Can you take algebra in 8th grade? In many cases, the answer is no.

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If you are an 8th grader who wants to take algebra, can you even take the class?

It turns out that the answer to that question depends largely on two things: how your school identifies students for advanced math and where you live.

According to a new nationally representative survey released Tuesday, 65% of U.S. principals said their elementary or middle school offered algebra in eighth grade, but only to certain students. Meanwhile, only 20% of principals said their school offered the class in eighth grade and that any student could take it.

But that picture differed by state. In California, nearly half of principals said their school offered algebra only to certain eighth graders. But in Florida, more than 80% of principals said the class was restricted. In both states, 18% of principals said any eighth-grade student could take the class, similar to the national rate.

The findings, based on surveys conducted last spring by the RAND Corporation, shed light on the unequal access students have to advanced mathematics classes in high school, which can have lasting effects on their higher education and prospects. labor.

Algebra is often considered a gateway class. Eighth graders who take the course can more easily achieve calculus in the 12th grade, which can prepare students for challenging math classes in college and careers in science and engineering fields.

“Kids who don't know algebra in eighth grade can still do it,” said Julia Kaufman, senior policy researcher at RAND and lead author of the report, “but they would have to do something special to do it.” there,” such as doubling up on math or taking a summer class.

The report also details the extent to which students are separated based on their perceived math abilities, starting in elementary school.

More than 40% of elementary school principals told RAND researchers that their school grouped children according to their math levels, primarily within the classroom. But in high school, nearly 70% of principals said they grouped students in math. Most commonly, students were assigned to separate math classes in honors or career preparation courses, according to the report.

“The amount of grouping by achievement level (beginning within the classrooms of K-5 schools and that in middle school, students are generally grouped by achievement level more frequently than when they are not grouped by their mathematics) is something new. Kaufman said.

The findings come as parents and school leaders across the country engage in intense debates about whether students should be able to take algebra before high school and, if so, what support students need to do well in class.

In particular, San Francisco Unified schools, which drew national attention for a policy that prevented students from taking algebra until the ninth grade, are set to return algebra to middle schools after parental pushback. School officials implemented the policy 10 years ago to help prepare more black, Latino and students from low-income families to pass algebra and access higher-level math classes, a goal that has not panned out.

The new survey data does not analyze whether tracking helps or hurts students' math results.

And there are other factors that could affect students' access to higher-level math classes, the report notes, such as different teacher certification rules, school funding levels and state policies. California's state math guidelines encourage students to take algebra in ninth grade, for example, while New York schools are supposed to offer high school math to eighth graders who want to take it.

But Kaufman says the report suggests schools should examine the criteria they use to group students in math and whether this could be fueling racial or socioeconomic disparities.

“We're not making a recommendation that anyone should not be tracked,” Kaufman said. “But if students are grouped together, I think this report requires consideration of whether and how students are grouped is biased. Are there many students of color, for example, at the lower level? What's happening there?”

Schools try various methods to expand access to algebra

Nationally, white and Asian American students are more likely than their black and Hispanic peers to enroll in and pass algebra in eighth grade, the latest federal data shows. Historically, students from low-income families have also had less access to algebra in eighth grade.

In Philadelphia, many students can't get into the city's most selective high school because their middle schools don't offer algebra. Making algebra more accessible is part of the superintendent's curriculum overhaul.

School districts like Chicago have taken steps to expand access to algebra in eighth grade, such as offering the class online and covering the costs for educators to earn algebra teaching credentials. Historically, fewer students in the city's predominantly black and low-income neighborhoods have been able to take the class before high school.

The RAND survey found that principals at wealthier schools were much more likely than leaders at higher-poverty schools to say they considered requests from parents or guardians to place students in advanced math classes. That could hurt kids who don't have a parent who can step in and make that kind of advocacy, Kaufman noted.

The report urges schools to analyze multiple data points to place students in higher-level math classes and to consider experimenting with the cutoff scores used to identify which students can handle the most difficult math coursework.

In Oklahoma, Union Public Schools is trying that, the Hechinger Report recently reported. The district, which serves parts of Tulsa and the city's southeastern suburbs, used to offer a pre-algebra placement test in fifth grade, just once.

But after school officials realized it was primarily about funneling elementary school children from whiter, wealthier neighborhoods into advanced middle and high school math classes, they made changes. The district now allows students to take the fifth-grade level test multiple times and teachers can recommend promising students regardless of their score. That has helped diversify advanced math classes, particularly for Hispanic students.

Union Public Schools also added math tutoring starting in third grade, the kind of support that the RAND report found can be crucial to student success, but that many struggling students don't receive.

More than three-quarters of middle school principals told RAND researchers that fewer than half of their struggling students participated in math support options offered by their school, such as tutoring, double-dose math classes, or a summer math program for rising high school students. .

This could indicate a need for schools to universally screen children for extra help in math, or do more to make sure students and parents know what help is offered. Schools may also need to change how help is offered, such as moving after-school tutoring to the school day or providing transportation so more children can attend.

Those are crucial steps, Kaufman said, at a time when many children are struggling to close math gaps that arose when school was remote or otherwise disrupted by the pandemic.

“I know that tutoring is happening in many places, it is one of the priorities of the White House right now,” he said. But if tutoring is offered primarily to children and parents who volunteer, “then the tutoring will not reach the children who need it most.”

chalk beat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

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