A new middle school survey turned up one finding that mathematics teachers might find surprising: 70 percent of the responding students said they like math.
The subject didn’t eclipse physical education, which came in first place as the favorite of 18 percent of respondents. But it came in third, the top pick for 15 percent of middle school students.
That’s just below art, but ahead of music, science, social studies, English, and foreign languages.
Conducted last month, the survey was commissioned by Raytheon Co., the Waltham, Mass., aerospace and defense contractor. It is based on a national sample of 1,000 middle school students.
