This systematic review synthesises findings from 51 empirical studies on remedial mathematics interventions at the secondary school level. The review analyses interventions across five dimensions: target student population, mathematical content, adaptivity, efficacy, and integration of digital technology. The findings reveal a strong emphasis on foundational skills, particularly arithmetic, algebra, and word problems, with little attention to geometry, statistics, or higher-level mathematical reasoning. Most interventions adopt highly structured and pre-scripted designs, offering limited adaptivity to students' evolving needs. Digital technologies are incorporated in fewer than half of the studies and primarily support procedural learning through video modelling or intelligent tutoring systems, rather than conceptual understanding. Although many interventions report positive short-term outcomes, evidence of long-term effectiveness and responsiveness to learner diversity remains limited. Overall, the review highlights the need for more flexible, theoretically grounded, and technology-enhanced remedial interventions that address conceptual sense-making and support diverse learners within inclusive secondary school contexts.
This study examines the effects of Dynamic Geometry Environments, such as GeoGebra, on students' comprehension of geometric concepts and ability to develop accurate mathematical representations. More specifically, the study investigates how technological tools such as GeoGebra can help students better grasp the concept of pyramid height and accurately identify the positions of the heights of various right triangular pyramids. This dynamic environment was leveraged to mitigate the influence of Potentially Misleading Information and enhance the acquisition of Potentially Helpful Information. Data were collected from a task-based maths intervention, classroom observations, and post-intervention questionaries involving 34 twelfth-grade students attending one Arab high school in Israel. The study results indicate that the GeoGebra applet appeared to have a positive impact on students' understanding of geometric concepts and relationships and may have enhanced their ability to accurately identify the positions and intersection points of heights of various right triangular pyramids.
There is a burgeoning interest in the development and use of elementary educators who specialise in mathematics. In the USA, there is significant advocacy for Elementary Mathematics Specialists (EMSs) who may serve as mathematics teachers, teacher leaders, or coaches and need focused leadership preparation. Accordingly, this three-year inquiry explored EMSs' (N=26) growth as novice teacher leaders in 23 different schools while participating in professional development. Mixed methods were used to longitudinally examine participants' changes in mathematics teacher leadership, including coaching, and associated confidence, work, and practices. Data analysis shows significant positive increases in quantitative measures of effective mathematics coaching practices and confidence, with the longitudinal data revealing the extent and timing of shifts over the three years. Notably, changes occurred primarily during the first two years of the programme and were sustained through the third year. Analysis of the interview data reveals four emergent themes that provide nuanced explanations of the shifts.
Mathematical Wellbeing (MWB) is an emerging construct that captures students' wellbeing experiences in mathematics. Although research on MWB is growing, a key assumption remains untested: that MWB is connected to students' broader flourishing. This study addresses that gap by examining how elements of MWB related to U.S. eighth-graders' sense of school belonging. Using data from the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we analyzed self-report surveys from a nationally representative sample (n = 8,074). Hierarchical linear modelling and structural equation modelling were used to examine reciprocal relationships between MWB elements and student belongingness. Positive emotions/engagement and meaning in mathematics were significantly associated with school belongingness, controlling for sex and socioeconomic status. SEM results indicated that positive emotions/engagement influence feelings of belongingness through students' sense of meaning. These findings offer preliminary evidence that MWB and school belongingness are interconnected, which motivates the need for future research and practice on MWB.
This study offers a comprehensive bibliometric synthesis of research on Mathematics Teacher Educators (MTEs), drawing on 579 Scopus-indexed publications spanning over four decades. Using productivity laws, science mapping techniques, and country-level collaboration analyses, the study examines patterns of growth, thematic organisation, and international knowledge circulation in MTE research. The findings show that research on MTEs has expanded markedly since the mid-2000s, indicating increasing visibility and continuity within mathematics education. Thematic analyses reveal the sustained centrality of professional development, pedagogical knowledge, and instructional practice, alongside growing attention to digitalisation, equity, lesson study, and MTE noticing. While foundational perspectives remain influential, recent research increasingly engages with practice-oriented and socially responsive lines of inquiry. Country-level collaboration patterns indicate a structurally uneven organisation of international research, with global visibility shaped through a limited set of collaborative networks despite geographically diverse research production. Overall, the study provides a structural overview of the development and circulation of MTE research, offering a bibliometric foundation for future work attentive to thematic diversity and contextual plurality.
The whole-system improvement of mathematical education is a pressing concern for many governments yet there is a paucity of research on these complex change processes, and of rich case studies of national instructional improvement strategies. In this paper we "network" theoretical ideas from three literatures to reconsider the National Numeracy Strategy (1999-2002). We use the Multiple Streams Framework to consider why and how particular policies get adopted; implementation science to interrogate the tactics and trade-offs of multiscaled policy enactment; and communities of practice concepts to bridge these and other aspects of system changes strategies. We show how the National Numeracy Strategy satisfied key conditions for successful implementation and so demonstrates the potential of a whole-system approach to improvement, albeit in a particular place and time.
The science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields are seen as driving economic expansion and innovation. Nevertheless, students of colour and students from low socio-economic status families remain underrepresented in both STEM education and careers. In the present study, we utilised the High School Longitudinal Study of 2008 to examine the relationship between Algebra I and students' subsequent interest and likelihood of pursuing a STEM major in postsecondary years. Our findings indicate that students who had taken Algebra I by the eighth grade show a higher tendency to have an intention and to declare a STEM major in college. However, the advantageous relationships tend to weaken among Hispanic students. Additionally, such positive associations between early algebra taking and the STEM outcomes are greater among students with higher socio-economic backgrounds. These results underscore the significance of taking Algebra I in the early years in shaping students' STEM pathways.
