March Mathness: Behind and beyond the scoreboard

02 Apr March Mathness: Behind and beyond the scoreboard

By: Dale Chu

March is here, and with it comes the return of March Mathness—a time to spotlight state-led efforts to improve math achievement. While the tournament gives us plenty to cheer about (just ask my colleagues and erstwhile math judges Jocelyn Pickford and Chad Aldeman), it’s also worth asking: Are we actually fixing math instruction, or are we just adding more bells and whistles to a system that remains underperforming?

Alabama’s standout performance—and its limits

The latest NAEP results provided a rare bright spot: Alabama was the only state where 4th-grade math scores improved in 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels. Much of the credit has gone to the Alabama Numeracy Act, which was enacted two years prior. The effort seems to be a clear win, but before we anoint Alabama as the model for the nation, there’s a pressing question: How much of its success is attributable to the policy reforms, and how much to state-, district- or school-specific circumstances?

Consider the encouraging story NPR recently did on Alabama’s success. It highlighted math coaches, better instructional materials, a focus on data, and targeted interventions. Sounds great, but all of this has been standard fare for decades. NPR’s list suggests that fixing the nation’s math woes will be a lot more complicated than copying and pasting the state’s numeracy act from sea to shining sea. And at the risk of being a wet blanket, Alabama’s pre-pandemic math results weren’t exactly setting the world on fire. In other words, while the state has made strides, it has much further to go.

Bullish on auto enrollment in math

But let’s not dwell too long on the dour. The winner of last year’s tourney—automatic enrollment in advanced math courses—should still be at the top of the list when it comes to math policies worth emulating, if for no other reason than it’s relatively easy for states to implement. By using state assessment data to identify students who are ready for more rigorous coursework and ensuring they are automatically placed into advanced math pathways, states can remove barriers that often prevent capable students—particularly those from historically underserved backgrounds—from accessing higher-level instruction. At a time when math achievement is stagnating nationwide, leveraging annual assessments in this way represents a straightforward and scalable approach to expanding access and improving readiness for college and careers.

Bells, whistles, and basic operations

While all of the policies highlighted in our analysis last year are worth reviewing, the fundamental issues in math education remain stubbornly persistent. For example, Harvard recently launched a course in remedial algebra for some of its undergraduate students. While the university says the move was prompted by what they’ve observed in students post-Covid, the notion that elite universities need to shore up math skills that college students arguably should have picked up in middle school underscores the depth of our K-12 math education issues. It’s a troubling reminder that math fundamentals remain elusive for many students, even at the college level.

Another concern is the number of math classrooms where “productive struggle”—a teaching method designed to help students engage deeply with difficult material—has devolved into utter confusion. A leading education expert recently observed that math achievement is plummeting due to “an incredible under-focus on procedural skills and fluency.” This expert pointed out that in many math classes, a lot of time is spent on conceptual understanding without kids getting to actual understanding. I’ve experienced this first-hand with my fourth-grade daughter this year, who has often come home with math worksheets she can’t make heads or tails from. Conceptual understanding is all well and good, but it too often misses the forest for the trees.

Mastery and automaticity in math’s core operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—are essential, not to mention a basic understanding of algebraic concepts. Just as a student cannot become a strong reader without mastering phonics, she cannot become a skilled problem-solver without a firm foundation in the basic operations of math. This procedural mastery is essential for success in math and in life—and it’s time we prioritize it in our classrooms. As any March Mathness fan knows, it’s the teams with a solid foundation that make it to the championship. The same goes for math—strong fundamentals are the real game-changer!