Pupils fail in algebra and geometry because they do not apply themselves, because they have poor study habits, because they are unable or unwilling to give sustained attention, because they lack special preparation—they fail, in short, as a result of the many negative influences that militate against achievement everywhere in the high school curriculum. So, too, does inadequate teaching take its toll in the exact sciences as it does in the social sciences or foreign languages. That the percentage of failures is generally higher in mathematics than in other high school subjects is probably due not to additional specific causes but rather to the nature of mathematical skills on which the same causes are apt to leave more profound and far-reaching effects.