This study investigates how high school students understand the semantic role of pi in trigonometry, using the lens of semiotic representational systems and task-based clinical interviews. Specifically, it examines conceptual problems and ambiguities in students' initial understanding of pi and other real numbers as sine and cosine arguments, immediately after school trigonometry, following the convention for representing radians with pi notation and degrees without it. Results reveal that students associated pi in different representations with multiple real values (e.g. associating pi with 180 or -1, and 2 pi with 1 or 0). These results highlight the vital role of understanding semiotic conventions (e.g. representing radians with pi) as a customary choice among equally-valid-alternatives (e.g., with or without pi) for recognising invariant mathematical actions behind signs-and-symbols representing mathematical entities. Based on the findings, we propose a model for coherent understanding of the set of real numbers as domains of sinusoidal functions.
Much mathematics textbook research has focused on teachers' use of textbooks closely connected to the classroom because of its close location to student learning. The focus on the classroom has left the school underexposed as a site of textbook use. The need to broaden the focus from the classroom to the school emerged when we interviewed elementary school teachers about their textbook use for teaching mathematics. Interviewed teachers brought up many influential factors from the school context. Along that line, the aim of this study is to explore the situated nature of textbook use in the school. We do so based on 16 interviews with 8 teachers from the U.S., Flanders, Finland, and Sweden. Drawing from a policy enactment perspective, our findings give insight into situated differences in textbook practice in schools, suggesting the relevance of foregrounding the school as a site of curriculum enactment.
As governments react to international rankings, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of 15-year-old students has arguably influenced many governments' mathematics education policies. In this paper, we look at the relationship between the latest cycle of PISA, policymaking and media in the economies where English is an official or substantial working language (Anglophone countries). We analysed three sources of media responses to PISA 2022 results, from governments, mainstream media, and social media, focusing on the number of the reactions, the sentiment of the reactions, and some relevant themes pertaining to PISA 2022 mathematics coverage. The results show that the PISA results have been used and discussed differently by different governments and that media responses seem to relate to pertinent policy objectives. Our contribution sheds light on how the PISA 2022 results interact with policymaking for mathematics education in Anglophone countries.
The present study evaluates two different screening tools - the Ability to Quickly See Quantities (AQSQ) test and the Number Sense Test (NST) targeting subitising and part-whole relationships, respectively - to examine their potential to indicate early numeracy challenges. Seventy-four kindergarten students participated, and their performances on the two tests were analyzed using correlational analyses of measures derived from signal detection theory and qualitative comparisons. The results showed a moderate correlation between AQSQ and NST scores, indicating an overlap in measuring subitising. Both tests showed overlap in identifying students with lower scores, suggesting potential for early screening use, with a 64% overlap between the lowest quartiles of the two tests. The AQSQ may be a more practical single-choice option for resource-limited classrooms. Further research is needed to clarify the underlying similarities and differences in the constructs measured by the two tests and how they may contribute to understanding early numeracy development.
This study investigates teachers' sensemaking around questioning practice in ambitious mathematics teaching. Analysing data from nine co-planning sessions from a group of Norwegian teachers engaged in professional development, we unpack the sensemaking that guided their questioning practices. While aiming to align questions with learning goals and stimulate discussions, the teachers also prioritise eliciting details of students' thinking, engaging students in mathematical explanations and arguments, giving students opportunities to make connections, generalise, and apply their strategies, and promoting problem solving without reducing cognitive challenge. This underscores the complexity and interrelated nature of questioning practice in ambitious mathematics teaching.
Mathematical knowledge for teaching is one of the most relevant factors in student learning. However, the initial training of special education teachers is often neglected. This paper explores the ideas held by teacher educators regarding the scope of mathematical knowledge in the initial training of special education teachers. To achieve this, a concept-driven analysis was carried out, using the categories of the Mathematics Teacher's Specialised Knowledge (MTSK) model, to data collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 teacher educators. The results emphasise phenomenology, problem-solving, and teaching and learning difficulties. We conclude with a call for attention to educators, both specialists in mathematics education and special education, to generate spaces for mutual comprehension that allow the improvement of the initial education of special education teachers.
Paying attention to metacognition helps students recognise and understand their cognitive learning processes. However, no studies have classified students' metacognition when solving Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) problems, which differ from routine tasks because they assess mathematical understanding and the ability to apply concepts in real-world contexts. Such problems demand higher-order thinking, including critical reasoning, problem interpretation, and strategic decision-making. This study proposes a new classification of students' metacognition in solving PISA problems. Using a descriptive qualitative approach with Year IX lower-secondary students, the research employed tests, observations, interviews, and think-aloud protocols. Data were analysed through the constant comparative procedure to transform students' written work, observations, and transcripts into metacognitive classifications. The study identifies three types of metacognition-of a mind, incubation, and visual-and reports these classifications to support mathematics teachers in understanding students' metacognitive processes
This study explored the scaffolding practices employed by prospective mathematics teachers during mathematical modelling activities, as demonstrated in self-generated video simulations. As part of a mathematics teaching course focused on modelling, 25 prospective mathematics teachers worked in groups to script, enact, and record five classroom simulation videos, portraying both teacher and student roles. This format allowed participants to illustrate how they would support student during modelling activities. Analysis of the videos revealed a range of scaffolding practices: establishing norms for productive struggle, strategic support for problem understanding, content-related strategic support for simplifying the situation, adaptive support, peer support for interpreting and validating results, fading and transfer of responsibility, encouraging multiple solution strategies, and encouraging explanations and justification. The findings indicate that the creation and enactment of video simulations constitute a valuable means for helping prospective teachers deepen their understanding of instructional scaffolding, a critical component of effective modelling instruction.
