Early Math Coursework and College Readiness: Evidence from Targeted Middle School Math Acceleration

Shaun Dougherty, Joshua Goodman (), Darryl Hill, Erica Litke and Lindsay C. Page
Additional contact information
Shaun Dougherty: University of CT
Darryl Hill: Wake County Public School System
Erica Litke: Harvard University
Lindsay C. Page: University of Pittsburgh

Working Paper Series from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government

Abstract: To better prepare students for college-level math and the demands of the labor market, school systems have tried to increase the rigor of students' math coursework. The failure of universal "Algebra for All" models has led recently to more targeted approaches. We study one such approach in Wake County, North Carolina, which began using prior test scores to assign middle school students to an accelerated math track culminating in eighth grade algebra. The policy has reduced the role that income and race played in course assignment. A regression discontinuity design exploiting the eligibility threshold shows that acceleration has no clear effect on test scores but lowers middle school course grades. Acceleration does, however, raise the probability of taking and passing geometry in ninth grade by over 30 percentage points, including for black and Hispanic students. Nonetheless, most students accelerated in middle school do not remain so by high school and those that do earn low grades in advanced courses. This leaky pipeline suggests that targeted math acceleration has potential to increase college readiness among disadvantaged populations but that acceleration alone is insufficient to keep most students on such a track.

Date: 2015-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/work ... ?PubId=9803&type=WPN

Related works:
Working Paper: Early Math Coursework and College Readiness: Evidence from Targeted Middle School Math Acceleration (2015)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ecl:harjfk:rwp15-044

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Series from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().