Numerous national and state endeavors have advocated for approaches, funding, and programs focused on expanding the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce of the nation and investing in education to cultivate a more diverse and impactful cohort of students who pursue STEM pathways. Educators, support personnel, and…

In this paper the author investigates how the one-year math throughput rate of community college students varies according to the highest level of math completed in high school, with a particular focus on the implications of successfully completing Algebra 2 while in high school. Community college math throughput rates for students with different…

In spring 2015 Mississippi began testing the college readiness of all grade 11 public high school students and found that approximately 18 percent were ready for college math, a percentage that had changed little by 2017/18. This study examined: (1) the sequences of math courses that Mississippi students took in grades 6-11; (2) the math…

Description: Effective with the 2014/15 school year, Mississippi adopted new academic standards and courses aligned to these new standards. The new courses included both a subject-specific mathematics sequence (that is, algebra I, geometry, and algebra II) as well as an integrated mathematics sequence (that is, integrated I, integrated II, and…

Low performance of African American male students in high school math is an ongoing concern of Maryland's public schools. Because disproportionately large numbers of African American male students enroll in Algebra 2 in Grade 11, the use of early academic counseling to promote enrollment in Algebra 2 in Grade 9 and to increase self-regulation may…

PISA 2012 results indicate that school systems that group students based on ability levels tend to have lower performance than those that do not divide students by ability. One way some in the United States have sought to increase equity of opportunity is to mandate enrollment of students in college-preparatory mathematics, i.e., Algebra 1 in…

This research studied the role of mathematics as a roadblock to college completion for community college-bound students in California. Using longitudinal quantitative analysis, I observed the educational pipeline between high school and community college and analyzed how different high school mathematics histories predicted readiness, or…

This study investigated the benefits of all-girls' classroom instruction in math and/or science during Grades 9 and/or 10, within the context of a public co-educational high school. There were 118 participants in this longitudinal investigation: 26 girls in the all-girl classes, as well as 42 girls and 50 boys in the regular co-educational…

Contexts are currently enjoying much prominence in school mathematics. Generally, the contextual issues and situations learners are exposed to and deal with in Mathematical Literacy are, with good reason, determined by curriculum, learning resource and test designers. This article reports on a study that investigated contexts that learners would…