Critical Reasoning

Math education in this country does a disservice to our children. In the lower grades, it should focus on the basic skills that students will need in higher grades to develop the ability to solve complex problems. Learning basic math skills is like learning the scales and chords that one will later use to master complicated concertos and symphonies. However, math educators in this country seem to have it backward, emphasizing in higher grades the same narrow, skills-based approach that students learned in lower grades rather than the analytical tools they will need to solve complex math problems.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the conclusion drawn above?


a While music is common in elementary school curriculums, it is rarely taught in high school.
b On international tests of math skills, high-school students in this country performed no worse than did their counterparts from countries where problem-solving is emphasized in higher grades.
c When presented with a math problem to solve, students in higher grades are more likely to arrive at different answers than students in lowers grades are.
d Older students tend to receive higher grades in math than do younger students.
e Universities in this country report a steady increase in the percentage of native first-year students who qualify to take advanced mathematics courses such as calculus.