Cal State prof warns scrapping SAT in name of ‘inclusivity’ is leaving students unprepared
A California economics professor is sounding the alarm on the "deficits in learning" she is seeing in the classroom, arguing that the decision to scrap standardized testing in the name...
By Fox News · Fox News
A California economics professor is sounding the alarm on the "deficits in learning" she is seeing in the classroom, arguing that the decision to scrap standardized testing in the name of "inclusivity" is actually a disservice to the students it claims to help. Cal State Long Beach professor Andrea Mays told Fox News Digital that the current cohort of college students, many of whom spent their formative middle school years in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, are arriving on campus unprepared for basic coursework. Mays spoke to Fox News Digital about the state’s university system’s decision to scrap the SAT as a requirement for college admission as playing a large role in that and that it has led to students coming to college unprepared and dropping out at higher rates. Mays says the drop rate is up "phenomenally" and that chairs of other departments tell her it's widespread, with 25% of students dropping classes, with math being a key area where students are coming in underprepared. GOT A SCOOP ON CAMPUS? SEND US A TIP HERE "I teach a class that is offered for non-economics majors," Mays explained. "I could put on an index card exactly what math is required for my class, it's not calculus, and they are struggling with it, they're embarrassed, they're demoralized, they come into my classroom, and they say, or into my office hours, and they say, I never learned this stuff, I don't know how to calculate a percentage change." "I can show them, but those are the students who are actually coming to me and asking me for help. There are lots of other students who are just too embarrassed even to do that, and who just end up dropping the class." Mays, who recently penned an opinion piece in the Orange Country Register with the headline "Bring back the SAT at CSU — or admit we are failing our own students," says that the explanation she has gotten for the CSU system dropping the SAT is that "we want to be inclusive." "I am definitely for inclusivity on our campu…