Study: Middle School Algebra Push Yields No NAEP Gains

Education Week (3/27, Sparks) reports that a new analysis from the Brookings Institution's Brown Center on Education Policy finds that though "many states are pushing students to take Algebra 1 in middle school to prepare them for advanced math in high school," this practice has not increased NAEP performance. "In 1990, only 16 percent of 8th graders enrolled in an algebra course, versus 81 percent in a more basic pre-algebra course. By 2011, fully 47 percent of 8th grade students reported taking Algebra 1 or higher math." However, the study failed to find a resultant improvement in NAEP scores.