Dive Brief:

• Only half of U.S. high schools offer calculus, 63% offer physics, and between 10% and 25% do not offer Algebra I and II, geometry, biology or chemistry.
• The Deseret News reports educators and foundations are at odds about whether this lack of access to higher level math is all that bad, considering even college-bound students often do not need to master calculus for college or their future careers.
• Skipping calculus could open the high school curriculum to statistics or computer science, which teach arguably more relevant skills, but the equity gap in access to advanced classes is clear, with 25% of mostly black and Latino schools missing Algebra II and chemistry — courses that colleges use to determine the rigor of students’ high school experiences.

Dive Insight:

The Common Core State Standards advocate a shift in math instruction so high school students take integrated math courses that combine instruction of math topics, rather than focusing on Algebra one year, geometry the next, and so on. Many parents fought this transition in support of Algebra I in eighth grade so students can go on to take calculus in high school.

There is something to be said for rethinking the role of calculus. Colleges, too, are beginning to develop new tracks for math instruction, depending on the field students are interested in. Students who are not going into the hard sciences likely will never need calculus and can focus instead on statistics, which has applications to a range of fields, STEM-related and not. When this decision is made for students based on their skin color and zip code, of course, the conversation becomes one of equity.

Recommended Reading

Deseret News: Calculus classes are disappearing from high school curriculums