STEM Data Story

In today’s era of technological innovation, students need to gain knowledge and skills in order to solve difficult problems, gather and evaluate evidence, and make sense of information they receive. Students can develop and strengthen these skills by studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, subjects.¹

STEM education is embedded in the U.S. Department of Education’s (the Department's) mission. The Secretary of Education has outlined a comprehensive education agenda that includes a focus on supporting projects that are designed to improve student achievement or other educational outcomes in one or more of the STEM areas, including expanding access to STEM and computer science courses for all students. Additionally, in September 2017, the President signed a Presidential Memorandum designed to increase access to high-quality STEM education.

While a number of different subjects fall under the STEM umbrella, Algebra I is the focus of this data story because it is seen as a gatekeeper course. A student must generally complete Algebra I in order to take higher level STEM courses.

This data story explores both access to and enrollment in Algebra I in public schools using the 2015–2016 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC).² The data story looks at the types of schools that offer Algebra I classes and further drills down to explore the students who actually enroll in these classes. While the Department is working to increase both access to and enrollment in STEM courses, as we will see through the story, students who have access to Algebra I classes do not necessarily enroll in them.

When students take Algebra I matters—many students do not have early access.

Taking Algebra I in 8th grade enables students to take a greater number and range of STEM courses than if they complete Algebra I in 9th grade or later because it is typically a prerequisite for more advanced courses.³

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

Number and percentage of schools offering Algebra I classes and with at least one student enrolled in the class, by grade level: 2015–16

Grade level	Total number of schools with grade level	Number of schools offering Algebra I	Percentage of schools offering Algebra I
8th grade	29,385	17,323	59.0
9th or 10th grade	25,773	21,733	84.3
11th or 12th grade	25,773	15,397	59.7

Notes: This table is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection

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.

Source: Civil Rights Data Collection

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 will likely not have the opportunity to take any Calculus before they graduate. Research shows that the percentage of students entering STEM fields was higher among students who took Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, or Calculus in high school.⁴

Despite the importance of access to Algebra I in 8th grade, we see that not all students have early access, reducing the amount of STEM 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 the type of school they attend and where it is located.

In general, students enrolled in magnet or traditional public schools were more likely to have access to Algebra I in 8th grade.

Number and percentage of 8th-graders with access to 8th-grade Algebra I, by school type: 2015–16

	Total number of 8th-graders	Number of 8th-graders enrolled in a school that offers 8th-grade Algebra I	Percentage of 8th-graders enrolled in a school that offers 8th-grade Algebra I
Total	3,642,908	2,899,306	79.6

By school type¹
Magnet	202,632	177,458	87.6
Traditional	3,217,594	2,594,042	80.6
Charter	204,690	123,568	60.4
Alternative/other	20,772	9,160	44.1
Vocational	509	221	43.4
Special education	7,679	1,358	17.7

¹ School type categories 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.

Notes: This table is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Total number of 8th-graders was from the Common Core of Data (CCD); therefore, schools that were not found in CCD or whose 8th-grade Algebra I enrollment (as reported in CRDC) was lower than their 8th-grade total enrollment (as reported in CCD) were excluded from this analysis.

Source: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2015–16 Civil Rights Data Collection and National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," 2015–16.

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 8th-grade enrollment data or the 8th-grade Algebra I enrollment count was larger than the 8th-grade 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

Nearly 90 percent of students enrolled in magnet schools had access to Algebra I in 8th grade, compared to less than 20 percent of students enrolled in special education schools. This wide variation shows that students’ access to STEM education can be greatly impacted by the type of school they attend.

In addition to the benefits of taking high-level math courses, research also shows that students who completed Algebra I earlier completed a range of science courses by the end of high school.⁵ 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. However, some research shows a negative impact of universal 8th-grade Algebra policies on students’ math achievement in high school.⁶

Although differences by urbanicity were small, 8th-graders attending suburban schools were more likely to have access to Algebra I.

Number and percentage of 8th-graders with access to 8th-grade Algebra I, by urbanicity: 2015–16

	Total number of 8th-graders	Number of students enrolled in a school that offers 8th-grade Algebra I	Percentage of students enrolled in a school that offers 8th-grade Algebra I
Total	3,642,908	2,899,306	79.6

By urbanicity¹
Suburban	1,472,495	1,264,999	85.9
Urban	1,062,712	798,217	75.1
Rural	696,631	522,363	75.0
Town	411,045	313,727	76.3

¹ “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.

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 8th-grade enrollment data or the 8th-grade Algebra I enrollment count was larger than the 8th-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

About 85 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.

While there may not be large differences by urbanicity, when we look at districts across the nation, we see interesting patterns in students’ access to Algebra I in 8th grade.

About 30 percent of school districts across the nation did not have a single school that offered Algebra I in 8th grade.

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 8th-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

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.

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 have access to Algebra I, many 8th-graders are not enrolled.

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. Additionally, many states cite taking Algebra I classes (or passing Algebra I exams) as an outcome measure in their consolidated state plan, which describes how the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) will be implemented in their state.

There are many factors within a school that may impact how many, and which, students are ultimately actually enrolled in Algebra I in 8th grade.

Overall, only a quarter of all 8th-graders were enrolled in Algebra I. Drilling down suggests a complicated story of opportunity for different types of students.

