Schools Given Grade on How Graduates Do

Hunching over her notebook at Borough of Manhattan Community College, Sharasha Croslen struggled to figure out what do with the algebra problem in front of her: x2 + 2x – 8 = 0.

It was a question every ninth grader is expected to be able to answer. (For those who have erased the ninth grade from memory, the answer is at the end of the article.) But even though Ms. Croslen managed to complete three years of math and graduate from high school, she did not know how to solve for x.

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/education/10remedial.html?_r=1&hp