UPGRADING HIGH-SCHOOL MATHEMATICS INSTRUCTION - IMPROVING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOW-ACHIEVING, LOW-INCOME YOUTH

Low-achieving, low-income students are typically tracked into dead-end math courses in high school. In this article, the authors evaluate th e success of ''transition'' math courses in California and New York, w hich are designed to bridge the gap between elementary and college-pre paratory,mathematics and to provide access to more challenging and mea ningful mathematics for students who enter high school with poor skill s. The authors hypothesize that the transition courses-Math A in Calif ornia and Stretch Regents and UCSMP Math in New York-allow students to keep pace with those who enter college-preparatory courses by coverin g rigorous mathematical content using a range of cognitive strategies. Data from 882 students in 48 math classes are analyzed using a three- level hierarchical linear model. The results show that growth in stude nt achievement is significantly lower in general-track classes than in college-preparatory classes. Achievement in transition classes falls in between: not significantly lower than in college-preparatory classe s, but not significantly greater than in general-track classes. More r igorous content coverage accounts for much of the achievement advantag e of college-preparatory classes. The transition classes are judged a partial success in meeting their goal of upgrading the quality of math ematics instruction for low-achieving low-income youth.