Harvard's remedial math course reignites concerns over test-optional pandemic policies

Some students at Harvard are playing catch-up on a year-long remedial math course aimed at rectifying a "lack of foundational" skills believed to be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, but some, like New York Post opinion columnist Rikki Schlott, say scaling back or eliminating standardized testing is responsible for such skill gaps instead. 

"Without any SAT or ACT scores on their applications, no wonder kids without basic math skills were able to slip through the cracks. The school should have seen this coming," she wrote in a piece published Saturday.

Schlott went on to mention that college readiness exams, like the SAT, are key tools said to determine "college and career success," according to the College Board, which spearheads the test.

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If students' abilities were tested on these key measurements, she argued, there would be no need to reinforce fundamentals.

Schlott also critiqued an emerging narrative among some in the academic community who claim standardized tests are relics of racism, and scrapping the practice is a promising way to "help lower barriers to accessing higher education for historically excluded populations."

A 2021 article from the National Education Association (NEA) teachers' union, for instance, explored the "racist beginnings" of standardized testing, quoting activist and author Ibram X. Kendi as saying, "Standardized tests have become the most effective racist weapon ever devised to objectively degrade Black and Brown minds and legally exclude their bodies from prestigious schools."

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Harvard's Director of Introductory Math, Brendan A. Kelly, told The Harvard Crimson upon the addition of Math MA5 — an in-depth Introduction to Functions and Calculus I — last fall, that the pandemic created skill gaps that were difficult to overcome, and the course was the school's way of helping students "step up to their aspirations."

"Students don’t have the skills that we had intended downstream in the curriculum, and so it creates different trajectories in students’ math abilities," he said.

The skill gap issue reflects a broader concern spawned by lengthy lockdowns, the sudden transition to a remote learning environment and chronic absenteeism that combined to create plummeting reading and math scores that have yet to recover.

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The outlet reported in September that the year-long course meets five days a week to ensure students' development. 

The university website says the "Extra support" will target "foundational skills in algebra, geometry, and quantitative reasoning" to help students "unlock success" in Math MA, the regular math course.

Harvard reinstated standardized testing requirements for students applying for fall 2025 admission.

Fox News Digital reached out to Harvard for comment, but did not receive an immediate reply.