Many students complain and question math learning in school because they feel it isn’t necessary for their future lives. However, many students don’t realize that math is used and applied everywhere.

Students learn math best when they approach the subject as something they enjoy, according to a Stanford education expert. Speed pressure, timed testing and blind memorization pose high hurdles in the ...

When you’re solving a challenging math problem, you know your brain is working hard. But what, exactly, is going on in there? Despite decades of research into math teaching and learning, there is ...

Visit NAP.edu/10766 to get more information about this book, to buy it in print, or to download it as a free PDF. For many people, free association with the word “mathematics” would produce strong, ...

The familiar, hierarchical sequence of math instruction starts with counting, followed by addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. The computational set expands to include bigger ...

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 ...

Our analyses of the mathematics to be learned, our reading of the research in cognitive psychology and mathematics education, our experience as learners and teachers of mathematics, and our ...

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 ...

Open up a classic mathematics textbook written by a Welshman, Robert Recorde, and flip past the preface and the table of contents. There, you'll see the bold statement that math is "contemptible and ...