Scholars see solutions in classroom creativity, higher teacher pay -- and attendance Scholars are frustrated. After decades of effort to bring more challenge and joy to math class, American students have made little net progress.

The finding aligns with a growing body of research suggesting that language plays a critical role in math learning. A 2021 meta-analysis of 40 studies found that students with stronger math vocabularies tend to perform better in math, particularly on multi-step, complex problems.