69ý

Assessment

Study: Middle School Algebra Push Yields Minimal Performance Gains

By Sarah D. Sparks — March 26, 2013 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Many states are pushing students to take Algebra 1 in middle school to prepare them for advanced math in high school. A new analysis, however, suggests that increased enrollment hasn’t led to higher math performance for states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

The study was released last week as part of the annual report on education by the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, in Washington.

Brookings senior fellow Tom Loveless tracked the number of students taking the 8th grade NAEP between 1990 and 2011 who reported taking an advanced math class, which could mean Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, or an algebra course “stretched over two years.”

In 1990, only 16 percent of 8th graders enrolled in an algebra course, versus 81 percent in a more basic pre-algebra course. By 2011, fully 47 percent of 8th grade students reported taking Algebra 1 or higher math.

Between 2005 and 2011, 45 states boosted the number of 8th graders taking Algebra 1, with an average increase of 5.5 percent more of those students taking a math course at the level of Algebra 1 or higher.

Mr. Loveless found no connection, though, between increases in the number of 8th graders enrolled in Algebra 1 and states’ average NAEP math scores, even after controlling for changes in the states’ rates of children in poverty, English-language learners, and black and Hispanic students.

A recent analysis of high school coursework by the National Center for Education Statistics found that a majority of high school courses labeled Algebra 1 and Geometry cover a significant amount of more basic material.

Critics noted that the NCES study did not include data on 8th grade Algebra 1 and Geometry courses, even though one in five 2005 high school graduates had taken Algebra 1 in middle school. But the Brookings study suggests the high school pattern may hold in middle school math courses, too.

In states that did not increase their enrollments, students in 8th grade Algebra 1 courses performed, on average, 9.2 points better in 2011 than in 2005. In states with rising enrollments, by contrast, students in 8th grade Algebra 1 improved only 5.2 scale points during the same period.

“I think the Brookings study using state aggregated data confirms a lot of what NCES finds in our more detailed transcript analysis,” said NCES Commissioner Sean P. “Jack” Buckley.

Mr. Loveless said the study suggests that advanced math in middle school may be “watered down” as more students of different ability levels in math take the course.

“Algebra in 8th grade used to be reserved for gifted students; if you were a high flier in math, you were moved up,” he said. As taking Algebra 1 in 8th grade becomes the “new normal,” he said, gifted math students are being pushed to take the subject in 7th grade, and take a geometry course in 8th.

“It doesn’t matter what we do as the norm, there will be another class created for gifted [students],” Mr. Loveless said.

A version of this article appeared in the March 27, 2013 edition of Education Week as Early-Algebra Push Found to Yield No NAEP Boost

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Assessment Opinion 'Academic Rigor Is in Decline.' A College Professor Reflects on AP Scores
The College Board’s new tack on AP scoring means fewer students are prepared for college.
4 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Assessment Opinion 69ý Shouldn't Have to Pass a State Test to Graduate High School
There are better ways than high-stakes tests to think about whether students are prepared for their next step, writes a former high school teacher.
Alex Green
4 min read
Reaching hands from The Creation of Adam of Michelangelo illustration representing the creation or origins of of high stakes testing.
Frances Coch/iStock + Education Week
Assessment Opinion Why Are Advanced Placement Scores Suddenly So High?
In 2024, nearly three-quarters of students passed the AP U.S. History exam, compared with less than half in 2022.
10 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Assessment Grades and Standardized Test Scores Aren't Matching Up. Here's Why
Researchers have found discrepancies between student grades and their scores on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT.
5 min read
Student writing at a desk balancing on a scale. Weighing test scores against grades.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty Images