ETSU’s Dr. Jingyuan Zhang researches how rural schools can better implement proven math practices to improve student achievement.

Mathematics. Some children naturally excel in working with numbers and equations, while others struggle mightily with it, and educators continually seek to improve teaching practices that help their students succeed in the subject.

One East Tennessee State University researcher, Dr. Jingyuan Zhang, aims to address the gap between educational research and classroom practice by investigating the conditions that help effective mathematics practices succeed in rural schools.

Bridging the gap between research and classroom practice

“Mathematics achievement gaps remain a persistent challenge across the K-12 educational system,” said Zhang, an assistant professor of special education in ETSU’s Clemmer College of Education and Human Development. “Despite decades of research identifying effective mathematics practices, many K-12 students continue to struggle in mathematics. A growing challenge is understanding how to bridge the gap between educational research and classroom practice so that evidence-based mathematics instruction can be implemented effectively and sustained in schools. More and more evidence indicates that students' lack of performance often stems from implementation breakdowns rather than from ineffective interventions.”

A personal journey into mathematics education research

Zhang’s interest in this area originated from both her professional experiences and her background growing up in a rural community in Qinghai province in northwestern China.  

“Coming from an underprivileged family, I relied not only on hard work and perseverance, but also on the support of a close-knit rural community throughout my childhood educational journey. Those experiences gave me a deep appreciation for both the challenges and strengths of rural communities and instilled in me the resilience, gratitude and commitment that continue to chape my work today," said Zhang, who earned a law degree from one of China’s top universities.

As an undergraduate, Zhang volunteered as a math tutor for orphans with disabilities. This experience, she said, inspired her to pursue a career in special education and ultimately led her to focus on research in mathematics intervention.

“I observed that many schools are committed to helping students succeed, but often face challenges, such as limited staffing, time constraints, competing priorities and restricted access to professional learning opportunities,” Zhang said. “At the same time, I noticed that educational research has traditionally focused more on identifying effective interventions than on understanding how those interventions can be implemented successfully in diverse school contexts.”

Understanding implementation science in schools

These observations led Zhang to explore the field of implementation science, which studies how evidence-based practices can be effectively adopted, implemented and sustained. Although she holds a Master of Science in education and a Ph.D. in special education from Purdue University, she is currently pursuing a second master’s degree in implementation science at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College.

Using mixed-methods research approaches that include surveys, interviews, classroom observations, implementation records and data analysis, Zhang works closely with teachers, school leaders, instructional coaches and math intervention specialists to understand how mathematics practices are implemented within the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) education framework.  

Zhang's research has been supported by competitive grant funding, including the Oak Ridge Associated Universities Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award and the Engagement Scholarship Consortium Engaged Scholarship Research/Creative Activities Grants Program, as well as the ETSU Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

Partnering with rural educators to improve math outcomes

Through partnerships with University School at ETSU and Carter County Schools, Zhang has successfully piloted and validated implementation measures, documented key barriers and supports to implementation, and identified strong interest among educators in implementation-focused professional learning.

“These findings are helping lay the foundation for a scalable approach to supporting mathematics improvement in rural schools and beyond,” Zhang said. “The long-term goal is to strengthen schools’ capacity to deliver high-quality mathematics instruction and intervention so that more students can benefit from proven educational practices. Ultimately, I hope to develop training resources, implementation tools and guidance that can help educators and school administrators successfully implement and sustain effective mathematics practices.”

‍