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The ongoing math wars plus persistent teacher pipeline issues are among the most powerful forces behind students鈥� longstanding poor performance in the subject, a new study finds. 

The Center on Reinventing Public Education鈥檚 latest notes the number of teacher preparation program graduates ready to teach math fell by 36% from 2012 to 2020, dovetailing with a decline in student achievement. While the study released today did not prove causality, the link, researchers say, seems clear.聽

鈥淗igh-quality teachers matter,鈥� CRPE director Robin Lake said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the most powerful in-school factor in kids鈥� learning experience and it鈥檚 something people are not talking about enough.鈥� 

At the same time, a topic that has been widely discussed 鈥� the debate over whether explicit direct instruction trumps a more student-centered learning approach 鈥� has left some educators unsure of how to teach the subject, researchers found.

鈥淭he math wars are as old as education itself,鈥� said CRPE senior fellow Alexander Kurz. 鈥淭hat debate is alive and well through the science of math. As an educator, you are caught in the crossfire.鈥� 

The result: Nearly 4 in 10 eighth graders failed to achieve even the most basic level of math proficiency on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, such as calculating the area of a circle or multiplying fractions, the study notes. The most recent NAEP scores, released just last week, showed the nation鈥檚 12th graders doing worse in math than any senior class of the past generation.

While those scores were the first to come out for seniors since COVID, the study鈥檚 authors say the problem long predates the pandemic. They note that math performance in U.S. public schools has been declining for more than a decade and achievement gaps are at historic highs.

Girls, low-income kids, Black and Hispanic students, children with disabilities and multilingual learners are struggling most, CRPE reports. Citing NAEP data, the report notes that since 1990, the gap between the highest- and lowest-scoring students has grown 18% wider among eighth graders and more than 8.5% wider among fourth graders.

In addition to the teacher shortage and instructional quagmire, CRPE cites a number of other factors it believes contribute to abysmal student performance pre- and post- pandemic, including that many states’ test scores are inflated, obscuring results, 鈥渆specially for different student groups.鈥�

The report, the fourth of its kind, found that in , for example, students鈥� average math grade point average jumped 0.34 points from 2019 to 2021, triple the increase of the prior eight years. 

In , the report notes, math proficiency dropped 11 points on state exams while A and B grades on local courses declined by only 3 points. 

鈥淎 national study from 2021 to 2023 found that 57% of grades didn鈥檛 align with student knowledge as measured by tests, and two-thirds of those misaligned grades were inflated, most often for underserved groups,鈥� the CRPE report reads. 鈥淎CT data show rising GPAs, especially in math, despite falling test scores. By 2021, even students scoring in the 25th percentile were graduating with B averages or better.鈥�

The study found, too, schools are overly rigid, tracking students and hindering their success in the subject.

鈥淢iddle school math-tracking acts as math predestination, putting some students on a track to take Algebra I in eighth grade or earlier,鈥� the report reads. 鈥淟ess-advantaged students are less likely to be placed in advanced math courses, even when they demonstrate readiness.鈥�

Joel Rose, co-founder and chief executive officer of New Classrooms, a nonprofit that focuses on student-centered learning, called the report spot on, adding schools don鈥檛 account for children learning at different speeds. 

鈥淭here is really only one track, the grade-level track,鈥� he said. 鈥淚f you stay on it and never fall behind, you do fine. The problem is most kids fall behind for one reason or another and there are not any viable paths for them to catch back up.鈥�

It鈥檚 because of this, he said, that math education is turning into 鈥渙ur nation’s social sorting machine.鈥� Students who don鈥檛 catch on to the subject will find a whole series of career pathways closed off to them, he said. 

But all of these problems are solvable, CRPE contends, noting that states like and school districts like New Jersey鈥檚 and , have made replicable gains. 

Alabama is the only state where fourth graders scored higher in the subject than they did in 2019, prior to the pandemic. 

Karen Anderson, director of the state education department鈥檚 Office of Mathematics Improvement, said Alabama has worked hard to align classroom lessons with state standards and to use evidence-based practices and high-quality instructional materials to help all students 鈥� no matter their zip code or performance level.

鈥淲e want to make sure we are using instructional strategies that actually provide results,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淲e also want to make sure we know what students know 鈥� and what they don鈥檛 know. And, when we see students who need help, we provide assistance immediately.鈥�

CRPE recommends schools stop poo-pooing direct instruction 鈥� in which teachers demonstrate or explain procedures and concepts. Likewise, it concluded teachers need clear guidance on how to balance conceptual understanding with procedural fluency 鈥� in addition to real-time data to identify gaps and better structure their lessons.

Melodie Baker, founder and executive director of , which aims to use research to empower communities of color, has worked in mathematics for decades. She said robust teacher preparation at the elementary school level is critical for student success.

鈥淭he lack of emphasis on math in elementary is a big issue,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or example, teacher prep programs spend far more time on early literacy than math.鈥�

But they are of equal importance, Baker said.  

CRPE concluded states should consider better pay, team-teaching models and math specialists as a means to address the math teacher shortage. 

In terms of improving the student experience, it advises schools to adopt 鈥渇lexible pathways with multiple on-ramps, automatic acceleration, and no lower-track dead ends.鈥�

Based on their conversations with students, CRPE concluded that schools need to better serve children who require more time to understand math concepts.

鈥淥ne thing I don’t like is when I ask a teacher a question because I don’t understand it, and then they make me feel like I’m a bother and I really shouldn’t ask more questions,鈥� an 11th grader from Connecticut told CRPE researchers in 2022. 鈥淎nd that prevents me from learning. And I hated that because I actually want to know.鈥� 

The student鈥檚 claims correspond with what CRPE found: Schools are regularly missing opportunities to address academic problems head-on. 

And while the federal Every Student Succeeds Act explicitly requires states to develop a concise and easily understandable online report card, most don鈥檛 meet the standard. CRPE found just 18 break down math achievement and growth data by student subgroups 鈥渋n a way that we thought was clear and understandable.鈥�

Only Illinois, the report notes, earned the highest rating in this category by providing comprehensive math performance and opportunity data that CRPE thought most parents would be able to use and understand.

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