Pathway to College: Variable Impacts of Ninth-Grade Algebra Intervention and the Role of Instructional Organization

• In Event: Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Understanding the Pathways From High School to College: Factors and Outcomes

Abstract

In 2003, Chicago required ninth-grade students with pre-test scores below the national median to take two periods of algebra. Importantly, this policy increased skill-based classroom segregation by the double-dose eligibility; classroom peer-skill levels declined for students below the cut-point and increased for those above the cut-point. By examining college-prep math credits accumulation, cumulative GPAs, graduation, and college enrollment, we show how the policy affected pathway to college and how the pattern differed by the degree to which schools sorted classrooms by students’ prior skills. Regression discontinuity results showed positive effects of scoring below the cut-point for students in low-sorting schools, but not in high-sorting schools. Critically, these positive impacts are driven partly by the policy’s negative impacts on above-average students.

Author

• Takako Nomi, St. Louis University