Virginia Pushes Accelerated Math Enrollment
Virginia will have a new law taking effect next school year requiring high-performing students to be automatically enrolled in accelerated or advanced mathematics. This new law complements another recent state action by Virginia to increase enrollment in accelerated middle school math courses via changes to its accountability system.
As a result, Virginia is likely the leading state in the nation to use state-level actions to encourage local districts to offer accelerated math opportunities to middle school students who are academically ready.
Virginia’s New Advanced Math Auto-enrollment Law
Virginia’s autoenrollment law applies to students in Grades 5 – 8 who score in the top 25th percentile statewide on its standardized math exam, with the opportunity for parents to opt their child out.
The autoenrollment bill was sponsored by Virginia House of Delegates Democratic member Katrina Callsen, a former middle school math teacher, and approved by overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the Virginia legislature. Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed it into law this past week.
Virginia joins North Carolina and Texas with auto-enrollment laws targeted at advanced middle school math. Indiana’s legislature is currently considering a similar auto-enrollment bill. Illinois and Washington state have auto-enrollment laws for advanced high school classes.
The early results of advanced coursework autoenrollment laws have generally been positive. Such policies have also garnered the support from the education-focused nonprofit organizations ExcelinEd, Collaborative for Student Success, and The Education Trust. For instance, ExcelInEd has model middle school advanced math auto-enrollment legislation.
The Texas autoenrollment law was enacted based on the successful results of a policy by the Dallas Independent School District for middle school math that started in the 2019-2020 school year. A study by Johns Hopkins University researchers showed similarly positive results in North Carolina, including among traditionally underrepresented groups.
Virginia’s New Accountability System Incentivizes Algebra in Middle School
While Virginia’s new auto-enrollment law will not require schools to offer algebra in middle school, its new accountability system incentivizes middle schools via its school ratings calculation to offer algebra and other accelerated courses to students who are ready. It will also incentivize school systems to prepare more students for algebra in middle school.
The new middle school accelerated coursework factor in Virginia’s updated accountability system is based on a similar factor in Florida. A RAND Institute study, which surveyed middle school principals in several states, showed 99% of Florida middle schools offered algebra compared to only 67% in California. The study also revealed that, nationally, middle schools not offering algebra disproportionately serve lower-income and underrepresented minority students.
Why Is Algebra Placement Getting State-Level Attention?
Access to algebra in middle school is often seen as the gateway to high-paying STEM and quantitative careers. In addition, calculus is important for admission to selective colleges.
Math’s sequential nature makes algebra access extra important. To quote University of Winnipeg math professor Anna Stokke, math is “relentlessly hierarchical—it’s like climbing a ladder. Every rung is dependent on the previous one."
And Stanford University Math Professor, and Director of Undergraduate Math Studies, Brian Conrad, explained the importance of this math pathway timeline for future career opportunities:
A solid grounding in math from high school—which traditionally has included two years of algebra, a year of geometry, and then, for more advanced students, other coursework leading up to calculus [and beyond]—is a prerequisite for a four-year college degree in data science, computer science, economics, and other quantitative fields.
Additionally, the New York Federal Reserve recently detailed the college majors whose graduates’ median wage is at least $100,000 per year by mid-career. All but one of these 19 majors typically require calculus.
Virginia Part of Nationwide Push for Accelerated Math
Virginia’s changes to encourage accelerated math are part of a nationwide backlash against math programs that keep all or nearly all kids in the same math class until 11th grade, which critics deride as “Algebra for None.”
Virginia was at the center of a detracking political firestorm in 2021 after the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) proposed a statewide algebra detracking program like that of San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Even after the VDOE walked the proposal back following strong public pushback, Youngkin, in his 2021 campaign for governor, promised to protect accelerated math, and it was a factor in his victory.
The political reaction has been comparable elsewhere. A 2021 statewide algebra detracking proposal in California, as well as local proposals in Middletown, Connecticut, and Princeton, New Jersey, faced similar fierce pushback. And 82% of San Francisco voters supported a 2024 referendum to bring back algebra to middle school.
The educational results of such algebra detracking programs have also not been positive. A 2023 study by researchers from Stanford University found that SFUSD’s detracking program had largely failed to increase diversity of underrepresented groups in advanced math.
As a result, the focus of education policymakers is shifting to ensuring more students get access to accelerated math programs to reach algebra in middle school, with states intervening in the advanced math placement process (traditionally, a local district matter).
Considering advanced math programs’ educational and political importance, it is likely that other states will look to follow the lead of Florida, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia to increase the ability of students who are ready to access them.
