[58]

Might it have something to do with this?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/majority-of-u...

I'm no fan of the American education system, having suffered through it a full 12 years, but I have to believe it's not the primary cause here. Math is hard, and near impossible if you're stressed. I excelled at math, despite relatively boring math curricula. Why? Because I wasn't stressed as a kid, my family was stable and did not suffer from any serious physical and mental illness, and one parent always made enough money so that the other could stay at home throughout my entire childhood. I had an enormous advantage, and most all of the kids I knew through advanced math classes and math competitions had a similarly charmed existence.

[WillPostForFood]

This article debunks the Washington Post claim about a majority of kids in public school being in poverty.

http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2015/01/no-...

[pessimizer]

By failing at reading comprehension. There's a vast difference between public school students and school-aged children. In Chicago, only 10% of public school students are white[1], with a 45% white population[2] (for example.) Conflating the two things seems almost willfully deceptive.

edit:

[1] http://www.cps.edu/About_CPS/At-a-glance/Pages/Stats_and_fac...

[2] http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/1714000

[WillPostForFood]

What's wilfully deceptive is pointing to one city and claiming it is relevant to national statistics. The WP Article assets a majority of public school students IN THE US are in poverty, that is objectively false. So the reading comprehension problem isn't with the article I cited.

[58]

The WP article isn't really central to my point -- that outside factors have more to do with poor math performance than anything happening inside the schools. I worked in a public school as a tutor for kids slightly behind their grade level (not with the kids who were really struggling) and I have plenty of anecdata from that experience. Kids with drug-addicted parents, kids with parents in prison, kids not having enough food at night, medicated kids, obese kids, a kid who had to move mid school year because his house was shot up in a driveby, etc.