Math skills are critical for students’ success in other subjects and later in life, yet far too many teacher prep programs fail to give aspiring teachers the essential knowledge they need to be effective math teachers–—undermining student learning before the first lesson even begins.
To develop great math teachers, teacher prep programs must increase the time they spend on fundamental math concepts. Teachers need to know how to do more than just follow the steps in math to get the right answer. They need to know why those steps work.