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.

A controversial new movement promoting the "science of math" has come into the math establishment's crosshairs.

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.

Claire Madden, a math education specialist for Milwaukee schools, shows teachers different methods of subtracting two-digit numbers. Credit: Abby J. McFarland for The Hechinger Report The Hechinger ...

Take the pressure off of problem-solving with engaging thinking games that encourage students to work together to find ...