Meeting Oregon's New High School Math Graduation Requirements: Examining Student Enrollment and Teacher Availability. Summary. Issues &amp; Answers. REL 2012-No. 126
Author: Raphael, Jacqueline
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: High Schools,Graduation Requirements,Educational Change,Mathematics Achievement,School Size,School Location,Racial Composition,Economically Disadvantaged,Low Income Groups,Enrollment,Secondary School Mathematics,High School Students,Grade 9,Grade 10,Grade 11,Grade 12,Small Schools,Teacher Supply and Demand

Disaggregating the data across four school variables--size, locale, racial/ethnic minority population, and population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch--this study examines the extent to which Oregon grade 9-12 students enrolled in high school math courses during 2006/07 and 2007/08 would not have been on track to graduate had the new graduation requirements for the class of 2014 and beyond been in place. It looks also at how well the state's 2006/07 and 2007/08 availability of advanced math-endorsed teachers would meet the increased demand stemming from the new requirements. Students were considered off track if they were enrolled in a course that would not allow them, by completing no more than one math course per year, to complete by grade 12 the required three classes at the level of algebra I and above. Four research questions guide this study: (1) What percentage of Oregon's grade 9-12 students enrolled in high school math classes in 2006/07 and 2007/08 would not have been on track to meet the state's new graduation requirements for the class of 2014 and beyond had the requirements been in place?; (2) How does the percentage of Oregon's grade 9-12 students enrolled in high school math classes who would not have been on track to meet the state's new graduation requirements vary by school size, locale, racial/ethnic minority population, and population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch?; (3) How well does the 2006/07 and 2007/08 availability of advanced math-endorsed teachers for grades 9-12 meet the increased demand for advanced math courses that will result from the new requirements?; and (4) How does the relationship between the availability of advanced math-endorsed teachers and the grade 9-12 demand for advanced math courses vary by school size, locale, racial/ethnic minority population, and population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch? Key findings include: (1) Had the new graduation requirements for the class of 2014 and beyond been in place during the two study years, at least 11 percent of grade 9-12 students would have been off track to meet the new requirements; (2) Of the subcategories within each school type, those with the greatest proportion of students who would not have been on track to meet the new requirements were small schools (18 percent), schools in towns (14 percent), schools with a high racial/ethnic minority population (15 percent), and schools with a high population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch (16 percent); (3) Had the availability of advanced math-endorsed teachers remained at 2006/07 and 2007/08 levels, 62-80 percent of grade 9-12 students needing to take advanced math courses would have had access to these teachers under the new requirements, depending on how demand was estimated; and (4) Grade 9-12 students in small schools would have faced a lower availability of advanced math-endorsed teachers than students in other school size subcategories would have (29-47 percent, depending on how demand for advanced math-endorsed teachers was estimated); schools with a low population eligible for free or reduced-price lunch would have faced a higher availability than students in other subcategories of free or reduced-price lunch-eligible population would have (75-88 percent, depending on how demand for advanced math-endorsed teachers was estimated). [For the full report, &quot;Meeting Oregon's New High School Math Graduation Requirements: Examining Student Enrollment and Teacher Availability. Issues &amp; Answers. REL 2012-No. 126,&quot; see ED531497.]