Lance Izumi, Director of Education, Pacific Research Institute. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)
Harvard Now Offers Remedial Math Acknowledging America’s Math Collapse
College readiness has reached historic lows, including the lowest scores in 30 years on the ACT and declining scores on the SAT
By Katy Grimes, April 16, 2025 2:55 am
There is a lack of foundational algebra skills among American students. According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress math exam, 73 percent of eighth graders nationwide taking the test failed to score at the proficient level.
Lance Izumi, senior director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute and the author of the recently published book “The Great Classroom Collapse: Teachers, Students, and Parents Expose the Collapse of Learning in America’s Schools,” reported that One Harvard official acknowledged:
“Students don’t have the skills that we had intended downstream in the curriculum, and so it creates different trajectories in students’ math abilities.’ Translation: Students’ poor math skills set them up for failure.”
While not labeling the new course “remedial,” the official said that the course “is intended to support students who face early challenges in their math courses.” In other words, it’s remedial, Izumi reports.
This is a “Come to Jesus” moment, or the most apparent oxymoron in recent history that Harvard has remedial math classes. Education in America has fallen from the best in the world to offering remedial math and even remedial English courses in world-renowned universities.
“How the mighty have fallen! fallen! fallen!”
As Mr. Izumi expounds at the Spectator, “Much of the reason for the poor performance of American students is because of the failed progressive math teaching methods and curricula pushed on schools by the national Common Core math standards, which were adopted by most states in the early 2010s.”
“Under Common Core’s math standards, the tried-and-true standard algorithms (step-by-step operational methods) for addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division were de-emphasized while progressive and often confusing methods, such as drawing pictures to solve fractional multiplication problems, were prioritized.
The result was widespread student math failure, with a federally funded study finding that Common Core has had a significant negative impact on eighth-grade math achievement and that this negative effect increased over time.”
College readiness has reached historic lows, including the lowest scores in 30 years on the ACT and declining scores on the SAT, the two primary standardized tests used for college admissions, Education Week reported in 2024.
High school teachers know that today’s graduates are poorly prepared for college, Izumi says. “Yet, many of these poorly prepared high school graduates are getting into college because of their inflated grade point averages.”
Izumi told the Globe in 2024 that a major study by the ACT test found that from 2010 to 2022 the grade point average in high school English, math, science, and social studies courses among students taking the ACT college-entrance test increased year over year, while their ACT scores decreased in every one of those subjects.
Math at colleges is even worse, which is not surprising since high school grade inflation increased at the greatest rate in math.
In Izumi’s recently published book, he interviewed a math instructor at a California college who teaches calculus. “He said that among his students, lack of foundational algebra knowledge is ‘the number one deficiency and it’s chronic.’” Izumi reported “So when a student comes to college,” he observed, “without algebra skills and without analytical skills there is really no hope.”
“It causes a lot of problems because that person is not ready to be educated at the level of calculus.”
“In my book I conclude that too many K-12 schools ‘are putting political ideology over what works, whether it be a misguided equity agenda that seeks to dumb down learning to the lowest common denominator’ or progressive curricula and instructional methods that are being used ‘in intellectual defiance of empirical evidence showing that are ineffective and are damaging children.’”
I have long warned about inflated grade point averages – today we are seeing just how inflated they are, and uneducated, undereducated and unprepared high school graduates are.
Only half of public school students in California meet the state standards in English, and only 40 percent are proficient in math.
In 2017, Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to permanently repeal the high school exit exam. By 2021, the University of California dropped SAT and ACT scores for admission.
In 2020, the California Supreme Court issued an order to permanently lower the passing score for the state’s bar exam by 50 points.
The public school system is failing California’s kids Kindergarten through university.
Izumi has long advocated that when parents feel their children are being indoctrinated, victimized or shortchanged in their learning, they should have the right and the tools to exit the public school system for educational alternatives that better meet their children’s needs. But in blue states, this appears to be airy hope, which is why the ultimate option for parents to control their children’s education is school choice and homeschooling, Izumi says.
The best answer to political indoctrination in regular public schools is to ensure school choice for all parents and their children. In 2019, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation creating Family Empowerment Scholarships that could be used by low-income and middle-class families to pay for tuition at private schools, Izumi said.
Conversely, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in 2019 giving school boards new rationales for disapproving proposed charter schools, including negative fiscal impact of a charter on the school district, duplication of programs at the regular public schools, and determination that the charter is “unlikely to serve the interests of the entire community.” The goal and end result is to curtail the growth of charter schools.
Izumi noted, “While Governor Gavin Newsom kowtowed to the teacher unions, Governor DeSantis signed the FES bill into law saying, ‘I personally believe, as a matter of philosophy, that parents know what’s best for their kids.’”
California Democrats only succeeded in lowering the educational standards, making tests easier, banning standardized testing, and giving all an “A” for effort instead of academic achievement. This has resulted in Harvard offering remedial math classes, and millions of American students unqualified to even count change at a fast food restaurant.
