In America, **only 24%** of public school students take              algebra in 8th grade.
**EXPLORE THIS DATA                STORY

## A Leak in the STEM Pipeline: Taking Algebra Early

### NOV 2018 | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

            Algebra is the foundation for students' future success in science, technology, engineering, and math. Do they have the opportunity to            take it early? Using national data, we look at students' access to and enrollment in Algebra I in the 8th            grade.          

            In today’s era of technological innovation, students need to gain knowledge and skills in order to solve            difficult problems, gather and evaluate evidence, make sense of information they study, and be prepared            for the careers and challenges of the            21st century and beyond. Students can develop and strengthen these skills by studying science,            technology,            engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, including computer science (CS).                [1]               STEM education is embedded in the U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department) mission. Learn more about the focus on STEM education.

            Mathematics has been called the “language” of STEM because students need a strong mathematics foundation            to succeed in STEM fields and to make sense of STEM-related topics in their daily lives.                [2]               This story focuses            on Algebra I within K-12 education because it is seen            as a gatekeeper course: Students normally need to complete Algebra I in order to take higher level            mathematics and science courses.[3] Taking the course earlier in their academic careers allows students sufficient time to take            the more advanced courses that are often prerequisites for postsecondary STEM majors. However, we see in            this data story that            only 24 percent of all 8th graders are enrolled in Algebra I. See what the research says about why this matters.

            This data story explores both access to and enrollment in Algebra I in K-12 public schools using the            2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).                            [4]               The data story looks at the types of schools that offer Algebra I classes and further explores            the students who actually enroll in these classes, particularly in 8th grade. The Department is            encouraging            both access to and enrollment in STEM courses. Both aspects are important because, as we will see through            the story, even where access to Algebra I classes are available students do not necessarily enroll in them.          

###             When students take Algebra I matters, but many students do not have early            access.          

            Despite the benefits of early access to Algebra I, we see that only 59 percent of schools that serve 8th            graders offer Algebra I. A typical math course sequence would start with Algebra I and continue with            Geometry, Algebra II,            Pre-Calculus, and Calculus. Students who do not have access to Algebra I until high school are unlikely to            have the opportunity to take any Calculus courses before they graduate.          

####             Only 59 percent of schools offer Algebra I in 8th grade. Access to Algebra I in high school            grades is            more common, but still not universal.          

Download the spreadsheet

                  This chart is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools reporting                  inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment for the same grade level were excluded from this analysis.                

                  Some schools may offer Algebra I in either 9th/10th grade OR 11th/12th grade, but                  not both. Nonetheless, it is important that students have access to Algebra I sometime in their high                  school                  career.                

          - Source: Civil Rights Data Collection 2015–16
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            Since high-level mathematics and high-level science courses are frequently taken together, students who            have the opportunity to take more advanced math courses are also more likely to take advanced science            courses. When schools don’t offer Algebra I to            8th graders, it can reduce the amount of all STEM courses - not just math courses - they can            take            before graduation.          

###             Access to Algebra I in 8th grade is uneven across the country.          

            Schools that offer Algebra I in 8th grade provide their students with an opportunity to reach            more advanced math and science courses in high school. However, there is a wide variation in students’            access to Algebra I in 8th grade based on where the school is located and the type of school            that a student attends. Given the importance of early access to Algebra I, the remainder of this story            focuses only on            8th grade students and the schools that serve them.          

####             About 30 percent of school districts across the nation did not offer Algebra I in 8th grade.          

% of schools offering Algebra I in 8th gradeby school district

Table spreadsheet view not available due to length. Please use the link below to download the complete              table.            
Download              the spreadsheet

              This chart is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools reporting              inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment were excluded from this analysis.            

              This map includes only regular local school districts and local school districts that are a component of              a supervisory union. Data might be missing from the map if:            
          - A district did not have schools serving 8 th -grade students.
          - A district that reported data did not match with the NCES district boundary file.              

              District data displayed on the map may not be based on all schools in the district. All districts with              data have complete and consistent data for at least one school in the district.            

      - Source: Civil Rights Data Collection 2015–16
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            For districts that serve 8th grade students, this map allows us to dig deeper to see the            percentage of            schools offering Algebra I in 8th grade in each district. Despite wide variations across the            country, there            are many states across the Northeast and            along the Atlantic coast where a high percentage of students had access.          

####             Overall, 80 percent of 8th grade students had access to Algebra I, however access varied widely            by the type of school the student attended. Students enrolled in magnet or traditional public schools were            more likely to have access to Algebra I in 8th grade.          

Download the spreadsheet

This chart is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were                  excluded from this analysis for the following reasons:                
              - The school reported inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment.
              -                       An additional 6% of schools serving 8 th  grade students were excluded from all enrollment analyses due to the school missing its 8 th  grade enrollment data or its 8 th  grade Algebra I enrollment count being larger than the 8 th  gradegit  overall enrollment.                  

