Parents Rate Math Crucial to Kids’ Success — But Say It Needs an Update
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A recent poll of American adults reveals that mathematics is considered one of the most crucial subjects for children’s education and a key factor in their future success. However, educators need to make their instruction more engaging and relatable to students’ lives, as stated by the respondents.
The survey, conducted by Global Strategy Group, a research and public relations firm, was commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Over the past six months, the Foundation has emphasized the importance of math skills in both promising careers and everyday life, particularly due to the significant decline in math achievement during the COVID era, as demonstrated by standardized tests like the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
During a call with reporters, Angela Kuefler, a partner at Global Strategy Group, highlighted that current methods of teaching math are viewed as uninspiring, outdated, and disconnected from the real-world experiences of children. She added that parents, in particular, feel that their children are not adequately prepared for future success.
When asked to prioritize academic subjects, 60 percent of the survey participants (consisting of over 730 teachers and 800 parents) considered math as either "extremely important" or "very important," surpassing all other disciplines. Additionally, 93 percent of parents and 94 percent of teachers agreed that success in math leads to success later in life.
However, math was also the subject most frequently identified as needing improvement in the way it is taught. Among the respondents, 56 percent selected math, far more than career and technical education (41 percent), social studies and history (36 percent), English (35 percent), science (31 percent), and the arts (14 percent).
The primary complaint about math education revolves around its relevance to students’ real-world experiences. While over 60 percent of the survey participants believe that math should be applicable to the real world, only 21 percent believe it currently is. Many respondents described math as less useful and engaging than they would prefer, with a significant number of parents and teachers finding it complicated, boring, useless, and irrelevant.
These sentiments were echoed in focus groups conducted by Global Strategy Group with parents from diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Participants described their children’s math coursework as a tiresome task rather than a stimulating challenge, noting that compelling instruction fails to reach all students.
The influential Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has already committed to revamping math education by awarding substantial grants to organizations like the Young People’s Project and the Black Teacher Collaborative. These initiatives aim to make math more culturally relevant for disadvantaged and minority students. However, some conservatives criticize these efforts, claiming that they may lower math standards and negatively impact student outcomes.
Bob Hughes, the Foundation’s director of K-12 education, defends the need for more significant interventions by pointing to the "abysmal" data on student learning loss.
"Parents, teachers, and the general public perceive a discrepancy between the math education they believe our young people need to excel and the one currently experienced in many classrooms," Hughes stated. "Parents and educators propose a solution: making math education more relevant and connected to the real world."
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