A โMathโ Horror Show at UC San Diego
SAN DIEGO, CA – A new internal report reveals a โstartling decline in the mathematical readiness of incoming freshmen at the University โฃofโค California, San Diego, one of the nation’s highest-ranked public universities (currently 6th according toโค U.S. News & World Report). โคThe analysis, conducted by a joint faculty-governance committee, points to a significant erosion of academic standards and raises serious concerns โคabout student success.
The report details a “steepโข decline” in the academic readiness of students entering UCโข San Diego โover the past five โฃyears, specifically citing deficiencies in mathematics, writing, andโ language skills. According to the findings, a staggering one โฃin eight โขfreshmen now demonstrate math skills “below middle-school level” – a 30-fold โincrease sinceโค 2020.
This alarming statisticโ is juxtaposed โwith the fact that students requiring middle-school remedial math courses still managed to achieve an average high-school โmath GPA โof an A-. This โdiscrepancy strongly suggests widespread grade inflation within high schools.
Theโค committee’s report linksโ the decline, inโข part, to the UCโฃ Board of regents’ decision in May 2020 to suspend the SAT requirement for admissions, ostensibly to promote โขequity and improve “educationalโฃ quality.” The report states this trend “poses serious challenges โbothโ to student success and to the โคuniversity’s instructional mission.”
The findings raise questions about the effectiveness of current K-12 preparation and the impact of alteredโข admissions criteria on the academic profile of students entering flagship public universities. Theโ full report is expected to fuel debate about college readiness and the role of standardized testing in evaluating applicants.
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