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An opinion essay published by The 74 argues that math education should adopt a more explicit approach to foundational skills, akin to the shift toward phonics in reading. The essay’s argument is not a new policy or research announcement: it calls for balancing conceptual exploration with direct instruction and practice, citing low U.S. math proficiency as a reason to reconsider current teaching approaches.
The 74 published an opinion essay arguing that schools should reconsider how they teach foundational mathematics, drawing a parallel with state and local efforts to promote evidence-based reading instruction. The author argues that explicit teaching and practice of core skills should sit alongside conceptual exploration; the piece is commentary, not a new study or announced policy.
The essay says the debate over math instruction reflects a broader disagreement in education about direct instruction versus approaches that ask students to discover procedures and concepts with less guidance. Its author argues that beginners often benefit from being shown a method, then practicing it. The piece uses everyday skill-learning, including chopping vegetables, to illustrate that argument.
For math, the essay makes the case that memorizing basic facts and practicing procedures can free students to focus on more complex problems. It cites Stanford education professor Jo Boaler’s criticism of rote procedures and timed testing, including her view that times-table repetition and practice can be unnecessary or harmful. The essay disputes that emphasis, while allowing that inquiry and conceptual work can have a place, particularly for deeper learning.
The writer also points to a 2019 result from the National Assessment of Educational Progress: the supplied excerpt says 50% of eighth graders taking the assessment did not meet the relevant proficiency benchmark, but it ends before giving the complete wording or context. The figure is presented in the essay as evidence of a problem in math education; it does not, by itself, establish that any single teaching method caused the result.
The Case for Math Fundamentals
The argument matters because foundational math skills support later learning, while disagreements about how to teach those skills affect classroom practice, teacher training and curriculum choices. If students have difficulty with basic calculations, they may have less capacity to focus on multi-step reasoning. The essay’s central claim is that practice and explicit explanation need not compete with conceptual understanding.
That is a policy argument, not a demonstrated outcome of a specific intervention. The source material does not provide comparative test results showing that a phonics-style shift in math would improve achievement, nor does it establish that reduced practice is the cause of low scores. Readers should distinguish the author’s proposed remedy from the essay’s cited proficiency figure.
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Reading Reform as a Model
The essay takes its analogy from the public debate over early reading instruction. It refers to Emily Hanford’s Sold a Story podcast and to state- and city-level efforts to adopt practices associated with the science of reading. The author says that debate has shifted toward whether policy changes are reflected in classroom teaching, rather than whether foundational reading skills should be taught.
In the author’s view, the reading debate is part of a wider question about explicit instruction in schools. The essay describes discovery, constructivist and inquiry-based math approaches as giving students room to work out mathematical ideas, and argues that these approaches can be overused when beginners need more guidance. It also acknowledges a role for student inquiry and “productive struggle,” particularly when students have the skills to engage meaningfully with challenging material.
“Boaler criticizes presenting mathematics procedurally as sets of steps to memorize and apply, and argues that times-table repetition, practice and timed testing are unnecessary and damaging.”
— The essay’s author, paraphrasing Jo Boaler
Evidence Behind the Proposed Shift
The supplied source is an opinion essay, and the excerpt does not include its full text, publication date or all supporting references. It mentions a paper on minimal guidance published about 20 years earlier but provides no citation details here. The excerpt also cuts off during its discussion of the 2019 eighth-grade assessment result, leaving the exact benchmark description and any additional comparison unclear.
It is also unclear from the material provided how widespread particular math-teaching approaches are, how much classroom time is devoted to practice, or whether changes in instructional style explain student performance. The essay does not set out a specific curriculum, implementation plan or measured impact. Its recommendations should be read as the author’s interpretation of the debate, not as a consensus finding.
Debate Over Classroom Practice
The essay does not announce a next policy step or provide a timeline for schools to change instruction. The practical question it raises is how districts and educators might combine direct explanations and deliberate practice with opportunities to reason, explore and apply ideas. Any claim that a particular balance improves results would need evidence from defined programs and student outcomes.
Further reporting would need the full essay and its cited research, along with responses from math educators and evidence about classroom practice. For now, the development is a contribution to an ongoing debate: whether the approach used to strengthen foundational reading instruction offers useful lessons for math, and what evidence should guide any change.
Key Questions
What is the essay arguing?
It argues that math teaching should place more emphasis on explicit instruction and practice in foundational skills, while retaining conceptual learning and inquiry.
Is this a new school policy or research finding?
No. The source is an opinion essay published by The 74, with a version appearing on Slow Boring. It does not announce a policy or report new experimental results.
What does the essay say about Jo Boaler?
It describes Boaler as criticizing procedural teaching, times-table repetition, practice and timed testing. Those views are presented in the essay as a position the author disagrees with.
What is known about the eighth-grade math figure?
The supplied excerpt says that in 2019, 50% of eighth graders taking the National Assessment of Educational Progress did not meet a proficiency benchmark. The excerpt cuts off before fully specifying the benchmark context, and the figure alone does not show what caused student performance.
What remains unresolved?
The excerpt does not establish how common the teaching practices under discussion are or whether changing them would raise achievement. It also provides no specific implementation plan or measured results for the proposed approach.
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