Pathways to Advanced High School Mathematics Courses Using NAEP and HSTS

• In Event: Research Into High School Coursework and Achievement Using the NAEP High School Transcript Study

Abstract

The 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) High School Transcript Study (HSTS) reported mixed findings concerning high school graduates’ mathematics coursetaking. Compared to 2009, high school graduates in 2019 earned more credits and a higher grade point average in mathematics courses, but their scores on the NAEP twelfth-grade mathematics assessment decreased (NCES, 2022). There are concerns that students not having access to advanced mathematics courses may be a reason for the lower NAEP mathematics scores. Analyses of the 2018 Civil Rights Data Collection find that students in schools with high student of color enrollment do not have the same access to calculus and other advanced mathematics courses as students in schools with low student of color enrollment (Leung et al., 2020). This presentation utilizes the 2019 NAEP and HSTS data to analyze student access to advanced mathematics courses.

For this presentation, access is defined as a school offering the course to its students. As part of the 2019 assessments, the NAEP school questionnaire asked multiple questions about whether a school offers specific advanced mathematics courses. The NAEP student questionnaire asked students whether they have taken specific mathematics courses and at what grade levels. The responses to these questions can be compared to determine access to advanced mathematics courses. Linking the HSTS catalogs and transcripts allows verification of the school and student responses and comparisons with additional HSTS-generated mathematics coursetaking measures. Where feasible, the analyses are linked to the NAEP twelfth-grade mathematics assessment scores, so that measures of academic achievement are included in the analyses, as well as school and student demographic variables.

Preliminary findings suggest that high school graduates had access to such high-level mathematics courses as precalculus and calculus. Approximately 95 percent of high school graduates in 2019 attended a school that offered precalculus and/or introductory analysis courses, while 90 percent attended a school offering calculus courses. Access to calculus courses was steady across low (89 percent), medium (92 percent), and high (88 percent) minority schools. Having access to advanced mathematics courses, however, does not mean that graduates took those courses. Students still have to meet the prerequisites for the course, and schools that do not have enough students meeting the prerequisites may not offer the courses. Based on the HSTS student transcripts, in schools that offered calculus courses, about 17 percent of high school graduates completed at least one calculus course. The percentages differed significantly among school minority status, with 20 percent of graduates in medium minority schools completing calculus courses, compared to 12 percent of graduates in high minority schools.

Having access to advanced mathematics courses is important for high school graduates to succeed in their postsecondary efforts. While many schools offer advanced mathematics courses, this presentation shows that there are other factors that affect whether the graduates take those courses. Measuring both access and coursetaking paths to advanced mathematics courses will present a clearer picture of advanced mathematics coursetaking in the United States.

Authors

• Lisa Hamilton, Westat
  Presenting Author

• Kavemuii Murangi, Westat
  Non-Presenting Author