Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

Middle school mathematics achievement remains a critical concern in Louisiana. Despite notable recent gains in recovery and signs of resilience, students continue to perform below national averages (ranking 38th in the country). To better understand the factors that support or hinder student success, this report presents findings from six student focus groups conducted in spring 2025 with 39 middle school students at two urban schools in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The goal was to elevate students’ voices regarding their motivation, anxiety, classroom experiences, and ideas for improving math instruction. Overall, students expressed generally positive feelings toward math, and notably, a strong appreciation for their math teachers. Teachers were consistently identified as central to students’ motivation, particularly when they demonstrated enthusiasm, provided one-on-one support, and offered clear, timely feedback on how to improve. These positive relationships represent a key strength on which schools can build. At the same time, math anxiety—especially related to tests—emerged as a significant challenge, with students describing fear of making mistakes as a barrier to performing at their best.

The classroom environment also played an important role in shaping students’ experiences. Disruptive peer behavior, high noise levels, and poor disciplinary practices were frequently cited as obstacles to learning. Educational technology, particularly math software, was another common source of frustration due to perceived difficulty, lack of clarity, limited feedback, and technical issues. In fact, over-reliance on technology was mentioned by numerous students as a barrier to learning math. Students expressed a preference for more hands-on, interactive, and teacher-guided learning experiences, which is notable given the perception that younger generations are tech-oriented.

Across discussions, the most consistently mentioned motivator for students was relevance. Students repeatedly emphasized the importance of understanding why math matters—whether for real-life applications, future careers, future education, or personal goals. Other key motivators included receiving both positive (what they were doing right) and corrective (how they could do even better) feedback, having opportunities and encouragement to persist through challenges, and being given meaningful choices in how they learn or demonstrate understanding. In contrast, demotivators included overly complex material, excessive workload across classes, lack of review, and learning environments that felt punitive or unsafe. Students strongly endorsed practical, low-cost interventions to improve motivation and reduce anxiety. These included creating classrooms where mistakes are normalized, offering grade recovery options, clearly explaining the purpose of lessons, providing structured goals, and increasing student agency through choice and flexibility. Together, these findings suggest that improving middle school math outcomes requires attention not only to curriculum and instruction, but also to students’ emotional experiences, sense of agency, and classroom climate.

Comments

This work was supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation [Investment ID INV-046378] and by the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies: Digital Promise Global.

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