Algebra problems like this one are at the heart of a dispute over the level of math deemed necessary to earn an associate degree or transfer to a four-year college.

Mr. Wilkinson is the author of “A Divine Language: Learning Algebra, Geometry, and Calculus at the Edge of Old Age.” As a boy in the first weeks of algebra class, I felt confused and then I ...

In San Francisco, dismantling middle-school algebra did little to end racial inequities among students in advanced math classes. After a huge public outcry, the district decided to reverse course.