Debates over how to teach math echo the conflicts over reading instruction, and some issues are similar. But unlike math, reading—in its full sense—draws on everything a person has been able to learn.

All those long multiplication tables. Timed tests and “mad minutes” of worksheet problem-solving. Fluency drills. Somehow, getting kids to know their basic math facts continues to be at the heart of ...

A key part—though surely not the only part—of early-grades math is ensuring students get the basic arithmetic functions down and, beyond that, making sure they’re able to swiftly and automatically ...