The Changing Nature of High School Mathematics
and Science Across the U.S.
The Charles A. Dana Center’s Annual Mathematics and Science
Higher Education Conference
October 9, 2009
■ Achieve,
Inc., was created by the nation’s
governors and business leaders in 1996
following the first National Education Summit. ■ Achieve is a bipartisan, non-profit organization
that helps states raise academic standards,
improve assessments, and strengthen
accountability to prepare all young people for
postsecondary education, work, and citizenship.
■ Achieve currently is working with 35 states
through the American Diploma Project Network
to design and implement policies that aim to
close the expectations gap.
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■ Too
few high school students graduate from high
school.
■ Too few high school graduates have the
knowledge and skills necessary for success in
college and the high skilled workplace.
■ Too few states and schools have aligned their
expectations with those of college faculty and
employers.
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Align high school standards with college and work
expectations.
■ Require all students to take curriculum aligned with
standards. ■ Include “college-ready” test, aligned with state
standards, in high school assessment system. ■ Hold high schools accountable for graduating
students college- and work-ready, and hold
postsecondary institutions accountable for student
success. ■ 4
■ Increased attention on aligning high school
expectations with college and career expectations Since 2004, 29 states have revised their high school
standards in English and/or mathematics to align with
demands of postsecondary education and careers.
● 15 states and DC are in the process of aligning with
college and career expectations.
● In all but 6 states, high school content standards are now
being viewed through the lens of college and career
readiness.
● 5
■ Increased attention in benchmarking mathematics
expectations internationally
Increasing visibility of international assessments and the
performance of U.S. students on these assessments
● Examination of standards from high-performing nations as
part of state standards revision processes
● Prominent role of international benchmarking in drafting
of Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
● 6
■ Growing expectation that ALL students meet high
expectations in mathematics
Achieve’s definition of college and career readiness
includes 4 years of challenging mathematics, with the
content at least to the level of what is typically taught in
an Algebra II class, or its equivalent.
● In 2005, only Texas and Arkansas had set requirements at
this level.
● Today, 19 states and DC set requirements at this level. 13
of these states have a default college-and-career-ready
curriculum but provide an opt-out provision.
● 8 states plan to raise graduation requirements to the
college-and-career-ready level.
● 7
■ Movement toward state-level tests that can be used
to determine college and career readiness
10 states administer tests aligned with college and career
expectations.
● 6 states incorporate the SAT or ACT into their state
assessment systems (CO, IL, KY, MI, TN, ME).
● 4 states measure college and career readiness with statedeveloped tests (TX, NY, and CA with GA first
administering in 2011).
● 23 states are developing or plan to develop tests aligned to
college and career ready expectations. This includes
states who have administered the ADP end-of-course
Algebra II exam.
● 8
Many high school courses still have the traditional
Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II course structure.
■ While course requirements are generally increasing,
some students still get low-level math.
■ Emphasis in many high school courses is still on
procedural skills as opposed to modeling,
applications, and problem solving.
■ Statistics, probability, and discrete mathematics
often don’t receive much attention in high school.
■ 9
Mathematics guided by the expectations articulated
in the Common Core State Standards
■ More courses that are presented to students in an
integrated format and that relate mathematics to
occupational, personal, and civic issues
■ A variety of course options for STEM and nonSTEM students, particularly in their third and fourth
years of high school
■ Courses that rely more on technology applicatons
and the use of open educational resources (OERs)
■ 10
Mathematics content knowledge as defined in such
documents at the Common Core State Standards,
ADP Benchmarks, Standards for Success, and Texas
College Readiness Standards.
■ Skills to be productive problem solvers
■ Attend to precision
● Construct viable arguments
● Look for and make use of structure
● Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning
● Make sense of complex problems and persevere in solving
them
● Make strategic decisions about the use of technological
tools
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The Changing Nature of High School Mathematics
and Science Across the U.S.
The Charles A. Dana Center’s Annual Mathematics and Science
Higher Education Conference
October 9, 2009
For more information,
please visit Achieve, Inc., on the Web at
http://www.achieve.org
Contact Achieve: Kaye Forgione
kforgione@achieve.org
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