Title page
Contents
Summary 3
Why this study? 7
What the study examined 9
What the study found 10
Districts most commonly informed parents and students about the new graduation requirements through meetings with parents or students, discussions with counselors, and the district student handbook 10
Almost all districts reported encouraging students to earn a Distinguished Level of Achievement 10
Fewer than half of districts reported that they planned to offer the alternative math courses in the first year that House Bill 5 was in effect 11
The third math course taken by students in the 2014/15 cohort did not appear related to changes in graduation requirements 12
Under the previous 4x4 curriculum, Algebra II completion rates rose for all racial/ethnic groups and remained stable even after the requirement changed with the 2014/15 cohort 12
A smaller proportion of students who were economically disadvantaged than of students who were not completed Algebra II, and the proportion remained stable after the new graduation requirements went into effect in 2014/15 13
Trends in Algebra II completion rates by other student and district characteristics remained stable after the new graduation requirements went into effect in 2014/15 13
Algebra II failure rates remained relatively stable across all grade 9 cohorts among students who completed Algebra II 14
Algebra II failure rates in the 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts were higher among Black and Hispanic students than among White and Asian students 14
Students who did not complete Algebra II after Geometry were taking a pre-Algebra II course, had completed math courses only up through Geometry in the first three years of high school, or completed no math course in the year after Geometry 16
Implications of the study findings 16
Limitations of the study 17
Appendix A. Literature review on changes to math graduation requirements 18
Appendix B. Data and methodology 20
Appendix C. Detailed results tables 28
References 34
Table 1. Actions that Texas districts reported taking to promote the Distinguished Level of Achievement and Algebra II to high school students, 2014/15 11
Figure 1. Texas districts most frequently reported communicating the change in high school graduation requirements through parent and student meetings and through guidance counselors, 2014/15 11
Figure 2. Algebra II completion rates by the end of grade 11 were consistent before and after the new graduation requirements went into effect in Texas in 2014/15, 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts 12
Figure 3. A greater proportion of Asian and White students than of Black and Hispanic students in the 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts completed Algebra II by the end of grade 11 13
Figure 4. In the 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts, a smaller proportion of students who were economically disadvantaged than of students who were not economically disadvantaged completed Algebra II by the end of grade 11 14
Figure 5. Algebra II failure rates among students remained relatively stable across the 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts 15
Figure 6. Black and Hispanic students in the 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts failed Algebra II at almost twice the rate that White and Asian students did 15
Figure 7. Most students in the 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohorts who did not complete Algebra II by grade 11 either were taking the pre-Algebra II course or had completed only Geometry 16
Boxes
Box 1. Key terms 8
Box 2. Data, sample, and methods 9
Maps
Map B1. Texas Education Service Centers by region, 2017 26
Table B1. Data files and variables, 2007/08-2014/15 20
Table B2. Texas Education Agency's district community type classification, 2014/15 22
Table B3. Characteristics of Texas districts responding to the House Bill 5 evaluation survey, spring 2015 23
Table B4. Characteristics of incoming grade 9 students in sample Texas districts, by 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohort 24
Table B5. Characteristics of sample districts in which grade 9 students were enrolled, by 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohort 25
Table C1. Percentage of Texas high school students who completed Algebra II by the end of grade 11, by student characteristics and 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohort 28
Table C2. Percentage of Texas high school students who completed Algebra II by the end of grade 11, by district characteristics and 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohort 29
Table C3. Percentage of Texas high school students who failed Algebra II, by student characteristics and 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohort 30
Table C4. Percentage of Texas high school students completing Algebra II who failed Algebra II, by district characteristics and 2007/08-2014/15 cohort 31
Table C5. Types of third math courses that Texas high school students completed after Geometry, by 2007/08-2014/15 grade 9 cohort 32
Appendix Boxes
Box B1. Courses that Texas public high school students may complete to fulfill the third math course requirement under House Bill 5 since 2014/15 27