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

Word problems try and tell students a story about the math problem in front of them. They are a useful way to connect abstract numbers to concrete situations, so students can learn early on to apply ...

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.

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 ...

Pre-K teachers spend an average of only 2.5 percent of their day on numeracy skills. Credit: Philip Keith for The Hechinger Report The Hechinger Report covers one topic: education. Sign up for our ...