For many teenagers, the turning point in their school career comes with a single word: algebra. According to a new review by Blair Payne and colleagues in the Journal of Learning Disabilities (2025), failing Algebra I in Grade 9 is not just an academic hiccup. It can shape the rest of a student’s life. It lowers their chances of graduating, attending college, and even influences their health and employment later in life. Yet while we know quite a lot about how to support younger children with maths difficulties, research on effective interventions for high school students remains surprisingly limited.
The team reviewed 21 studies involving almost 200 students aged 14 to 19 who experienced persistent mathematics difficulties (MD), whether or not they had a formal learning disability. The good news is that most studies showed positive effects. The bad news is that there are very few of them, and almost all are small. Still, some clear patterns emerge.
Explicit instruction stands out as the most consistent factor in what works. Every successful study included systematic modelling, guided practice, and feedback. This deliberate teaching helps students see how to think through a problem. Technology also featured strongly. It was often through virtual manipulatives or video modelling in about 80 per cent of the effective interventions. Vocabulary instruction appeared in two-thirds of the studies. This makes sense if you have ever seen a student stumble not over the maths itself but over words such as coefficient or product. Representations, ranging from algebra tiles to geometry sketches, were common. Structured approaches to word problems also proved to be common features.
Most interventions focused on early algebraic content. They did not focus on higher-level topics such as calculus or statistics. These typically lasted less than five weeks. That tells us something about what is missing. There is a serious research gap on how to support older adolescents, particularly in closing foundational gaps while meeting grade-level expectations. Many of these students still struggle with basic number sense, some performing at a second- or third-grade level. Yet they are asked to solve linear equations. That tension between catching up and keeping up is very real. It puts enormous pressure on both students and teachers.
What makes this synthesis valuable is that it does not stop at identifying gaps. It also highlights where the next steps might be. High school students with maths difficulties are not simply older versions of struggling primary pupils. They face different motivational, cognitive, and practical challenges. These range from working memory limits to after-school jobs that consume learning time and erode confidence. Payne and colleagues remind us that mathematics in high school is not only about numbers. It is a gateway to social mobility, health, and opportunity.
So the next time someone argues that explicit teaching or practice no longer belongs in secondary maths, this review is a good answer. The evidence may be small in scale, but the message is clear: for students who find mathematics difficult, clarity, structure, and feedback are not optional. They are essential.
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