How homeschooling can address the UCSD “Math Preparation Problem.”
Recently, a colleague handed me an article by The Free Press, “The College Kids Who Can’t Do Basic Math,” and asked for my thoughts. The article cited a November 6, 2025, report from the University of California San Diego (UCSD), which revealed that the math skills of approximately one in eight of their first-year students were below middle-school level. In the wake of earlier reports of Harvard offering remedial math classes, the fact that UCSD was offering similar classes was not surprising. As I processed what I was reading, I wrestled with conflicting internal responses.
On the one hand, I was shocked by the number of students needing remedial classes. The UCSD numbers represented an astounding jump from 1% of students needing remediation back in 2021 to 12.5% of students needing remediation just four years later. According to the report, factors contributing to this increase included persistent learning losses due to the pandemic, the elimination of standardized testing, grade inflation, and increased admissions from “under-resourced high schools.” On one hand, I was absolutely floored by those numbers. At the same time, however, I was not surprised that these students needed remediation in elementary and middle school math concepts. An EdChoice article discussing the 2024 NAEP scores noted that only 22% of 12th-grade students were proficient or above in math, and only 35% were proficient or above in reading. On top of this, in August of this year, I witnessed firsthand the reality of the “math preparation problem.”
During the first week of classes, my son, a freshman in the honors program at his university, called home asking if I could hop on Zoom and help one of his peers with math. This student was struggling with work that appeared to be from a remedial algebra course. My son quickly added that he was unable to offer assistance to his friend because, at that moment, he was helping another student understand basic fractions. Once again, I was stunned, experiencing in real time what I had previously only read about. Here were two college freshmen students, struggling with math concepts that were typically mastered in elementary and middle school. The UCSD report would call these students “underprepared” and their situations representative of “The Math Preparation Problem.”
The UCSD report also noted concerns surrounding grade inflation and lowered standards, further contributing to the lack of math preparation. Ultimately, there was a clear disconnect between students’ reported learning, i.e., grades and transcripts, and their actual knowledge. These issues led to improper course placement, and often students would perform poorly or fully withdraw from their college math classes.
Reflecting on the math journeys of my homeschooled children, I believe homeschooling, especially as we have accomplished it at eXtend Homeschool Tutorial, can be one way of addressing and overcoming these “preparation” problems. My oldest daughter initially struggled with math in high school; however, during her two years at community college, she served as a math teaching assistant. My oldest son also struggled initially, but by the end of high school, he was the top student in his math class, and his instructor said that he could practically teach the class! My middle daughter complained throughout her college Statistics class, yet ultimately earned an A. I’ve already mentioned my youngest son, who is now tutoring his college classmates in math. While none of my children would have initially labeled themselves “mathies” during high school, each graduated fully prepared for college math and ultimately excelled in it. I believe they successfully navigated what could have been a “math preparation problem” in large part because of the steps we took as homeschoolers.
From the beginning of my children’s homeschooling journeys, mastering the fundamentals of each subject was a core objective. For math, that meant ensuring my children knew basic math facts through hands-on learning with math manipulatives, real-world application (counting and applying math facts in the grocery store), and hours of listening to math jingles in the car. I can trace the long-term success my kids experienced with math back to the time we spent building a foundation for learning.
At eXtend, because we focus on mastering concepts, there is neither grade inflation nor the “pass through” culture sometimes found in more traditional settings. The curriculum our math instructors use spirals—past learned concepts are regularly revisited even as new ones are introduced so that students retain mathematical concepts for the long haul. In the past, I have seen students utilize a curriculum that focuses on one topic exclusively, and once the student has mastered that concept, the curriculum moves to another. However, previously learned concepts aren’t revisited, and without that regular reinforcement, students don’t retain the knowledge as well as they would if there were opportunities for periodic review. Students using that type of curriculum prior to coming to our program typically have significant gaps that must be addressed, often through summer prep or supplemental tutoring. Additionally, we don’t move students to the next level of math if they haven’t demonstrated proficiency and met the prerequisites.
The curriculum we use at eXtend contains built-in regular assessments to help measure student progress. In both Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1, students take weekly tests at home to measure progress and identify areas that may need further reinforcement. These assessments closely follow their homework, and I often tell students that if they are completing homework, the take-home tests should be a breeze, and they usually are. If there is an area that needs strengthening, we will take time to address this. For example, I recently conducted a focused session with my Algebra 1 class to address errors that were consistently popping up with signed numbers and order of operations. By the end of that session, the students had developed long-term strategies to ensure consistent success as they moved forward.
Earlier this year, I wrote about the power of “do-overs,” and homeschooling offers both the flexibility of modifying the pace of instruction to ensure students fully grasp concepts, as well as the opportunity to repeat a class as needed without experiencing negative backlash. The truth is, some students need additional time to “catch” math. Once they do, they typically flourish. That was the case with my oldest son, who repeated both Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1, and went on to ace Algebra II, Geometry, and college math. My youngest son, who is now tutoring his college classmates, repeated Pre-Algebra and, as an incoming freshman, tested out of College Algebra and into Statistics, and is also ready for Calculus. Taking the necessary additional time to solidify learning, instead of prematurely promoting them ahead of their capabilities, translated into long-term success in math for all of my children.
At eXtend, our math instructors work together to ensure students are prepared for each subsequent level of math. They discuss their expectations of students coming into each of their classes with the instructor who teaches the earlier level of math, and follow up with check-ins, sometimes as frequently as every quarter, to ensure students have mastered the prerequisite skills. At the end of the year, math instructors discuss student progress and readiness, and if a student needs to repeat a class or if supplemental instruction is needed before moving on, those opportunities are offered. For example, both Pre-Algebra and Algebra 1 offer a summer boot camp for students who want or need to strengthen their skills prior to entering those classes. Ultimately, our students benefit from this level of communication and camaraderie as the instructors work together with each other and with parents to equip students for success that will carry them long after they graduate from our program.
Finally, at eXtend, we equip our students to dual enroll in college classes no later than their senior year of high school. We advise our students to take core classes at the local community college, including College Algebra, Statistics, or Calculus, as high schoolers. This provides additional preparation not just for math, but for collegiate life, and increases the likelihood of a smooth transition during the freshman year. Moreover, our students’ success with dual enrollment benefits them as they apply to colleges and apply for scholarships. The appearance of college classes on a student’s transcript communicates that the student has demonstrated the capacity to navigate the expectations and rigors of college classes.
Much of what we do at eXtend mirrors the recommendations made in the UCSD report to address the math preparation problem. The success we’ve experienced with our students signals to us that homeschooling, and other alternatives to conventional schooling like microschooling, can serve as one potential solution to the concerns expressed by UCSD, experienced by other colleges and universities, and reflected in the 2024 NAEP scores. Learning from innovative education models is one means of addressing all of this.
This article originally ran at FEE’s Education Entrepreneurship Lab.
