It’s common for many students to struggle with math — and for parents and caregivers to not be sure how to help.

The Education Reporting Collaborative, which includes journalists from AL.com’s Education Lab, wants to help. The collaborative will host “Solving the Math Problem: Helping kids find joy and success in math,” a live expert panel at 7 p.m. Central Oct. 17.

This free webinar will feature experts who will walk parents through strategies proven to help kids engage with and excel in math. Attendees will have a chance to ask questions of math instruction professionals and receive live help. This webinar builds on recent reporting from the collaborative about different ways U.S. schools are trying to catch students up after the pandemic.

Panelists include Elham Kazemi, a professor of mathematics education in the College of Education at the University of Washington, and Melissa Hosten, a mathematics outreach co-director at the University of Arizona in the Department of Mathematics at the Center for Recruitment and Retention of Mathematics Teachers. Trisha Powell Crain, senior reporter for Alabama Education Lab at AL.com, will moderate this hour-long discussion.

Both Kazemi and Hosten have many years of experience working with students and teachers in K-12 classrooms and helping educators better understand how kids think about math.

“Families and communities have an incredible role in helping children succeed in math, through math play and math talk, through teaching children the many rich real-world skills that connect to math ideas and math skills, and through what we call ‘side-by-side math,’ ” Hosten said.

To participate in this webinar and submit questions in advance, register online at st.news/mathwebinar.

The Alabama Education Lab has recently written about several schools using different strategies to improve math skills, such as Piedmont City Schools.

“As a reporter who often reports tough stories, it feels good to publish a thoroughly fleshed-out and real story about Alabama teachers in Alabama schools who are doing great things to help our children,” Crain said.