Re “UC admissions debacle hurts vulnerable students” (June 14): This commentary was deeply troubling. As a retired teacher, administrator and former K-8 math mentor for a large unified school district, I am dismayed that so many UC students are unable to solve elementary and middle school math problems.
California has seen this before. When phonics gave way to whole language, many students struggled to read. We now risk repeating that mistake in math. Too many students lack number sense and computational fluency because basic facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are not emphasized enough in today’s classrooms.
Proven instruction should not be dismissed as old-fashioned. California must return to math teaching that builds strong foundations, including approaches such as the once-widely used Marilyn Burns methodology. Students cannot succeed in higher education until they first master the basics.
— Katey Hoehn, Escondido