What’s Next for Math Education and Why It Matters for Every Student’s Future

Earlier this summer, I met a high school student named Emanuel at the Advancing Innovative Math Solutions (AIMS) Collaboratory convening in San Francisco. We sat at the same round table during the opening session, alongside K-12 leaders, math product developers, university researchers, and others focused on this central question: How do we make math more engaging and meaningful for students?

Emanuel spoke about his love of exploring new things and how he lights up when something unexpected challenges him. Then he said something that’s stayed with me ever since: if math class felt more like an adventure, more students would want to be there.

Emanuel’s feedback highlighted the focus of my two-day learning trip about improving K-12 math education, beginning with conversations at the AIMS Collaboratory convening and continuing the next day with an insightful visit with researchers at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning at Stanford University.

Math is one of the strongest predictors of academic and economic success. Research shows that students who pass Algebra I by 9th grade are twice as likely to graduate from high school and are more likely to enroll in college, graduate with a bachelor’s degree, and go on to well-paid careers.

However, 56% of adults say math is one of the subjects most in need of updating, and 96% of parents say making math education more relevant and engaging will make it more likely for their child to succeed in math.

Yet too many students find math discouraging and not relevant to the world around them, while others who struggle to learn math are embarrassed to ask questions and believe they’re just not smart enough to grasp math concepts.

If we want a future where all students can thrive, we need to reimagine math education to be more motivating and engaging, connected to real life, and center the needs of students like Emanuel in that work.

That’s why the Gates Foundation has made math a central focus of our K-12 strategy, because it’s one of the most powerful levers for improving student outcomes.

One way we’re advancing toward that goal is through a focus on research and development and high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). When teachers have access to rigorous, engaging materials that are aligned to standards, students are more likely to stay motivated and succeed.

I got to see and engage in conversations about some of the innovative research and impactful materials, both at the AIMS Collaboratory convening and my visit to the Stanford Accelerator for Learning at Stanford University.

Day 1: AIMS Collaboratory Convening – Listening, Learning, and Co-Designing with Students

AIMS brings together a unique mix of educators, researchers, digital product developers, school district leaders, and students to advance equitable research and development (R&D) in K-12 education. 

This work helps create HQIM and tools that increase student motivation, engagement, and persistence in math and support teacher effectiveness and efficiency. These efforts also support important research happening to understand all these issues better and make that research faster and cheaper, so that it can happen more often.

What makes AIMS special is how it blends expertise from the people who teach math every day, to those who study how students learn it, to the innovators building the high-quality instructional materials and tech-enabled tools to be used in classrooms.

AIMS convenes twice a year for partners to share progress, make connections, and provide feedback on how these tech-enabled tools impact math classrooms for the better.

This work matters far beyond the classroom. When students are motivated to learn math and teachers have the tools to support them, it doesn’t just improve test scores; it expands access to future opportunities in college, careers, and life.

One of the sessions I participated in uncovered patterns in student motivation, engagement, and persistence. Led by teams from Khan Academy, Carnegie Learning, and Learning Data Insights, the discussion highlighted how anonymized data can offer powerful insights into where students are engaged or where they’re checking out.

I also sat in on a conversation about how to make edtech tools truly work for teachers, meaning they save time, support instruction, and fit the realities of the classroom. Too often, tools are designed without enough teacher input, making them more of a burden than a help.

That’s why I was especially interested in some of the early-stage innovations highlighted at AIMS, all designed to boost student engagement and give teachers real-time insights:

• Goblins, which analyzes student handwriting and voice inputs as they solve problems, offering immediate feedback and actionable data for teachers.
  
  
• Magma Math, which reveals how students think through problems, and it uses AI to support classroom discussions and pacing.
  
  
• Carnegie Learning, which helps students tackle complex word problems using advanced language models that mirror how students actually learn.

The AIMS convening affirmed that when research, practice, and innovation come together in authentic collaboration, it leads to smarter, more impactful tech-enabled tools that meet the needs of teachers and students alike.

Day 2: Stanford University and the Future of K-12 Teaching and Learning

On the second day of my trip, I visited the Stanford Accelerator for Learning at Stanford University. Housed within the Graduate School of Education, this accelerator is a collaborative hub where researchers, educators, and technologists work together to design and scale bold solutions to today’s learning challenges.

We’ve collaborated with researchers or scholars across Stanford on several projects as part of our K-12 R&D work, especially around improving how math is taught and learned. What I saw during my visit wasn’t just promising research; it was a window into what’s possible when innovation is grounded in equity and built in partnership with educators.

Part of our inspiring discussion included a deep dive into a number of research projects led by the Stanford Accelerator for Learning and the Graduate School of Education, aimed at helping improve student outcomes in math:

• M-Powering Teachers, which uses AI to help teachers lead richer math discussions and tailor instruction, especially for multilingual students.
  
  
• CoTeach.ai, which acts like a smart lesson planning assistant, helping teachers adjust pacing, add supports, and personalize instruction on the fly.
  
  
• The Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), which gives school systems a clearer picture of student progress across subjects and regions, helping leaders make more informed, equity-focused decisions.
  
  
• Math Tutor Co-Pilot, which uses AI to guide tutors, especially new ones, so they can deliver more effective math support.

These projects are especially relevant now as AI reshapes our world and classrooms continue to evolve. The work researchers at the Stanford Accelerator for Learning are doing isn’t just testing new ideas, but building smarter, more supportive, and more effective systems that reflect the realities students and teachers face in math classrooms every day, anchored in what we know works from research.

When we invest in innovations developed through research and development, we’re not just improving individual student outcomes but strengthening the education system as a whole.

The Road Ahead

Across both days, I saw the full innovation pipeline from early-stage tools in pilot classrooms, to products scaling with educator input, to research shaping what comes next.

But none of this progress happens without students like Emanuel guiding the work.

He didn’t ask for math to be easier. He asked for it to feel like an adventure.

That word stuck with me because it captures what we’re truly aiming for: math learning environments that spark curiosity, build confidence, and help every student see themselves as capable in math.

That vision matters for classrooms, communities, and the country. Because when students persist, become critical thinkers who problem-solve, and explore new ideas, they’re not just learning math; they’re shaping their futures and strengthening ours.