CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One little command can cause hands to tremble, mouths to wick dry, sweat to bead on the forehead: "Find X." You know what I'm talking about. It's the dreaded math test. Uh, no ...

Hannah Moulton teaches Algebra 1. But before her 9th graders get started on graphing linear functions or solving quadratic equations, she makes sure that they have a much more basic skill down pat.

Millions of high school and college algebra students are united in a shared agony over solving for x and y. For those to whom the answers don't come easily, it gets worse: Most preschoolers and ...