Although over 8,000 districts offered access to Algebra I, in almost 90 percent of districts, less than half of all 8th graders were enrolled in the course. We also see differences in enrollment by state, with Minnesota and Pennsylvania, for example, standing out as states with broad enrollment. Learn more about how States are focusing on Algebra I.
We know that a strong STEM education is a path to successful career and we know that the need for STEM knowledge and skills will continue to grow in the future. [5] Taking Algebra I before high school, such as in 8th grade, can set students up for a strong foundation of STEM education and open the door for various college and career options.
The data explored in this story highlight both successes and areas for improvement, as school leaders, teachers and parents across the country, work to ensure equal access to a strong STEM education for all students.
Civil Rights Data Collection
The data explored in this story comes from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). Since 1968, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) has conducted the CRDC to collect data on key education and civil rights issues in our nation's public schools. The CRDC collects a variety of information including student enrollment and educational programs and services, most of which is disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, limited English proficiency, and disability. The CRDC informs the Office of Civil Rights’ overall strategy for administering and enforcing the civil rights statutes for which it is responsible. The CRDC collects data only from public schools and does not include data from private schools. To directly download the CRDC data files, click here (34MB).
Data Exclusion Rules
Data included in this story may differ slightly from other published reports due to certain data decisions. For the purposes of these analyses, schools with incomplete or inconsistent data values were excluded as follows:
1. Less than 1% of schools were excluded from all analyses because they reported inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment for the same grade level.
2. An additional 6% of schools serving 8th grade students were excluded from all enrollment analyses due to missing 8th grade enrollment data or the 8th grade Algebra I enrollment count being larger than the 8th grade overall enrollment.
3. Fewer than 10 schools were excluded from the enrollment by urbanicity (locale) analysis due to missing data.
4. Schools with an 8th grade Algebra I enrollment count larger than the 8th grade enrollment for either the male or female subgroup (1% of schools serving 8th-grade students) were excluded from the enrollment by gender analysis.
5. Schools with an 8th grade Algebra I enrollment count larger than the 8th grade enrollment for at least one race/ethnicity subgroup (16% of schools serving 8th grade students) were excluded from the enrollment by race/ethnicity analysis.
References
[1] Hadani, H. S., & Rood, E. (2018). The roots of STEM success: Changing early learning experiences to build lifelong thinking skills . Sausalito, CA: Center for Childhood Creativity at the Bay Area Discovery Museum.
[2] Building STEM Education on a Sound Mathematical Foundation: A joint position statement on STEM from the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics & National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2018).
[3] Noonan, R. (2017). STEM jobs: 2017 Update. Washington, DC: Office of the Chief Economist, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
[4] The Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) , conducted by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) under the U.S. Department of Education, gathers information from our nation’s public schools.
[5] Noonan, R. (2017). STEM jobs: 2017 Update. Washington, DC: Office of the Chief Economist, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
