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Interdisciplinary innovation is redesigning college math courses, with modernized quantitative reasoning options, both for students pursuing non–math-intensive majors and for those seeking to earn degrees in STEM fields. California is no exception, at least for students who begin their degree at a four-year university. 

As I reflect on how I got here—a combination of hard work, privileges, luck, dedication, and public K–12 education—I’m grateful to have had the opportunities required to build the foundations of a career I'm passionate about and to prepare me to be a fully participating citizen. Unfortunately, I've learned along the way that there is not equal opportunity in our education system to get to this point.

For more than two decades, the CSU system has been a leader nationally in adopting programs to strengthen students’ math preparation and smooth transitions between high school and college. Its announcement at yesterday’s trustees meeting that the system will double down on these efforts—rather than increase admissions requirements—is welcome news, particularly given concerns about students’ math learning.

Debates over math education too often focus solely on course content or—even worse—superficial questions about course titles, at the expense of the important issues of what students are learning and how they learn it. Yet, evidence abounds that, regardless of course content and titles, actual math learning is often limited and shallow.

In my new role, I continue to build a community of educators, policymakers, and student advocates dedicated to the sustainable advancement of high-quality, equitable mathematics education. Together, we can create math pathways that open, rather than close, doors for students.