Education Research Report: Are Math Assignments Measuring Up?

Nearly every state includes measures of college- and career-readiness in their accountability plans under the Every Student Succeeds Act, and the quality of classroom assignments can help gauge whether students are being prepared for success beyond high school.

In Checking In: Are Math Assignments Measuring Up?, the Education Trust examined more than 1,800 math assignments given to middle-school students from six districts — urban, suburban, and rural — across the country. Assignments were collected from 63 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade teachers teaching math courses, ranging from math 6 through geometry.

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What did we find?

The analysis revealed that although roughly three-fourths of all assignments at least partially aligned to the grade- or course-appropriate math content, they also tended to:

Have low cognitive demand
Over-emphasize procedural skills and fluency
Provide little opportunity for students to communicate their mathematical thinking

And this tendency was often worse in higher poverty schools.

“We know that the assignments students are given matter. And yet, our analysis shows that a significant percentage of educators is falling far short of delivering on the promise of rigorous college- and career-ready math standards. And while this is troubling for all students, it is particularly problematic for students of color and students from low-income families who may not have access to the resources and opportunities that can supplement this lack of rigor in the classroom.” – Keith Dysarz, director of P-12 practice