                  School type categories in this analysis are not mutually exclusive. For example, a school can be both                  a charter school and a special education school. Traditional schools are defined in this analysis as                  regular schools that are not charter, magnet, special                  education, vocational, or alternative/other schools. Separate data on alternative schools and other                  unspecified schools were not available.                

          - Source: Civil Rights Data Collection 2015–16 and Common Core of Data 2015–16
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            While 59 percent of schools offered Algebra I in 8th grade, these schools served 80 percent of            8th grade students overall, meaning that four-fifths of all 8th graders attended a            school that            offered Algebra I. The percentage            of 8th graders who had access to Algebra I was largest for students attending magnet schools,            with nearly 90 percent of students having access to Algebra I in 8th grade, and lowest for            students attending a special education            school with nearly 20 percent of students having access to Algebra I in 8th grade. This wide variation            shows that students’ access to STEM education can be greatly affected by the type of school they attend.          

####             Differences in early access to algebra by urbanicity were small. Even in rural schools, 75% of 8th graders could take Algebra I.          

Download the spreadsheet

This chart is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were                  excluded from this analysis for the following reasons:                
              - The school reported inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment.
              -                       An additional 6% of schools serving 8 th  grade students were excluded from all enrollment analyses due to the school missing its 8 th  grade enrollment data or its 8 th  grade Algebra I enrollment count being larger than the 8 th  grade overall enrollment.                  
              - Missing urbanicity data.

                  “Urban” refers to territory inside an Urbanized Area and inside a Principal City. “Suburban” refers                  to territory outside a Principal City and inside an Urbanized Area. “Town” refers to territory inside                  an Urban Cluster. “Rural” refers to Census-defined                  rural territory. For more information, please see https://nces.ed.gov/programs/edge/docs/LOCALE_CLASSIFICATIONS.pdf.                

          - Source: Civil Rights Data Collection 2015–16 and Common Core of Data 2015–16
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            About 86 percent of students in suburban areas (where the largest percentage of students are enrolled) had            access to Algebra I in 8th grade, compared to about 75 percent of students in all other areas.          

            Next we will explore how *access* to Algebra I differs from *enrollment* in Algebra I in 8th            grade.          

###             Enrollment lags behind access. Even when they can take Algebra I, many 8th graders do not.          

            While access to Algebra I is important, access alone is not enough. Students will not reap the benefits of            *access* to more STEM courses if they are not actually *enrolled* in the courses.          

            There are many factors within a school that may affect how many, and which, students are            enrolled in Algebra I in 8th grade. For example, some students have access to Algebra            I in 7th grade,            some students may not be ready to take Algebra I in 8th grade, and others may not be interested            in accelerated mathematics. See what the research says              about why this matters.

####             Overall, only 24 percent of all 8th graders were enrolled in Algebra I. Looking further at the            data suggests a complicated story of opportunity for different types of students.          

Download the spreadsheet

                  This chart is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools were                  excluded from this analysis for the following reasons:                
              - The school reported inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment.
              - Missing 8 th -grade enrollment data.
              - For gender, the 8 th -grade Algebra I enrollment count was larger than the 8                     th -grade overall enrollment for either the male or female subgroup.
              - For race/ethnicity, the 8 th -grade Algebra I enrollment count was larger than the 8 th -grade                    overall enrollment for at least one race/ethnicity subgroup.

          - Source: Civil Rights Data Collection 2015–16 and Common Core of Data 2015–16
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            Previously, we saw that 80 percent of 8th grade students had access to Algebra I in 8th            grade; however, only 24 percent of 8th grade students across the country were actually enrolled            in the            course. Furthermore, not            all students were enrolled at the same rate. Students who are Asian were the most likely to be enrolled in            Algebra I in 8th grade with 34 percent            of all 8th graders who are Asian enrolled in the course. Comparatively, only 12 percent of 8th            graders who are            black enrolled in Algebra I in 8th grade. In addition, a slightly higher percentage of female            students (25 percent)            than male students (22 percent) were enrolled in Algebra I in 8th grade. See what the research says about why this matters.

            We also see geographic trends in where 8th graders are enrolled in Algebra I across the country.          

####             Across the country, there were 75 districts that had all 8th graders enrolled in Algebra I.          

% of 8th graders who took Algebra I in 8th gradeby school district

Table spreadsheet view not available due to length. Please use the link below to download the complete              table.            
Download              the spreadsheet

              This chart is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Schools reporting              inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment were excluded from this analysis.            

              This map only includes regular local school districts and local school districts that are a component of              a supervisory union. Data might be missing from the map if:            
          - A district did not have schools serving 8 th -grade students.
          - A district did not have schools reporting complete and consistent Algebra I enrollment and overall                enrollment data.
          - A district that reported data did not match with the NCES district boundary file. 

              District data displayed on the map may not be based on all schools in the district. All districts with              data have complete and consistent data for at least one school in the district.            

      - Source: Civil Rights Data Collection 2015–16 and Common Core of Data 2015–16
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            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.          

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##### 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.              

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