Math Reform's Missing Variable: Engagement
Making "math people"
A RAND study released yesterday finds that one-half of middle and high school students report losing interest during math lessons about half or more of the time. And according to the study, interest and engagement in math is associated with feeling confident in one’s ability to do well in math and seeing oneself as a math person.
On a work call recently, I heard myself saying, “I’m not really a math person, but…” At the time I made this statement, ironically, I was working on a project related to improving math instruction. Clearly math identity is something that can stick with you. It may also be damaging to a student’s ability to access math instruction and thus gain math mastery.
With policy focused on the science of reading demonstrating success in Mississippi and other states seeking to create policy change to emulate their success and lackluster results in mathematics, states are turning to policy change in math. Yet student engagement in mathematics is missing as a focus area for math reform.
Math Skills On the Decline
The RAND findings come at a time when math performance in the United States is in decline. For the most recent Nation’s Report Card, the country experienced the largest score declines in mathematics since students first took the assessment in 1990.
These disappointing results will likely have a long-term impact, since research shows that math scores can be a driver of longer-term school success and adult earnings.
An Opportunity for Policy and Research
States can strengthen math instruction using policy levers outlined by the National Council on Teacher Quality in their June 2025 state-by-state policy analysis, such as high-quality math curricula, professional learning and support for teachers, and teacher preparation standards.
Complementing the NCTQ policy levers, a focus on student engagement could be infused in policy to ensure that teachers are equipped to engage students and foster their confidence in their ability to do math.
Teacher training programs and coaching for current teachers could be required to focus on math engagement by supporting teachers in boosting math enjoyment and positive math identity. Funders could support research on measures of math engagement that are not solely reliant on online clicks and other measures of digital engagement.
Schools using online math instructional tools could examine the balance of online and offline time in math instruction to provide sufficient time engaging with teachers and fellow classmates on math problem solving, in alignment with the RAND finding that students who are least engaged are seeking less online math activities.
Additionally, curricular reviews could also examine whether each curriculum includes sufficient real-world connections, a requested item for students who are least engaged with math instruction, according to the RAND study. Research to better link specific math curricula and approaches to outcomes would provide support for further evolution of curriculum vetting by states.
Schools could use surveys or other tools to measure student engagement and positive math identity as part of formative measures of progress in mathematics. Philanthropy could provide support for further research into the impact of engagement on math performance and approaches to incorporating real-world examples that hold the most promise.
I’ve always considered myself a reader and writer, but I plan to remind myself that I am also a “math person.” And with policy change, pilots, and programs that support improved math instruction, current students can become “math people,” too.