Prepared for print by Zivia Reischer

So how much of a role does educational background really play?

Since my formal general education had ended after eighth grade, I signed up to take Machon L’Parnasa’s math workshop in preparation for the Touro placement test.

On the first day, the professor handed me a page of math problems. Some of the examples looked familiar; I had some vague memories about finding common denominators in order to add fractions. And maybe there was some kind of rule about flipping the top number and bottom number? Not that I could remember when to apply it.

Then there were math functions that I did not even pretend to know, like basic algebra, exponents, absolute value, and my old nemesis — word problems.

I completed the examples to the best of my ability and handed it in. When the professor scanned my work, he didn’t look very impressed. Apparently there are systems for working out math problems, which, incidentally, are not always read left to right. It was clear from my work that I didn’t know anything about the order of operations. “You never heard of PEMDAS?” he demanded. I hadn’t, so that clue didn’t help me. Eventually I got ahold of a fifth-grade math book; that helped a lot. But it all left me somewhat conflicted. Even coming in with zero background, I managed to catch up pretty quickly and did very well in my math courses. So were all the hours devoted to math in typical school systems really necessary?

On the other hand, without the benefit of years of exposure and practice, unless I decide to focus all my energy on math, I’ll probably never reach that instinctive, “at your fingertips” proficiency. Does that justify the years and years spent on it in school?

Or maybe it depended on the individual? I overcame the deficiency in my educational background. But not all my friends could — I have a friend who cannot get his BA despite committed efforts because he just cannot manage to master the ability to write a basic essay in English. For him, the lack of exposure and practice is insurmountable.

Then again, there were students in my class from across the spectrum of educational backgrounds, and some of them were as far behind as I was.

So how much of a role does educational background really play?