 

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Sluggish growth in math scores for U.S. students began long before the pandemic, but the problem has snowballed into an education crisis. 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.

‘Data days’ and longer math classes: How one district is improving math scores

While the rest of the country’s schools were losing ground in math during the COVID pandemic, students in a small rural Alabama school district soared.  Piedmont City schools landed in the top spot among all school districts nationwide in a comparison of math scores in 2019 and 2022. Other Alabama school districts fared well, too,…

How can you help your kids get better at math?

For young children, board games, counting toys and helping with cooking can improve math skills

The ‘science of reading’ swept reforms into classrooms nationwide. What about math?

Supporters say teaching practices supported by quantitative research could help students, but they are still coming into focus

Teachers conquering their math anxiety

Early childhood educators can build a strong math foundation for students when they build their own confidence

College students are still struggling with basic math. Professors blame the pandemic 

Colleges say there’s no quick fix. Many are trying to identify gaps sooner, adopting placement tests that delve deeper into math skills, while some are adding summer camps

How can schools dig out from a generation’s worth of lost math progress?

Students aren’t bouncing back from the pandemic as quickly as educators hoped, intensifying worries about how they will fare as they enter high school and college-level math courses