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More hard to deny reality for the progressive teachers union which together with bought off politicians have ruined education in our state by eliminating standards, stifling charter schools, and dumbing down education.
Like the burnt out houses of Altadena and Pacific Palisades, young people are the victims of poor policy decisions going back to Jerry Brown and continuing through the disastrous Newsom lockdowns and Common Core curriculum. And here’s the kicker: No one paid any political penalty so far.
California has AB 1705 (and its predecessor AB 705, both written by Jacqui Irwin) which forbids the California Community College system from offering remedial math classes. Students who declare majors in STEM areas (science, technology, engineering, math) are to be placed in calculus regardless of any preparatory coursework such as basic algebra. Under the so-called leadership of California community college state chancellor Sonya Christian (and her predecessor Eloy Oakley) student success has become an afterthought. Both have proven to be more focused on implementing social change than allowing community colleges focus on meeting the need of their communities. Funding for the California Community College system is now driven by the so-called “Student Centered Funding Formula” (SCFF). Colleges were previously funded based on enrollments of traditional student taking classes on campus. Under the SCFF, funding is also includes such factors as dual enrollment (college classes taught to high school students, typically at their high school), inmate education (renamed “rising scholars”), and noncredit courses (community education). At her previous college and district (Bakersfield College, Kern Community College District) placed a high priority on providing faculty and courses specifically for a charter school and training programs run by the Wonderful Company (yes, THAT Wonderful Company).
This article reaches to the very core of what is wrong in America.
Was it Nikita that said we will bury you from within?
When you look at a colored voter map, why is the concentration of blue voters (dems) in areas with a lot of Universities? ie: Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago.
The education (indoctrination) system must be dismantled!
Tenure is a security blanket that voids accountability and must be removed!
Doesn’t Harvard require that students show proficiency in core subjects? Oh no, right, DEI will suffice.
Harvard, Yale and the rest of the “Ivy League” schools are just deep-state globalist DEI indoctrination centers that need to have their taxpayer funding cut off.
The primary factor driving this is a result of colleges and universities are admitting and graduating students without basic math and writing proficiency. Lowering the bar in order to achieve racial equity.
Many of my fellow high school students needed remedial math 50 years ago and I did not go to an inner city school. California schools have been a bad joke for a Very long time. A person I know went to a California University for probably eight years or more and once she decided to get her teachers accreditation she had to take remedial math starting at the 3rd or 4th grade level. What a joke California education is!
The primary factor driving this is a result of colleges and universities are admitting and graduating students without basic math and writing proficiency. Lowering the bar in order to achieve racial equity.
Colleges and universities are admitting and graduating students without basic math and writing proficiency. Lowering the bar in order to achieve racial equity.
Excellent article! I am a local school board member and so frustrated with exactly what you said! I often feel like a voice crying into the wilderness. The indoctrination runs deep, not only into schools but into the surrounding organizations as well (deep!). Schools laud slightly better test scores while, in many instances, the majority still cannot obtain even the minimum of the 60th percentile The big concern is the students who do not even meet even this standard yet continue to progress through the grades. Attendance and self/family accountability are an issue in some cases; however, these are not the only reasons by any means. There also a strong push on issues that do not result in real changes, yet rarely is someone willing to look deeply at the reasons for the scores or reasons families are choosing to leave the public aystem. If you raise these issues, you are considered to be “noncompliant.” This is evidenced by the AG/Superintendent and theme of their current lawsuits. It is truly a David against.a Goliath in CA. Chino Valley (not my district) is taking a courageous lead on many of these issues, even as audience members yell “Hail. satan!”at them for doing so. Please follow what is happening there! All members showed up to support women and girls last night. Hoping they start a trend around the state.
Money is the driver. For decades I have been loudly asking *If students do not have minimum capabilities in core areas (math, English) why are they accepted into the programs?* The answer is obvious. Therefore let’s quit pretending upper education is about academics. I taught upper level high school math for 41 years. There are many many students who achieve and their success is directly correlated to effort. For students who, for various and good reasons, choose not to put forth the effort there are options besides. academia. Don’t push a square peg into a round hole.
This joker Izumi appears to have very limited understanding of curriculum! If a kid has learnt basic math – using Indian curriculum, Singapore math, British, njcs or ccss or another curriculum – he would be ready for alg, geometry. Similarly if they progress through the alg 2 etc, they would work toward calculus etc. This guy is finding a quick scape goat – here ccss! Politically very expedient for this class of people.
We need to focus on real issues..why are keep kids growing up in even underdeveloped countries doing so well at Harvard. I bet I answer won’t be Curriculum. Some introspection in this society is in order..lack of values, indifference toward education, role drugs play, incessant need for entertainment, disregard for educators, parents that neglect their kids ..
These are serious social issues that need attention. People like Izumi make money and careers by spreading nonsense that is inaccurate and distract attention from real issues.