Even before the pandemic slowed learning for many, only 39 percent of California students demonstrated proficiency on the state math assessment. During the pandemic, the proportion of math-proficient students fell to one-third. At the same time, the STEM workforce faces shortages and a lack of diversity, which call into question the longstanding…

In his work leading professional development, Peter Klosterman found that teachers specifically asked for help teaching optimisation more effectively. To address challenges students often experience solving optimisation problems, he explains useful pedagogical strategies to support the teaching of optimisation and student learning in this topic.

The teaching of fractions is often identified as the point in primary school instruction when the "wheels tend to fall off". While there could be many reasons for this, the overuse of one 'preferred' resource at the expense of a range of representations will often create gaps in understanding at best, and misconceptions at its worst. In…

Researchers have found that early math competencies are potent predictors of later student outcomes in math, reading, and executive functioning. This paper describes what early math instruction can look like and how some states have implemented evidence-backed strategies to teaching. Recommendations are given to State education leaders seeking to…

In this article, the authors present variants to the classic problem the Prisoner's Dilemma. They discuss how senior secondary school students can use these variations to explore basic game theory concepts and develop mathematical proficiencies and practices. They also suggest how students can apply these concepts to decision-making processes in…

Mathematics achievement is positively associated with coding in the classroom. By making mathematical relationships visible to students as they code, teachers leverage rich connections between block-based computer programming and mathematical sense making. In this article, the authors describe strategies for adapting a Code.org lesson integrating…

Proportional reasoning is an important type of reasoning that students need to develop and was thus chosen as the context for my research of multiple-choice (MC) items. My investigations of ways to improve the function of MC items so that they reduced guessing, better addressed higher order thinking and assessed partial knowledge, influenced my…

In this article, the authors reflect on how they would adapt the practices of a previous successful university-public school partnership with the ever-increasing adoption by districts of scripted programs for math instruction at the elementary grade levels. The partnership with rural elementary schools focused on improving students' overall…

More research attention and implementation support are needed for mathematics intervention as student achievement in this area continues to fall below desirable levels. Incremental rehearsal is an intervention to help students build reading, vocabulary, and math fluency. Research supports the use of incremental rehearsal for improving math fact…

This is the executive summary for "Teacher Prep Review: Solving for Math Success." It provides key findings from the full report and recommendations.

Developing students' mathematical knowledge is the key focus of stakeholders involved in mathematics education. At the senior secondary level, for students' undertaking calculus-focused courses, teachers expect students to be fluent in applying procedures related to junior level content and understand the nature of mathematics as a web of…

Early intervention and identity-building can promote the idea among students that everyone is a math person. Natalie Parker-Holliman and Tenisha Marcel-Herbert share practical tools and strategies that schools and teachers can use to build students' confidence and strengthen their mathematical foundation. They highlight the significance of culture…

The main problem for teachers working with students who have various disadvantages is that many of them lack extrinsic motivation and they can get discouraged very easily as they hate feeling less capable than their peers. As a film enthusiast, the author appllied and won an Education Innovation Teacher Challenge grant to run a film-related…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders struggle with learning and retaining many aspects of mathematics. Tasks requiring conceptual understanding and reasoning are especially challenging. Given these difficulties, it is essential that teachers use techniques designed to support mathematical learning. We explain how to infuse…

Effective mathematics teaching elicits and uses evidence of student thinking to assess progress toward mathematical understanding and adjusts instruction continually to support and extend learning (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2014). However, as teachers march through content in precalculus, they tend to rely heavily on traditional…