Eighth graders can be successful in Algebra 1, new research suggests—they just might need some extra support.
The findings come from a study of San Francisco schools, which has had a turbulent history with offering the class in middle school. But they could have implications beyond the Golden State, as districts across the country continue to search for models that can support students in Algebra 1, a notorious gatekeeper course in high school math that tends to predict future success in math, and high school in general.
The debate about when to take algebra is among the most heated in math education circles, in part because it determines how far students get on the sequence to calculus, a factor in college entrance decisions.
In 2014, the San Francisco district got rid of accelerated math courses, resulting in almost all students waiting to take Algebra 1 until 9th grade. The aim was to ensure all kids had enough time to master the foundations that would lead to success in higher-level math—and to prevent the early sorting of middle schoolers into math tracks, a practice that historically had disadvantaged Black and Latino students.
Public outcry was swift and intense. Parents worried that their students would be shut out of higher-level classes and disfavored in competitive college admissions. A group of families sued.
Then, in 2023, an evaluation of the policy found that it didn’t fully meet the district’s goals. Racial inequities at the most advanced levels of high school math remained largely unchanged. A ballot initiative to scrap the policy succeeded with wide margins in 2024.
So last school year, the district tested bringing allgebra back to middle school—with a few changes.
Some pilot schools put their 8th graders directly into Algebra 1. Others gave 8th graders the option to enroll in two classes: the regular 8th grade math course, and Algebra 1 as an elective.
The natural experiment gave researchers the ability to compare the different sequences, and see if one produced stronger outcomes.
The students who took two math periods saw big gains on 8th grade state tests over similar peers who were in 8th grade math alone, equivalent to almost a full year of additional learning, according to a forthcoming analysis of the pilot from researchers at Stanford University and the University of Florida. The students who were only in Algebra 1, by contrast, didn’t see gains over similar students in 8th grade math.
Eighth graders in two math periods were also less likely to repeat Algebra 1 in 9th grade than the 8th graders who took Algebra 1 alone.
What the findings on algebra course sequencing mean
The findings have real implications both for San Francisco and other districts considering how to set kids up for success in algebra. For one thing, the San Francisco school board voted last week to adopt a new plan that would make Algebra 1 available at all middle schools across the district.
“I don’t want to be in the business of telling parents how they should value the tradeoff of taking an additional math course and potentially losing an elective,” said Tom Dee, a professor at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, and one of the researchers. “But I would want students to be aware that the students taking additional math enjoy substantial learning gains that appear to persist into 9th grade.”
There are real benefits to taking—and passing—Algebra 1 in 8th grade. On average, students who do so are more likely than similar peers to continue to take advanced math courses through high school, and succeed in them.
Taking Algebra 1 in middle school also puts students on a trajectory to reach calculus, or a similarly high level of high school math, by senior year.
As a result, states and districts have experimented with different strategies to help more, and more diverse, students do well in early algebra, from automatic enrollment to intensive teacher training to double doses of the course.
This new research shows that the algebra-as-an-elective model has promise. “These are really large gains,” Dee said.
Notably, taking Algebra 1 and 8th grade math together boosted all students’ scores—not just those of students who were less prepared for higher-level math. Achievement gains on state tests were actually higher among students who were meeting or exceeding standards in 6th grade, Dee said.
Dee and Elizabeth Huffaker, an assistant professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Florida’s College of Education, presented their findings in a webinar to the San Francisco district community on March 23.
The school system plans to use a version of the Algebra 1 elective model going forward, according to an announcement that Superintendent Maria Su posted on March 26.
In most district middle schools, 8th graders who scored above a cut-off on 7th grade interim tests will be automatically enrolled in “expanded math,” covering both 8th grade coursework and Algebra 1 and doubling the amount of time that these students spend in math. Eighth graders who don’t qualify for automatic enrollment can still choose to take Algebra 1 as an elective. Finally, students who want to skip 8th grade math altogether and go straight to algebra can apply for an exemption.
Automatic enrollment is one way to get more historically underrepresented students into Algebra 1, said Dee. Previous studies have shown that it can increase Black and Latino student enrollment in the course.
But in Dee and Huffaker’s research, only 13% of underrepresented minority students in schools offering the Algebra 1 elective met automatic enrollment criteria.
“Those equity concerns should catalyze serious discourse around the pathway to algebra readiness,” Dee said.
More attention, he said, needs to be paid to what schools are doing before Algebra 1 to ensure that all students are set up for success.
