Impact of Providing Information to Parents in Texas About the Role of Algebra II in College Admission

Friday, March 2, 2018
3:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) Conference
Park Hyatt, Washington, DC
1201 24th St NW
Washington, DC 20037

This session presents the findings of a REL Southwest study that examined whether providing Texas parents with an informational brochure about the role of Algebra II in college admission had an impact on students' Algebra II enrollment and completion rates in grade 11. The authors carried out a timely, policy-relevant opportunistic experiment after the passage of Texas House Bill 5, which eliminated Algebra II as a high school graduation requirement in the 2014/15 school year. The study also examined the effects of the change for students in schools with high percentages of low-income, low-achieving, and minority students. Contextual analyses investigated trends in Algebra II enrollment and course failure rates in Texas public high schools for cohorts entering from 2007/08 through 2014/15.

Partnership: N/A

Resources:

• Report: Impact of Providing Information to Parents in Texas about the Role of Algebra II in College Admission
• Conference materials available upon request: relsouthwest@air.org

Speakers:

• Lynn Mellor, Ph.D., Principal Researcher, REL Southwest, American Institutes for Research
• Ginger Stoker, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, REL Southwest, American Institutes for Research