Navigating the Math Wars: A Practical Guide to the Divides and Debates Influencing Math Instruction

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.

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

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University of Colorado Boulder School of Education, sponsors research, produces policy briefs,
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