Like most other states, Missouri uses assessments intended to measure whether students are on a pathway to "college and career readiness." The state longitudinal data system now has the capacity to directly test that claim. We make use of 8th-grade assessment (MAP) scores in Math, Science, and Communication Arts for roughly 260,000…

Background/Context: As part of a national movement to eliminate a global tracking system that disproportionately assigned underserved students to low-level math classes, the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) mandated academic algebra for all students entering high school in 1997. The results were disappointing: low-skill students experienced elevated…

Background/Context: To stimulate national and regional economic growth, policymakers and businesses have expressed great interest in growing the supply of workers with skills in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). A key link in this pipeline is high school, where learning experience plays a critical role in shaping student's…