The new report from @StudentSuccess shows the real cost of overly-permissive alternative pathways to high school graduation. 1 in 3 Rutgers students has to take remedial math covering middle and high school level concepts. Those courses often don’t earn credit but do harm the chance of a student graduating from college on time. And those students who don’t attend college will have a gap in skills throughout their life. A dishonest diploma isn’t a favor. It’s a dereliction of our duty to prepare every student for life. We know better. Now let’s do better.

Why does NJ set a lower bar for college readiness than the one set by the ACT test? We can’t answer that. But we - and fellow organizations committed to accountability like @StudentSuccess - can quantify the effects of weakened standards in these alternate pathways to high school graduation. 1/3 of @RutgersU freshmen have to take remediation classes on math courses they allegedly mastered in high school. That leads to higher costs and lower chances of graduating college both overall and in four years. Learn more in the report from @ChadAldeman, and ask yourself: are we giving NJ students and families the education they deserve, or are we just giving them a piece of paper and a pat on the back? weareallsolvers.org/nj/

There are stark warning signs in both 8th grade NAEP and NJ state level standardized tests. Too many of our middle schoolers aren’t reaching proficiency - to say nothing of their true potential. And those gaps in skills grow when unaddressed. Grade inflation, lowered standards, and alternative pathways to high school diplomas leave students unprepared for college. We’ve seen that 11% of incoming Rutgers freshmen have to retake Algebra in the report from @StudentSuccess. These remedial classes have a real cost: financial, emotional, academic. Parents deserve transparency, not inflated success rates. chalkbeat.org/newark/2026/09…

More than 10% of Rutgers college freshman are placed into Elementary and Intermediate Algebra courses. This is a problem we continue to ignore at our own peril. The report from @StudentSuccess and @ChadAldeman digs into how K-12 math education in NJ has fallen short of what students and families deserve. While the COVID pandemic accelerated and exposed this decline, the fact is that scores were falling ever since 2013. One culprit is misguided compassion, which results in grade inflation and the creation of alternative pathways to graduation. We aren’t doing students any favors by pretending they’re prepared for college and life when they’re lacking essential skills. The desire for students to succeed needs to be met with honest assessments of what they have yet to learn. Read more in this paper: weareallsolvers.org/nj/

Earning a diploma should mean… earning it. NJ has softened high school graduation standards by creating alternative pathways. Now public institutions like Rutgers are paying the price - to say nothing of the cost students bear in taking remedial classes, the increased likelihood of dropping out of college, and the lifetime damage to their earning ability and overall confidence as capable adults. Learn more about how we got to this point in this report from @StudentSuccess and @ChadAldeman: weareallsolvers.org/nj/

A new report from @StudentSuccess and @ChadAldeman sounds the alarm on NJ college students' missing math skills. Freshmen arrive at Rutgers only to discover that they have to retake classes they believed - thanks to their As and Bs - they mastered in high school or middle school. This carries an emotional and a financial cost for every student in remediation, puts strain on professors, and slows down entire courses where some students are ready for rigorous college-level work. The report identifies a few ways New Jersey can fix this. All these methods revolve around increased accountability, transparency, and urgency. We need to measure and fix missing skills as early and frequently as possible in a student’s career, because those gaps don’t disappear when we ignore them, but instead compound. And sooner or later that lack of foundation will prevent a student from becoming a whole person capable of achieving their dreams. We urge you and everyone to read the whole study: weareallsolvers.org/nj/

The problem in college Calculus class isn’t just that proficiency level has fallen overall. It’s that students who passed 0 out of 8 calculus readiness topics are now the single biggest group in the room. The middle has collapsed and the bottom has ballooned. That leaves professors with an impossible task, and students feeling betrayed and confused in addition to struggling academically. It’s almost impossible to overstate the harm done by test-blind admissions and grade inflation. Hear more from someone who’s actually in the classroom in this op-ed for @sfstandard: sfstandard.com/opinion/2026/…