Long Division

The Kensington-born writer Reihan Salam begins an essay on education policy with this memory:

As a 9-year-old, I recall having tremendous difficulty figuring out how long division worked. Before then, math was a pleasure, and I proudly told anyone who asked that my life goal was to become a “computer engineer,” a term I barely understood. But my battle with long division cured me of that, and I decided I’d instead spend my life traveling the world on a fast-moving yacht with my multiracial army of adopted karate-trained children, solving mysteries.

I did eventually figure out long division. My teacher, a dedicated and charismatic guy we all loved, tried explaining it to me after class, but he eventually gave up in frustration. He had plenty of students with problems bigger than mine, and I could hardly blame him. Fortunately, my oldest sister, a smart and patient high schooler at the time, walked me through it.

Not every kid has sisters like mine, and that might be our central educational challenge...