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

“Because we do so much multi-step problem solving, and we’re doing two-step word problems, if they’re spending 10-15 minutes trying to figure out what 9x7 is, they’re doing a lot of extra work, or ...

This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news outlet focused on education. The Hechinger Report is a national nonprofit newsroom that reports on one topic: education.

If Ms. Smith’s 8th grade algebra class works through 10 word problems in an hour, and Ms. Jones’ class works through 10 equation problems during the same time, which class is likely to learn more math ...

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 ...