Word problem “key words” charts abound on lesson-sharing sites like Teachers Pay Teachers. These graphic organizers are designed to remind students which math words signal different operations.

In a nationally representative EdWeek Research Center poll, 29% of math teachers said less than a quarter of their English ...

“With multi-step problems, key words don’t work 90 percent of the time,” said Sarah Powell, a professor at the University of Texas in Austin who studies word problems and whose research has ...

Both Molina, a first-year teacher, and her students had been trained to tackle word problems by zeroing in on key words like “and,” “more” and “total” — a simplistic approach that Molina said too ...

RI EDUCATION Schools are teaching math word problems all wrong. But some educators have found a better way. In Central Falls, R.I., teachers are trying new strategies that move away from focusing ...