The Fall of Olympus: Education Edition

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A recent report from the University of California, San Diego revealed that 1 in 12 incoming freshmen were not proficient in middle school math – basically, anything above arithmetic with fractions, the kind of stuff most of us mastered by the age of 9 or 10.

This came to light because their existing remedial math course was too advanced for these students, which meant they had no choice but to design an even more basic remedial math course to deal with the situation.

Even crazier, over a quarter of these students “earned” a perfect 4.0 GPA in their high school math courses. Wow. If you thought grade inflation was bad, this brings it to a whole new level.

But this isn’t just a UC San Diego problem, this is happening everywhere, including at Harvard.

Yes, Harvard. The most prestigious university in the United States. They’ve recently had to add remedial support to their entry-level calculus courses.

As Jason points out, it’s like the movie Olympus Has Fallen, except this time it’s Harvard.

So how did we end up here? How did things get this bad, and what can we do about it?

Discussed here: Math Academy Podcast #6 Part 1: Why Can’t College Students Do Middle School Math?

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