Report Finds Only Three Wisconsin colleges Devote Enough Time to Math Education

Wednesday, April 9th, 2025 -- 12:00 PM

(Corrinne Hess, Wisconsin Public Radio) Nearly a quarter of Wisconsin fourth graders lack basic math knowledge.

The National Council on Teacher Quality says that’s because only one in eight colleges are spending enough time preparing future teachers to teach fundamental math topics.

The group found only three Wisconsin colleges are devoting enough time to math education. Without this prep time, teachers are entering the workforce unprepared to teach math and students are underserved, said Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, or NCTQ.

“We know that math skills are critical for student success in their other subjects and also later in life, and we know that teacher preparation is a way that we can ensure that students have strong math skills,” Peske said.

NCTQ evaluated 22 elementary teacher prep programs in Wisconsin to determine if they dedicate enough time to key math content topics and math pedagogy.

The report found 14 percent of the state’s programs earned an “A+” or an “A” by dedicating at least 135 instructional hours to numbers and operations, algebraic thinking, geometry and measurement, and data analysis and probability. Those schools were the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point; UW-Milwaukee and UW-Oshkosh.

Four schools received an “F,” which means they are dedicating fewer than 90 instructional hours to math content topics and math pedagogy. Those schools are: Alverno College’s undergraduate and graduate program, Carthage College, UW-Platteville and Wisconsin Lutheran College.

The U.S. Department of Education’s National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP, scores released in January found 23 percent of fourth graders in Wisconsin lacked basic math knowledge and skills.

This means 12,914 students in fourth grade likely cannot perform skills such as locating numbers on a number line or subtracting multi-digit whole numbers.

Since math knowledge is cumulative, students struggling in fourth grade are likely to continue to struggle into middle and high school.

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