The vast majority of public two- and four-year colleges report enrolling students – more than half a million of them–who are not ready for college-level work, a Hechinger Report investigation of 44 states has found.
The rates are “so high that there’s no question students are getting out of high school without the skills they need to succeed in college,” said Alex Mayer, a senior research associate at MRDC, an education and social policy research organization. “The other side of it is these students are not getting out of college, for the most part.”
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Nearly every student we assess at Mathnasium has some gaps. They are anywhere from six months to several years behind. These days, a lot of math teachers don’t have the time to go through the entire syllabus. For example, teachers in Algebra 1 courses who do take time to remediate will spend a lot of that time covering Pre-Algebra skills. Other teachers don’t take time to remediate. They teach the pure Algebra I class. In both situations, students who already have gaps in their learning wind up with even bigger gaps.
It is critical parents realize that a solid math foundation should start as early as elementary grade. If this foundation is not built, by middle and high school the student may be so far behind that it is not possible to salvage this year’s math grade.
Ultimately, taking the long-term approach with our students offers them the most benefit. At its very core, Mathnasium’s mission is to offer a lasting solution to kids’ math problems. This is the place where kids come to solve their problems in math. It’s when we function as a Learning Center—not as a tutorial service—that we get a remarkable increase in student performance.
