12th-Grade Course-Taking and the Distribution of Opportunity for College Readiness in Mathematics

• In Event: 63.071 - Opportunities to Learn Secondary and Postsecondary Mathematics: Micro and Macro Analyses of Equity

Abstract

This paper explores the structural inequalities that may exist in access to rigorous courses in mathematics in 12th grade, by investigating how these courses are distributed across California and conditional on access, who participates in them? The study finds that educational pathways are not just determined by course choices that students make, but through institutional and structural constraints that determine the courses offered to them. Disadvantaged and under represented students are more likely to be in schools that do not offer rigorous math courses. These schools are either Title 1 schools or in urban or rural (versus suburban) areas of the state. Being in schools that do not offer rigorous courses can jeopardize academic success of students.

Authors

• Minahil Asim, University of California - Davis

• Michal Kurlaender, University of California - Davis