“Math Wars” Report Focuses on Current Debates but Falls Short on Attention to Practice

BOULDER, CO (July 28, 2026) — The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) recently published a report analyzing contemporary disputes about effective math instruction. A review released today explains that the report provides a helpful review of current debates yet fails to provide useful guidance for education and policy leaders.       

Deborah Loewenberg Ball of the University of Michigan reviewed Navigating the Math Wars: A Practical Guide to the Divides and Debates Influencing Math Instruction, examining its analysis of what it describes as five key areas of disagreement over effective mathematics instruction.

The report frames the disputes as (a) conceptual understanding or procedural fluency, (b) inquiry-based or direct instruction, (c) productive struggle or scaffolded support, (d) standard algorithms or invented strategies, and (e) the link between timed practice and math anxiety. Although the report concludes that these disagreements are less polarized than public discourse suggests, Professor Loewenberg Ball contends that its framing nevertheless reinforces the notion of enduring "math wars."

The report's use of broad labels such as “inquiry-based” and “explicit” instruction obscures important similarities and differences in how mathematics is actually taught in classrooms. Professor Loewenberg Ball also points out that the analysis would have been strengthened by a stronger historical and critical analysis of recurring debates in mathematics education, including how the current context differs from the past.

Although, as noted, the report does provide a useful overview of current public and professional debates about mathematics instruction, it ultimately falls short of providing the nuanced discussions of instructional practice that would support students’ mathematical understanding, fluency, reasoning, and engagement.  

Find the review, written by Deborah Loewenberg Ball, at:
https://nepc.colorado.edu/review/math-wars

Find Navigating the Math Wars: A Practical Guide to the Divides and Debates Influencing Math Instruction, published by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, at: https://crpe.org/wp-content/uploads/Navigating-the-Math-Wars-2026.pdf

 

NEPC Reviews (https://nepc.colorado.edu/reviews) provide the public, policymakers, and the press with timely, academically sound reviews of selected publications. NEPC Reviews are made possible in part by support provided by the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice: http://www.greatlakescenter.org

The National Education Policy Center (NEPC), a university research center housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, sponsors research, produces policy briefs, and publishes expert third-party reviews of think tank reports. NEPC publications are written in accessible language and are intended for a broad audience that includes academic experts, policymakers, the media, and the general public. Our mission is to provide high-quality information in support of democratic deliberation about education policy. We are guided by the belief that the democratic governance of public education is strengthened when policies are based on sound evidence and support a multiracial society that is inclusive, kind, and just. Visit us at: http://nepc.colorado.edu

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