You know the basic theory behind Five Whys, how a failure isn't a one-off event but it is the symptom of a process failure?  And how that process failure is a symptom of another process failure, etc etc?<p>Why can't our girls learn math?  Because they are modeled that girls aren't good at math.<p>Why are they modeled that girls aren't good at math?  Because their teachers have "math anxiety".  Here endeth all politically correct investigation of this topic, continue at thy own peril.<p>Why do their teachers have math anxiety?  Because their teachers are incompetent at elementary mathematical skills.  See the article referenced by tokenadult, replete with examples of things like a K-6 <i>faculty</i> without a single person who could calculate the area of a rectangle.<p>Why are their teachers incompetent at math?  Because the schools hire and retain people who are incompetent at math.<p>Why do the schools hire people who are incompetent at math?  Because the schools have no hiring process which would weed out people are incompetent at math from the hiring pool, such as a simple test of second grade math.<p>Whj do the schools have no simple tests of second grade math?  TRICK QUESTION!  Schools do have simple tests of second grade math.  They are just prevented from actually administering them or using them to make hiring decisions, by union pressure.<p><a href="http://www.nea.org/home/18018.htm" rel="nofollow">http://www.nea.org/home/18018.htm</a><p>Quote: Five Reasons to Oppose the 'Highly Qualified Effective Teacher' Mandate: ... It measures teacher performance mainly through use the use of standardized test scores...  It contains harsh penalties that limit employment options for teachers... This proposal will likely exacerbate the teacher shortage problems we already face in [subjects like math].