Algebra 1 is considered the gateway to advanced math, leading to heated debates about course timing: Unprepared students shouldn’t take it too soon and risk failing, but higher-achieving students will miss out on high-level math courses if they delay.
New research adds wrinkles to that conversation.
For students who aren’t prepared to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade, merely delaying the class for a year may not be enough to ensure they are prepared.
But students who are prepared to take the class in 8th grade perform better academically if they complete the class that year, rather than waiting until 9th grade, according to the research, which looked at results from more than 50,000 children.
“For the higher achievers, the answer is getting that access [to Algebra 1 in 8th grade] and trying to build state policies around that,” said Megan Kuhfeld, director of growth modeling and data analytics at the testing company NWEA and author of the new report.
For students at the other end of the readiness spectrum, educators and policymakers need to build math supports earlier in the academic pipeline to “get students ready for algebra in elementary and middle school,” she said.
The findings come as states make algebra readiness and access a key part of efforts to improve math education. Twenty-two states have passed laws or implemented new policies related to math education since 2022, according to an Education Week analysis. Those include requirements for schools to screen young students for problems learning math and to intervene further upstream to address them.
Ten states will require schools to automatically enroll 8th grade students in algebra if their scores on state tests demonstrate they are ready, Education Week found.
Taking Algebra 1 at the right time is key, researchers say
The debate about when students should take Algebra has informed successive waves of policy.
California, in 2008, required all students to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade, leading to mixed results. Later, a handful of districts, notably San Francisco, decided to require all students to wait until 9th grade citing efforts to improve equitable access to higher courses, but that effort too fell short of goals.
For the study, NWEA researchers used a national sample of 55,000 students’ scores on MAP Growth tests, computerized assessments designed by NWEA and administered by thousands of schools to gauge students’ academic progress throughout the school year.
They analyzed students’ 7th grade math MAP scores to determine whether they met a “readiness” cut score associated with a 50% probability of later scoring proficient or higher on a state algebra end-of-course test. Then, they compared each student’s readiness results with their scores on the MAP algebra test in 8th or 9th grade, whichever year they took the class.
One in four 7th grade students in the sample were ready to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade, researchers found. Among those who met the readiness benchmark and had access to Algebra 1 in middle school, about a quarter opted to delay until 9th grade.
While all students deemed ready to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade later scored at least proficient after taking the course, those who took it in 8th grade consistently performed better on the algebra MAP test than their peers who took it in 9th grade, the analysis found.
“The question of timing certainly matters because algebra is a branching point in the way we structure our math curricula,” said Thurston Domina, a professor of educational leadership at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who has studied the sequencing and scheduling of math courses. “Math often works like an escalator: When you get on determines how far you can get in high school.”
NWEA’s findings lend support to measures like automatic-enrollment policies, which require qualified students to opt out, rather than opt in, to advanced math courses. The aim is to eliminate barriers to enrollment like biases in teacher referrals.
“We are hoping that this helps reinforce that there are kids who are ready who are missing—that we should do as much as we can to be sure we are identifying those students and getting them enrolled,” Kuhfeld said.
For students who aren’t ready for Algebra 1, delays aren’t enough to improve results
On the other hand, the findings suggest students who aren’t ready to take Algebra 1 in 8th grade need support, rather than mere delays, to prepare them to take it in 9th grade, researchers said.
Students who scored in the bottom 50% on 7th grade MAP tests had roughly the same scores in Algebra 1, whether they took it in 8th or 9th grade, the analysis found.
“The timing is a downstream question from the question of readiness,” Domina said. “Rushing students who don’t have baseline skills into an algebra class can’t remedy that absence. Delaying also doesn’t necessarily fix it.”
The strategic support struggling students need to be prepared for algebra may need to come well before middle school, when students learn more foundational math skills, like fractions and number sense, Kuhfeld said.
She would like to do additional analyses of skills in 5th grade math classes that are most associated with later success in Algebra 1.
“To me, that’s some of the missing piece of the puzzle,” Kuhfeld said.
