We conducted a quantitative analysis to determine how the prerequisite path of students taking calculus I impacts their grade performance. We began by investigating the performance of students that took college algebra and trigonometry versus those that took pre-calculus ahead of their credit-bearing calculus I attempt. We concluded that there was…

Since the mid-20th century, the standard U.S. high school and college math curriculum has been based on two years of algebra and a year of geometry, preparing students to take classes in pre-calculus followed by calculus. Students' math pursuits have been differentiated primarily by how far or how rapidly they proceed along a clearly defined…