How to Improve Math Skills for High School Students

Whether students realize it or not, a working knowledge of math is essential to modern society. Every day, adults rely on mathematical principles at home and at work, including managing money and creating budgets, estimating time or distance, and tracking statistics to understand the nuances of a sport. Indeed, math fluency enriches a person’s life and can lead to long-term success, which is why educators across the nation want to know how to improve math skills for high school students.

This article will present three practical ways that parents can help their teenagers improve their math skills:

• Focus on the Process, Not the Answer
• Practice Problem Solving
• Collaborate and Grow

How to Improve Math Skills for High School Students

High school students must learn to navigate an increasingly complex world with solid problem-solving skills, and courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) will prepare them for the 21st century.

Interestingly, mathematics permeates all STEM courses, making it crucial for high school students to enroll in challenging courses that augment their math skills.

For some students, math is a chore; they fail to see the beauty and order inherent in math, or the creative possibilities that abstract thinking unleashes. Parents and teachers, then, must attract students to mathematics by pointing to its relevance to 21st-century life. Today, math dominates the fields of medicine and pharmacology, technology, business, finance, sports, art and architecture, environmental science, and politics.

Rather than viewing math as “another academic subject,” students should compare their math class to a weight room, where the “coach” shows them how to develop the intellectual “muscles” to concentrate, persevere, create, problem solve, and innovate.

At Marlborough, mathematics complements a wide range of subjects, including Computer Science, Honors and AP Chemistry, Honors and AP Physics, and AP Environmental Science.

By implementing the following recommendations, parents can help their students learn how to improve math skills for high school:

1.    Focus on the Process, Not the Answer

While grades are important, students should focus on the learning process, not simply aim for the answer.

Process-driven learning considers the inherent structure in math equations, often pointing to relationships between the numbers.

Normally, real-world problems take years to solve; the race to the moon and successive explorations of space took decades.

Whether searching for vaccines or improving the digital quality of distance learning, mathematicians continue to influence outcomes; thus, the goal is progress, not perfection.

At Marlborough, high school students improve math skills with cumulative courses, including Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II with Trigonometry, Algebra II with Trigonometry Honors, Geometry, Honors Geometry, Precalculus, Precalculus Honors, Precalculus Honors Accelerated, Calculus, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, or Honors Multivariable Calculus & Differential Equations.

2.    Practice Problem Solving

To attract students to high school math courses, encourage teens to practice solving problems by applying their math skills to real-world situations.

• For instance, a knowledge of geometry, trigonometry, and physics can help student athletes improve their performance. Parents and coaches might encourage students to calculate the trajectory of a ball, estimate the speed of a horse, or determine the distance between fairway markers. Thus, students practice math skills in a real-world setting.

• Math skills also empower creative students who enjoy hands-on projects. By improving math skills in high school, students can learn to make accurate design or remodeling decisions about lumber, paint, carpet, room size, or furniture placement.

Also, let the students struggle; adults sometimes “help” the student by providing clues to the answer, but studies show that students achieve greater success when they wrestle with problems for a while.

Additionally, motivated students should take advantage of online math resources, such as Khan Academy’s math program, an exemplary supplement with videos, practice problems, quizzes, and tests.

At Marlborough, students learn how to improve math skills in high school, in interesting courses, such as Statistics and Probability with Applications, Computer Programming I & II, Physics and Honors Physics, and Science of Food. In addition, students practice problem solving in clubs and activities, including Investment Club, Chess Club, and Science Olympiad.

3.    Collaborate and Grow

For students to improve their high school math skills, they must learn to collaborate. Frequently, group projects involve at least one math element, requiring team members to work together to find a sustainable solution.

• For instance, theater students must collaborate, utilizing math skills to construct a set; likewise, students in an architecture class must cooperate with each other, employing mathematics to design and build a model to scale.

• By contrast, students who enjoy computer science and engineering often join the school’s robotics team; the participants consistently apply math skills to design, build, program, and operate the robot.

• At home, parents should invite their teenagers to join them in the kitchen; doubling or reducing a recipe requires various basic math skills, reinforcing lessons the students learned in the classroom.

Whether students collaborate at school or home, they should try to boost their math skills as often as possible, especially when collaboration fosters trust, empathy, loyalty, and creativity.

At Marlborough, our students frequently collaborate in courses or extra-curricular activities that enhance their math skills, including Engineering Design & Analysis, Robotics, Computer Science Projects, Computers Science Projects Honors, Fantasy Football Club, or Remote Car Club.

The Benefits of Improving Math Skills for High School Students

When students take pleasure in mathematics, they open the door to the future. For instance, in a math class, students can learn to manage their money, which benefits them as adults.

With solid math skills, high school students can find academic success, preparing them for college and careers. Here are three essential benefits:

Enhanced Critical Thinking:

When students decode word problems, they reduce the equation to its essence. Thus, they identify the root problem and begin to consider possible strategies that lead to a solution.

Additionally, math skills help students delineate the steps necessary to solve a problem; by tracking their progress, they can adjust their calculations.

Create an Appreciation for Teamwork:

Whenever students collaborate on math assignments and projects, they develop social skills, such as active listening and verbal affirmation.

Since teams typically include people with diverse opinions and learning styles, students gain respect and gratitude while striving for a shared objective.

Develop Confidence

Every time students tackle challenging math problems, they fortify their intellectual capacity, while bolstering their ingenuity, resolve, and diligence, skills that will serve them well throughout life.

At Marlborough, students learn how to improve math skills in courses that enhance critical thinking, create an appreciation for teamwork, and develop confidence, including Yearbook, Newspaper Production I & II, Honors Mathematics Seminar, Honors Research in Science, and Entrepreneurship 101: Design Your Future.

Why Choose Marlborough?  

Marlborough serves girls in grades 7 through 12. As a private, college-preparatory secondary school, we are conveniently located in the heart of Los Angeles, California.

Our goal is to ignite intellectual inquiry and to build the problem-solving, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills that students need to succeed in the 21st century.

Next Steps

If you want your daughter to become a curious, agile thinker, consider Marlborough. Our outstanding educational program prepares young people for college and beyond.

Want to know more about the Marlborough experience? 

Contact us today.