Background: Prior work has shown that middle school students struggle with algebra and that game-based educational technologies, such as DragonBox and From Here to There!, are effective at improving students' algebraic performance. However, it remains unclear which aspects of algebraic knowledge shift as a result of playing these games and what…

Many secondary students in the United States are struggling to find success in math creating a preparation gap in the U.S. STEM workforce. Based on national and international assessments, little improvement has been made over the past several decades in U.S. secondary students' knowledge and skills in higher-order math tasks like translating and…

Algebra has long been a gatekeeper to more advanced mathematics and to tertiary education. International assessments, such as PISA, have also shown that this trend extends beyond borders, making the topic of when algebra should be learned quite political. Many reforms have been instituted since the early 1990s to infuse algebraic thinking into…