Organizational strategies that help students break complex word problems into manageable chunks may be the key to solving them, according to a 2025 study.

Students often struggle to connect math with the real world. Word problems—a combination of words, numbers, and mathematical operations—can be a perfect vehicle to take abstract numbers off the page.

The cognitive flexibility that comes from being multilingual can give students a boost in math—if teachers know how to build on English learners’ strengths. Seventy-seven percent of 8th-grade ...

Solving word problems is a key component of math curriculum in primary schools. One must have acquired basic language skills to make sense of word problems. So why do children still find certain word ...

When he teaches a math class, Tom Fisher wants students to feel confused. At least, he wants them to feel that way occasionally and temporarily. Mostly an administrator these days, Fisher still ...

Segue Institute for Learning teacher Cassandra Santiago introduces a lesson on word problems to her first graders one spring afternoon. Credit: Phillip Keith for The Hechinger Report The Hechinger ...