The equal sign

What does research suggest about teaching and learning the equal sign?

Use of the phrase equal sign instead of equals sign may help to remind teachers and students of its multiple meanings beyond just “perform a calculation”
Students should have opportunities to encounter multiple properties of equality in their use of the equal sign as part of an intentional focus on its uses
Developing a solely operational view of the equal sign (reading it as “gives” or “makes”) can suggest misconceptions to students; this is currently very common in primary school mathematics in countries such as the UK and the US
Encouraging students to develop a relational and a substitutive view of the equal sign through explicit instruction helps to develop their mathematical intuition around order, change and equivalence, thus preventing some misconceptions
Reading the equal sign as “is the same as” helps to promote a relational view of its use
Developing a sophisticated understanding of the equal sign, including relational and substitutive views, is the basis for successful understanding of algebra