EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: No wonder students cannot do fractions
Are you terrible at math but want to attend the University of California Berkeley? Save your money on tutors and head on over to Mission High School in San Francisco.
Once considered elite, UC Berkeley is facing new scrutiny after a math professor warned that many of her freshmen calculus students struggle with fractions. The criticism has renewed calls to reinstate standardized test scores for applicants, as thousands of University of California professors have petitioned for.
But there is a larger question – how did students get through high school and into an elite university without knowing fractions? We now have the answer.
As The Post Millennial found, Mission High School in San Francisco “has the highest acceptance rate to the University of California, Berkeley” despite 94% of its students failing math.
The news outlet reported: “Mission High School had a 45 percent acceptance rate to the elite university last fall, well above the state’s 15 percent average, according to data obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.”
Students reported that simply showing up and trying to do the exercises could earn a passing grade in the class. This then shows up on transcripts as a high letter grade, similar to the student at a real school who sweated through Algebra II.
The school is cheating the system and its students, and this is exactly the benefit of standardized tests like the Classic Learning Test, SAT, and ACT, or even some sort of entrance exam administered by the university. Everyone takes the same test and so is graded on the same knowledge.
No single measure is perfect – the standardized test is a snapshot of what one student knew during one Saturday morning. But no one who is proficient in math is scoring ultra-low on the math section. When combined with letter grades and letters of recommendation, universities should be able to get a full picture.
Other tests like the Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate can give universities a better picture of a student’s academic prowess.
Universities and high schools also fail students when they push them into classes they are not prepared for. This does not benefit students. I have tutored several students with learning disabilities. They had the drive to learn and were intelligent and had good character. In the right educational setting, they would do well.
But it would not benefit them to be placed in an elite university or honors class just to make them feel good, because they’d actually fall behind.
UC Berkeley is learning that lesson – now it is time to respond.
