Algebra-for-All policy found to raise rates of failure in Chicago

Findings from a study involving 160,000 Chicago high school students offer a cautionary tale of what can happen, in practice, when school systems require students to take algebra at a particular grade level.

Buoyed by recommendations from national mathematics experts, growing numbers of districts and states, such as New York and Texas, have begun requiring students to study algebra in 9th grade. Notably, California recently moved to require the subject even earlier, in 8th grade, although the policy faces legal roadblocks...