State lawmaker wants ‘back to basics’ math instruction
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A state lawmaker wants to take Pennsylvania's math instruction back to basics.
Sen. Michele Brooks, R-Greenville, is circulating a co-sponsorship memorandum for legislation she is drafting that would bring more focus on math skills used in everyday life as well as the state's focus on algebra, trigonometry and calculus.
"While algebra, trigonometry and calculus are important high school courses, it is basic math that we use most in our everyday lives," Brooks said in her memorandum. "Over the past few years, I've had many parents and teachers share the frustrations that our students are experiencing in the classroom, which is contradictory to what the goal should be: having our kids embrace learning."
Brooks cited Gov. Glenn Youngkin in Virginia, who in 2023 implemented standards of learning for math that pushes teachers to emphasize math's application to real-world contexts. Brooks said Virginia's math proficiency rate is now one of the highest in the nation at 68%, increasing 19% in just the past few years.
At the same time, though, Virginia is also pushing students into more advanced math courses at earlier ages.
A new law, House Bill 2686, signed by Youngkin in the spring of 2025, mandates that local school boards create policies for automatically enrolling eligible middle school students in accelerated math courses such as Algebra I and geometry. The policies will use standardized test scores as a primary indicator of readiness. Parents will be notified of their child's placement and can opt out, ensuring both access and autonomy in the educational decision-making process. The legislation, according to the University of Virginia, reflects a growing consensus that early access to rigorous coursework can significantly boost long-term student outcomes.
"This isn't about 'dumbing things down' but, instead, getting back to basics and getting back to teaching our kids what they will use in daily life; like adding, subtracting, dividing and multiplying without calculators," Brooks said in her co-sponsorship memorandum. "These basic math skills will be essential no matter what path in life these students go on to take. We need to give our children a strong math foundation, and the 'new math' is doing the opposite, making students and parents frustrated to the point they end up hating math."
State Education Department officials said in November that PSSA proficiency rates in math increased for the second consecutive year from 40.2% percent in 2024 to 41.7% in 2025 while Keystone Algebra proficiency rates increased from 41.6% in 2024 to 44.3% in 2025. That means more than 55% of students tested aren't meeting the state's proficiency standards. For Brooks, that means the state should consider changes to the way math is taught throughout the state.
"The current curriculum is an overly complicated way to learn math," Brooks said. "Student frustrations are clearly hindering their day-to-day math skills, and our testing scores demonstrate that reality. In short, "new math" related to the PA Common Core changes were intended to teach critical thinking, but all it is doing is making students struggle with math. It's not improving educational outcomes, nor is it helping our students be prepared for life after high school."