Dear Editor, I appreciated the stories in your March 10 issue on efforts being made to improve the preparedness of students in Florida and Texas for college. As a visiting faculty member at UNT [University of North Texas] this semester I have been teaching two sections of a remedial math course. The students are typical of many around the country in that despite good intentions they are not ready for college level work. There are two changes Texas could make to the math components of it testing regime (TASP, TAKS, etc.) that would yield some gains: do not allow students to use a calculator on all questions, and do not give them a formula sheet. Unfortunately, some high school math teachers “teach to the test.” Because the standardized tests allow free use of a calculator, these teachers do the same. Many of my students cannot do basic arithmetic. Some have no idea why 1 divided by 1/2 is 2. How can they understand the behavior of an equation like y=1/x when free use of calculators has robbed them of what math skills they had coming into high school? While calculators are an important tool, their use should be restricted to four or five test problems where they are needed. After that students should use their minds. Similarly, when students know all the formulas will be given to them during the test, they learn not to learn. I have had students who do not know the formula for the area of a triangle let alone the quadratic formula. These two changes, restricting calculator use and not giving out formula sheets, would be cheap and easy. Each would reduce the damage caused by those teachers who "teach to the test." Sincerely, Michael Sullivan Visiting Associate Professor, UNT Associate Professor, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale