One point of view: The problem of solving story problems

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Abstract
Why can't kids solve story problems? The two overly simplistic answers typically given to this question are “they can't read” and “they can't compute.” True, if children can't read or if they can't compute they're not going to be successful in solving verbal problems, but many students can do both and nevertheless perform poorly. Furthermore, there is good evidence that lack of reading ability and computational skill are not the major factors contributing to poor problem-solving performance. Knifong and Holtan (1977) found that the majority of students who solved problems incorrectly could read the problems orally and could retell the story of the problem in their own words; that is, they could comprehend the problem. The authors conclude, “Even assuming a biased interpretation, it is difficult to imagine that poor reading accounts for more than 1O% of these erred problems.” With respect to computation, the results of the 1972 NAEP Mathematics Assessment provide a convincing argument against the “they can't compute” explanation for problem-solving failures.

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