What happens when even college students can't do math anymore?
3 days ago
- #standardized-testing
- #education
- #math-decline
- America's education system has been lowering standards and removing penalties for failure, leading to a decline in students' math skills.
- UC San Diego reports a significant increase in incoming freshmen with math skills below high-school level, many struggling with basic concepts like fractions and simple algebra.
- Other University of California campuses, including UC Berkeley and UCLA, have also seen a rise in unprepared students, with numbers doubling or tripling over the past five years.
- National data shows a decline in math skills among eighth graders, with average scores now a full school year behind 2013 levels, and only the top 10% recovering to those levels.
- Possible causes for the decline include the influence of smartphones and social media, complacency due to technology, and schools no longer demanding high achievement in math.
- The pandemic exacerbated the decline, with remote learning leading to significant setbacks and schools lowering standards further, such as adopting 'no zeros' policies.
- The UC system eliminated standardized-test scores from admissions decisions, which were reliable predictors of math ability, leading to more unprepared students being admitted.
- Experts warn that declining math skills could have significant economic costs and that relying on AI instead of foundational math skills is a flawed premise.
- The report calls for reinstating standardized-test scores in admissions and aligning enrollment from under-resourced schools with other UC colleges to avoid setting students up for failure.