New Gallup survey underscores the importance of Tennessee’s improvements in math

Graphic by Gallup

When the results of last year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test came out in January, Tennessee students’ performance in math was notable.

Fourth-graders raised their proficiency by 6 points to 42 percent, top ten in the country, while eighth-graders raised their proficiency by 7 points to 31 percent. A new survey from Gallup underscores the importance of these improvements.

That poll of 5,136 U.S. adults aged 18 and older last December found 95 percent of respondents believe math skills are important in their work life and 43 percent said they wish they had learned more math skills in middle or high school.

The Math Matters Study: The Value of Math in Work and Life, also found strong support for prioritizing math in school.  62 percent of respondents believe math should be prioritized more highly than other K-12 subjects, including 14 percent who say it should be the highest priority. 29 percent of adults cited financial math as a topic they wished they’d learned more of in middle or high school.

The poll also found math skills to be highly valued at work with 61 percent saying math is “very important,” ranking below reading, language, and technology skills. 85 percent of managers polled wished their direct reports had stronger math skills.

“Americans overwhelmingly believe math is essential in life and work, but many wish they had gained more real-world skills like data science and financial literacy,” said Gallup principal Justin Lall. “Aligning math education with these practical applications could not only boost engagement, but better prepare future generations for success.”

Despite the support for prioritizing math, the study found respondents had mixed emotions about their personal experiences with the subject.  60 percent of those polled said they were “challenged” by math while 48 percent said they were “interested” in the subject.  Nearly half (47 percent) expressed positive feelings about math while 37 percent expressed negative feelings.  Older adults, aged 65 and older, were the most likely to say math is “very important” in their lives and the most likely to have positive feelings towards the subject.