Math scores are in the tank again

Let's unpack the reasons.

Originally published in the Moultrie News.

National math scores are in the tank again. What’s going on?

The latest NAEP results show eighth-grade math scores are flat — a bad sign after the historic eight-point drop in 2022.

A new UC San Diego faculty report sheds light on the problem. UCSD is one of the nation’s top public universities with highly competitive admissions, yet it has seen a “steep decline in the academic preparation” of incoming freshmen.

How steep? Between 2020 and 2025, the number of students whose math skills failed to reach middle-school level increased thirtyfold. The university has had to downgrade remedial math courses to include elementary school content and create a new course to reteach high school math.

So why would a prestigious university even admit such students? Grade inflation. Without standardized tests —now jettisoned by many colleges — the school must rely on transcripts. The report notes that students’ completed high-school classes suggest “much higher levels of math skills than the actual math skill the student often has.” In other words, a high-school honor-roll calculus student (on paper) may not (in fact) possess basic middle-school proficiency. His school-certified credentials are a mirage.

That’s not hyperbole. In 2024, 94 percent of UCSD students below middle-school level had exceeded state math requirements—nearly all completing calculus, precalculus or statistics. And while freshman GPAs keep rising, so does the number of unprepared students.

The report partially blames online learning during the pandemic, when “teachers often felt compelled to lower grading standards.” A quibble: teachers didn’t feel compelled—they were compelled. But the pandemic didn’t start the problem; it simply opened the floodgates. It was quickly followed by a national push for “grade reforms” that made low-achieving students look like college-ready scholars.

UCSD says public school students are likely being advanced through math courses far too casually, without ensuring they retain foundational concepts. Math teachers I speak with agree: ready or not, students are moved along assembly-line style, sometimes aided by bogus “credit recovery” courses.

Further insight comes from UCSD tutors who help underprepared students. One was shocked that his students could ever have passed a high-school precalculus class (though they did), speculating they must have relied on AI.

Tutors said their students’ courses weren’t “rigorous or challenging” and were made easy to pass because so many kids were struggling. One said students never learned basic concepts, like factoring.

Tutors also noted that some teachers allowed calculators, the internet, or formula sheets, so students never learned “mathematical thinking.” One tutor said students couldn’t even begin a simple distance-rate word problem involving a coyote and a wolf.

Many of these concerns stem from a “teach to the bottom” mentality that plagues struggling schools and districts. But watering down the curriculum also has an upstream cause: pushing students into advanced courses too early, sometimes as early as sixth grade. When students aren’t ready, schools compensate by cutting corners. And those who aren’t pushed ahead end up receiving an even more diluted curriculum.

The problems also reflect the insidious effects of Common Core math: its abstract, non-intuitive methods, emphasis on process over accuracy, and misalignment with developmental readiness have left many students mathematically bankrupt.

Tutors also noticed students’ poor work habits. Many drifted off-task with headphones or cellphones. That tracks with what I saw on a recent school visit, with teachers allowing students to listen to music or watch videos during class — though the move toward cellphone bans may help.

Tutors noted another issue: students often waited days after learning a concept to start homework. That’s a deadly habit for mastering difficult material, which needs to be practiced right away. But why not delay? Students in the “grade reform” era have been conditioned to believe late work has no real consequence.

Finally, the report recommends notifying high schools when their students arrive with inflated grades and in need of remedial math.

That’s nice of them, but administrators should already know if that’s the case. How can a school’s standards fail so miserably that a college has to prod a principal to get his own house in order?

It’s a breathtaking indictment of educational leadership in the 21st century.

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Jody Stallings has been an award-winning teacher in Charleston since 1992 and is director of the Charleston Teacher Alliance. To submit a question, order his books, or follow him on social media, please visit JodyStallings.com.