The end of 7th grade provides an important moment to assess how prepared California's students are to succeed in the more advanced math curriculum that starts with algebra. At a minimum, all California students are required to successfully pass Algebra I in order to receive a high school diploma. But Algebra I also functions as the gateway to more…

Ensuring that students have a strong foundation in mathematics by the end of 7th grade is essential if they are to move successfully into an advanced math curriculum that begins with algebra. But student achievement at the end of 7th grade varies widely in California--and this has consequences. Some 7th graders are taking a full Algebra I course;…

The purposes of this study are to describe teacher-student interaction in a seventh-grade mathematics class and to examine the relationships between teacher-student interaction and achievement by race and sex. Sixteen students taught by a black male were studied. For 10 days near the middle of 45 classroom days, quantitative teacher-student…

Reports on a study of students' preferences for social studies, English, and science courses among 888 secondary students. Finds that seventh graders preferred social studies over science, but this preference weakened substantially as students advanced into high school. Finds that boys preferred social studies over English throughout high school.…