English learners are the fastest-growing minority in U.S. schools. While they face many of the same challenges as their peers, when it comes to mathematics, they are not only learning to work with numbers but doing so through the dynamic of a second language that presents new difficulties, especially with word problems. University of Kansas researchers have published a study that shows how an evidence-based method of helping students understand the language and information of word problems can boost their math achievement. The evidence-based practice can also enhance student math skills, oral language development and reading comprehension abilities, the authors write.