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Disparities in the proportion of black and Latino students who take algebra early in their careers compared with their peers鈥攁s well as in calculus, physics, and other advanced courses鈥攁re raising fresh questions about the origin of those gaps and the best way to eradicate them.

Are the gaps primarily due to racism? Tracking? A symptom of ongoing teacher shortages? And where do solutions need to be targeted?

鈥淚f you are not preparing students to think algebraically, you are losing the game before it even starts,鈥� said Michelle Stie, the vice president of teaching and learning for the National Math and Science Initiative, a nonprofit providing training and curriculum support. 鈥淚f you start with the premise that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) is a lever to accessing further opportunity, where does the school access those resources and get the support to access them?鈥�

Data released last week from the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 office for civil rights show that the proportion of students of color who take high-level math and science courses continues to trail that of their white peers鈥攋eopardizing those minority students鈥� ability to master the knowledge they need to secure a college-preparatory diploma. And the segregation of American high schools seems to be a factor in students鈥� access to those types of courses.

The data reflect the 2015-16 school year and were submitted by nearly every public school in the United States.

Disparities were stark for some of the most advanced classes. Black students made up 16 percent of high school enrollment, but just 12 percent of physics enrollment and 8 percent of calculus enrollment. Latino students made up 24 percent of high school enrollment, but represented 16 percent of students enrolled in calculus and 19 percent of those in advanced mathematics. (That term excludes calculus but includes courses beyond Algebra 2.)

A Gateway Shut

The data highlight gaps between white and Asian students and their black peers that open up even before students reach high school, in Algebra 1, considered a fundamental 鈥済ateway鈥� math course.

White students and Asian students were disproportionately likely to be enrolled in Algebra 1 in grade 8鈥攁nd of those, 85 percent of white students and 74 percent of Asian students passed the course. But black and Native American students were all disproportionately likely to take Algebra 1 in high school rather than in grade 8鈥攁nd they were overrepresented in those classes in junior or senior year, which would make it next to impossible to fit in multiple advanced-math courses before graduation.

Native American students are just 1 percent of the overall high school population, yet they made up 2 percent of those enrolled in Algebra 1 in 11th and 12th grades鈥攁 damning statistic.

Research indicates that forcing students to take Algebra 1 before they鈥檙e ready can be harmful. But it鈥檚 not clear whether these patterns reflect well-founded decisionmaking or policy beset by racism, or a combination.

鈥淚s it because they鈥檝e correctly assessed students鈥� ability and put them in the appropriate course? Or is it because there鈥檚 some amount of discrimination going on?鈥� said Joshua Goodman, an associate professor of public policy at Harvard鈥檚 Kennedy School. 鈥淚 take this as a sign that there is a major challenge, though it doesn鈥檛 help pinpoint the root causes of the challenge.鈥�

Some experts also pointed to problems in students鈥� math preparation. Too few students are introduced to algebraic thinking and problem solving in elementary and middle school, and when they struggle and have to repeat algebra, it鈥檚 usually taught the same way, said Stie of the math and science initiative.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like hitting your finger with a hammer over and over again,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think those are two important reasons why kids struggle.鈥�

School Composition Matters

For upper-level-math coursework, it鈥檚 likely that school composition has a relationship to what classes are offered. About 5,000 high schools, the data show, had high levels of Latino or black enrollment (defined as schools with more than 75 percent black and Latino student populations). And they offered advanced math and science at lower rates than other high schools.

Enlarge chart.

The largest disparity was for calculus, which half of all high schools offered, but only 38 percent of these highly segregated high schools did.

Generally, research shows that taking more high school math and science courses improves the odds that students will go on to take them in college鈥攖hough expanding the number of high school courses offered isn鈥檛 a guarantee that students will take them. That could be the result of differing expectations and within-school tracking that many students of color face, even when they are academically capable of succeeding in challenging courses.

The new data also contains new information on how high school math and science classes are being taught鈥攆or example, on the number taught by teachers with the appropriate certification. Those data were not included in the Education Department鈥檚 initial takeaways this week.

But a preliminary analysis of the civil rights data by the Education Week Research Center suggests that perhaps as many as 1 in 5 Algebra 1 and geometry classes are taught by teachers who lack a certificate in the field.

That squares with Stie鈥檚 experience, too. Many schools she visits say they just don鈥檛 have a teacher available to take on advanced courses.

鈥淪chools that don鈥檛 offer advanced courses tend to put algebra late. That could be because you have a teacher-talent gap or you don鈥檛 have the teacher prepared with the proper pedagogical content knowledge,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 offer the course if you don鈥檛 have the teacher.鈥�

More Analysis

For more detail and in-depth analysis, see Education Week鈥檚 additional reporting on this data release:

• Suspension Rates Higher for Students of Color With Disabilities, Data Show
• Students of Color Face Persistent Disparities in Access to Advanced STEM Courses
• Schools 鈥楲ess Safe for Black and Brown Children,鈥� Civil Rights Advocates Say