Does Readiness for Eighth-Grade Algebra Matter? A Quasi-Experimental, Multisite Analysis of Short- and Longer Term Outcomes

• In Event: 34.027 - Access to Accelerated Mathematics Course-Taking in Middle School and Beyond

Abstract

Enrollment in eighth-grade algebra doubled from the 1990s to 2012 (National Center for Education Statistics, 2013) as research demonstrated that Algebra I operates as a “gateway” to advanced mathematics courses in high school (Adelman, 2006). However, prior work was heavily prone to selection bias, focusing on high-performing students. Other work examined outcomes of taking eighth-grade algebra for students with different levels of readiness and highlights negative effects for average or lower performing students (Loveless, 2008; Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2013). However, these studies have important limitations; they focus on district(s) within one state and/or only examine short-term outcomes, and no study examines graduation outcomes among average and lower-performing students.

This exploratory study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences builds on that literature by examining the long-term outcomes of students placed into Algebra in eighth grade in two large, heterogeneous districts. We investigate:

1. What is the impact of enrollment in eighth-grade algebra on students’ high school achievement and graduation rates?
2. How does a student’s readiness to take algebra in eighth grade change these impacts?

This quasi-experimental study employs a propensity weighting design, wherein students who did not take algebra in eighth grade are weighted by their prior achievement and background characteristics (e.g., demographics, school) to resemble students who did. We calculated these propensity weights by predicting each student’s likelihood of enrolling in eighth-grade algebra given his or her background characteristics and prior achievement before eighth grade. We used the resulting predicted values to calculate the average treatment effect on the treated (ATT). We generated levels of readiness to take eighth-grade algebra based on students’ seventh-grade math test scores and final course grade in seventh-grade mathematics.

We examined secondary data from six cohorts of students from Elk Grove Unified School District (22,429 students, graduating classes of 2011-2016), and four cohorts of students from Chicago Public Schools (100,628 students, graduating classes of 2013-2016). All Elk Grove Unified middle schools and approximately one third of Chicago Public Schools K-8 schools offered eighth-grade algebra.

As shown in Figures 1-6, all students who took algebra in eighth grade were more likely to repeat Algebra, in both sites these more likely to pass Algebra I before the end of high school, complete an advance course sequence before the end of 10th grade, and complete Calculus. Additionally, students who took algebra in eighth grade achieved higher scores on high school mathematics exams, and they had higher four-year graduation rates. Effects were larger for students with higher levels of readiness, but there was no significant negative effect for students with lower levels of readiness.

These results show fairly consistent findings from two distinct sites that students who took algebra in eighth grade experienced a host of education benefits relative to similar students who did not take the course until high school.

Authors

• Nicholas Andrew Sorensen, American Institutes for Research

• Whitney Layne Cade, American Institutes for Research

• Sanja Jagesic, Consortium on Chicago School Research At The University of Chicago

• Kirk Walters, American Institutes for Research

• Jordan Rickles, American Institutes for Research

• Ryan Curtis Eisner, American Institutes for Research