Mathematical word problems, sometimes called story problems, are generally defined as "verbal descriptions of problem situations, presented within a scholastic setting, wherein one or more questions are raised the answer to which can be obtained by the application of mathematical operations to numerical data available in the problem statement or on numerical data derived from them". Students of all ages encounter mathematical word problems, and they are an ongoing challenge for many students and their teachers. Here, the author reports on recent research (from 2015 to the present) that focuses on how and when adult learners, including those in adult education settings, community colleges, early college, or late high school, encounter word problems and the strategies they and their instructors might employ to increase success in solving them. This is important because word problems are commonly found in mathematics assessments, particularly for high stakes purposes such as high school equivalency tests (GED, HiSet) or for educational placement purposes. Adult education program funding is often dependent upon evidence of student progress as demonstrated by performance on standardized mathematics tests.