I have a theory that if standardized grading were abolished for a pass/fail system, people would be more mathematically competent.
Bear with me here. With graded homework, especially homeworks that come with diminishing returns (limited attempts that reduce points with every failing attempt) - I argue that makes an incentive to search up answers online (online calculators, Chegg, etc.). When people do this they set up themselves to fail or do poorly in their exams.
You can argue graded homework encourages people to do homework, and I agree with this but the problem is it doesn't necessarily encourage them to do their homework without aid. There's a multitude of factors that contribute to poor studying and cheating, such as universities having credit requirements too steep for young adults to endure simultaneously with responsibilities like work, bills, parenthood, etc. (which are clearly designed to maximize tuition profit). I think with consideration to reduce economic and academic stress imposed on students as well as abolishing our standardized grading system, we could really maximize success in the classroom. We wouldn't have students landing in calc 2 with a poor understanding of differentiation just because they managed to pass calc 1 with a 70%, or students that rely on homework, quizzes, curves, etc., to pass just because they consistently do poorly on their exams. I think the fact they do poorly on their exams is an indication our grading system is not doing its job.