Math skills are essential to students’ educational and life success—including predicting future earnings and other long-term outcomes. Well-prepared teachers are critical to ensuring all children learn this foundational knowledge.
Better Math Preparation and Support for Teachers Drives Better Student Outcomes
Elementary math skills are a strong predictor of who will graduate from high school.1 Yet only a third of fourth graders score proficient in math.2 Unfortunately, many elementary teachers do not receive adequate preparation to be successful in teaching math to their students. In fact, many teachers say math makes them anxious,3 which has proven to negatively impact student learning. And compared to math achievement in other countries, the U.S. ranks near the bottom of the pack.4
This matters because math scores predict success in other subjects, like reading and science, and influence future earnings and the ability to compete in an increasingly global and technology-driven market.
When we give teachers the preparation, tools, and confidence they need to teach math effectively, we set the stage for every student to succeed in school, work, and life.
Latest Findings
2025 State of the States: Five Policy Levers to Improve Math Instruction
If we want students to excel in math, we need to better prepare and support our elementary teachers in providing strong math instruction. NCTQ’s newest report highlights five key policy levers states can use to ensure that all teachers are prepared to successfully teach mathematics from the first day they enter the classroom.
Alabama is the only state that earns a ‘Strong’ rating for implementing a robust, comprehensive approach to improving math instruction across five core policy areas.
2025 Teacher Prep Review: Solving for Math Success
In NCTQ’s latest examination of over 1,100 elementary teacher prep programs, we find most programs do not provide teacher candidates with sufficient time to develop math content knowledge. This is especially true of graduate prep programs.
This is the revised standard against which NCTQ evaluates teacher prep programs. With this revision, NCTQ aims to give institutions a clearer set of guidelines for improving math preparation based on the most recent research available.
STEM teacher access: heading in the right direction, with a long way to go
New research reveals that the share of well-prepared STEM teachers in high-need schools has been increasing over the last 15 years, though high-need schools still have a smaller share of these teachers than more affluent schools.
The importance of content knowledge for elementary teachers
July 8, 2021
Hannah Putman
Endnotes
Claessens, A., & Engel, M. (2013). How important is where you start? Early mathematics knowledge and later school success. Teachers College Record, 115(6), 1-29; Watts, T. W., Duncan, G. J., Siegler, R. S., & Davis-Kean, P. E. (2014). The Groove of Growth: How Early Gains in Math Ability Influence Adolescent Achievement. Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness; Siegler, R. S., Duncan, G. J., Davis-Kean, P. E., Duckworth, K., Claessens, A., Engel, M., & Chen, M. (2012). Early predictors of high school mathematics achievement. Psychological Science, 23(7), 691-697; Duncan, G. J., & Magnuson, K. (2011). The nature and impact of early achievement skills, attention skills, and behavior problems. Whither Opportunity, 47-70.
