On Oct. 9th, Jo Napolitano reported on a new study: A national sample of 55,000 students across dozens of states revealed that even when they were ready for 8th-grade algebra based on their 7th-grade test scores, more than a quarter didn’t enroll in the class.

In 2025, roughly 1 in 4 seventh graders in the NWEA study had spring scores that met or beat what researchers deemed to be an algebra-readiness benchmark. But nearly 25% were not taking the course in eighth grade.

Another report, this one focused solely on New York, showed 58% of seventh graders across the state who took the Math 7 assessment scored proficient in 2023-24. But only 37% of eighth graders in schools that serve both seventh and eighth grade were enrolled in Algebra I, a course linked to math success in high school, college and beyond.

Stated another way, of the 151,000 eighth graders included in the New York study, about 20,000 more could have been seated in the class.

“We are missing out on kids who could be very successful in STEM fields,” said Megan Kuhfeld, NWEA’s director of growth modeling and data analytics and one of the principal authors of the national report. “That door closes — and it closes further doors down the line.”

Kuhfeld said some of the students — they hailed from 29 states — counted themselves out of the course while others were steered away by parents or teachers.

Melodie Baker, research lead at EdTrust-New York, which commissioned the New York study, notes many students and families might not understand the long-term benefit of starting the pathway to high school calculus early.

“I don’t think the burden should fall on students or families to figure out how to ‘get in’ once a student has demonstrated readiness,” Baker said. “That’s why the New York Equity Coalition and EdTrust-New York have recommended an automatic enrollment, opt-out approach, paired with academic supports, so access is based more consistently on readiness rather than (on) who knows to ask or advocate.”

You can read more at The 74: https://www.the74million.org/article/more-than-25-of-students-who-qualify-for-8th-grade-algebra-dont-take-it/

If they fall behind mandate them to come to tutoring.

I’ve been thinking about a common situation in maths learning:

A student follows an explanation and gets the example right, but struggles as soon as the numbers or wording change.

How do you usually tell whether they understood the idea, rather than just copied the steps?

What do you tend to try next?

• A similar problem with different numbers
• A visual model or hands-on activity
• Asking the student to explain it in their own words
• A short game or interactive exercise
• Something else

I’m especially interested in what works well in practice, and what usually doesn’t. Examples from teaching, tutoring, or helping a child at home would all be useful.

I was wondering if anyone can recommend me a book that carries curriculum based practice questions. My daughter is a freshman and taking geometry hons. She struggled a bit in the beginning but is catching up. One thing she is looking for is more practice questions but we aren't finding any books that follow the curriculum being taught in school, we are in MA. Any recommendations? Thanks!

I've always had a hard time teaching students with these disabilities. Not just because of the fact that they have a learning disability, but because I don't know what the right approach should be. I would really like some sort of resources, like published research papers or maybe books on the subject if they exist, on how to best approach these kinds of students. For example, I would like to have some more information on what exactly students with these kinds of learning disabilities are fundamentally struggling with, if I should be trying to work around that struggle or through it, etc.