Are high school seniors ready for college?

A recent report out of the University of California San Diego went viral and raised big questions about America’s K-12 education system. 

It found that in the last five years, the number of incoming students with below middle school level math skills increased by a factor of thirty. One example referenced came from a remedial math class, where more than 60% of students couldn’t round the number 374,518 to the nearest hundredth. 

The findings spawned an onslaught of op-eds and think pieces with headlines like: “The College Students Who Can’t Do Elementary Math,” and “American Kids Can’t Do Math Anymore.”

Today on Studio 2: we’re trying to make sense of this math problem. Does it signal deep trouble in how we’re preparing students for college? Is grade inflation muddying the waters? Does it suggest that there’s a widening gulf between what’s being taught and tested, and what’s needed to succeed? 

Guests:

Matt Barnum, education reporter at Chalkbeat

Maria Lorenz, mathematics professor at Temple University