Number and percentage of 8th-graders enrolled in Algebra I, overall and by student characteristics: 2015–16

Student characteristics	Total number of 8th-graders	Number of 8th-graders enrolled in Algebra I	Percentage of 8th-graders enrolled in Algebra I
Total	3,642,908	870,628	23.9

By race/ethnicity
Asian	147,155	49,421	33.6
White	1,427,211	335,849	23.5
Two or more races	87,925	19,921	22.7
Pacific Islander	11,262	1,568	13.9
Hispanic	743,570	97,139	13.1
American Indian/Alaska Native	30,773	3,938	12.8
Black	452,367	55,457	12.3

By gender
Female	1,767,756	441,790	25.0
Male	1,855,158	409,795	22.1

Notes: This table is based on data submitted by 50 states and the District of Columbia. Total number of 8th-graders was from the Common Core of Data (CCD); therefore, schools that were not found in CCD or whose subgroup 8th-grade Algebra I enrollment (as reported in the Civil Rights Data Collection) was lower than their 8th-grade total enrollment for that subgroup (as reported in CCD) were excluded from the relevant analysis.

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 8th-grade enrollment data.
For gender, the 8th-grade Algebra I enrollment count was larger than the 8th-grade overall enrollment for either the male or female subgroup.
For race/ethnicity, the 8th-grade Algebra I enrollment count was larger than the 8th-grade overall enrollment for at least one race/ethnicity subgroup.

Source: Civil Rights Data Collection

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. Asian students were the most likely to be enrolled (34 percent), compared to only 12 percent of black students. In addition, a slightly higher percentage of female students (25 percent) than male students (22 percent) were enrolled in Algebra I in 8th grade.

Research shows that students who enrolled in Algebra I in 8th grade had higher scores on math assessments at the end of the school year than 8th-graders who did not enroll in Algebra I. This was true for all students, regardless of student characteristics such as sex, race/ethnicity, poverty status, or mother’s education.⁷

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

Across the country, there were only 75 districts in which all 8th-graders were enrolled in Algebra I.

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 8th-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

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.

We know that a strong STEM education is increasingly being recognized as a path to employment and that the need for STEM knowledge and skills will continue to grow in the future.⁸ Taking Algebra I in 8th grade can set students up for a strong foundation of STEM education and open the door for various college and career options in STEM. The data explored in this story highlight both successes and areas for improvement, as the Department, and districts across the country, work to ensure equal access to a strong STEM education for all students. The disparities found in both access and enrollment warrant closer examination and potential action by all STEM stakeholders.

Civil Rights Data Collection

The data we have explored in this story come from the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). The CRDC collects a variety of information, including student enrollment and educational programs and services, from our nation’s public schools. It has been conducted by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) under the Department of Education since 1968. Most of the data collected in the CRDC are disaggregated by race/ethnicity, sex, limited English proficiency, and disability.

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:

Less than 1% of schools were excluded from all analyses because the school reported inconsistent data for Algebra I enrollment for the same grade level.
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.
Less than 10 schools were excluded from the enrollment by urbanicity analysis due to missing data.
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.
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. Retrieved from https://centerforchildhoodcreativity.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/02/CCC_The_Roots_of_STEM_Early_Learning.pdf
² 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.
³ Loveless, T. (2013). The 2013 Brown Center report on American education: How well are American students learning? Washington, DC: The Brown Center on Education Policy, Brookings Institution. Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/2013-brown-center-report-web.pdf
⁴ Chen, X. (2009). Students who study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in postsecondary education (NCES 2009-161). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009161.pdf
⁵ Brown, J., Dalton, B., Laird, J., & Ifill, N. (2018). Paths Through Mathematics and Science: Patterns and Relationships in High School Coursetaking (NCES 2018-118). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018118.pdf
⁶ Domina, T., McEachin, A., Penner, A., & Penner, E. (2015). Aiming high and falling short: California’s eighth-grade Algebra-for-All effort. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis , 37(3), 275–295. Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0162373714543685
⁷ Walston, J., & McCarroll, J. C. (2010). Eighth-grade Algebra: Findings from the eighth-grade round of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K) (NCES 2010-016). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2010/2010016.pdf
⁸ Noonan, R. (2017). STEM jobs: 2017 Update. Washington, DC: Office of the Chief Economist, Economics and Statistics Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. Retrieved from http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/stem-jobs-2017-update.pdf

DATA STORY

Access to Algebra I, the Gateway to STEM

U.S. Department of Education

Our data, your story

When students take Algebra I matters—many students do not have early access.

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

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

In general, students enrolled in magnet or traditional public schools were more likely to have access to Algebra I in 8th grade.

Although differences by urbanicity were small, 8th-graders attending suburban schools were more likely to have access to Algebra I.

About 30 percent of school districts across the nation did not have a single school that offered Algebra I in 8th grade.

Enrollment lags behind access—even when they have access to Algebra I, many 8th-graders are not enrolled.

Overall, only a quarter of all 8th-graders were enrolled in Algebra I. Drilling down suggests a complicated story of opportunity for different types of students.

Across the country, there were only 75 districts in which all 8th-graders were enrolled in Algebra I.

Civil Rights Data Collection

Data Exclusion Rules

References