Texas News

TAB's Daily Message for Sept. 27

There is no doubt that college readiness can be measured by success in math.  Now we have the numbers of prove it. 

Bill Hammond
CEO

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2016/09/23/viewpoint-math-matters-for-texas-students-or-at.html

Viewpoint: Math matters for Texas students — or at least it should 

Bill Hammond
Contributing writer 

When the Texas Legislature passed HB-5 in 2013, the business community was deeply concerned that the changes to high school graduation requirements would open the door for many more students entering institutions of higher education unprepared. At the time there was limited data to back that concern up. That, however, isn’t the case now. The data is in and it demonstrates that we have more challenges ahead of us.

HB-5 defined five different endorsement “pathways” students could take through high school, and only one of those five, STEM, requires a student to take math up through Algebra II. For all other students, Algebra II and higher math courses are optional. One thing we all believe is that if challenging courses are optional, the chances are pretty high that they won’t be taken.

The E3 Alliance recently released a study on math courses being taken by students across the state. The study examined the relationship between the highest level of math students took and passed in high school and their subsequent education outcomes across Texas. The findings supported what the business community has been saying: rigorous math courses in high school are critical for college readiness. The study also shows that even taking and passing Algebra II, now optional for most students, is not nearly enough. Those students who pass Algebra II have only a one in five chance of getting any higher education credential within six years of graduating — that means everything from a four-year bachelor’s degree to a two-year associate’s degree to even a post-secondary certification for a specific job.

Think about that for a minute. Because of current state law that doesn’t require higher level math courses, your kids only have a one in five chance of getting a post-secondary credential of any kind. That doesn’t spell success for our children’s future or the future of our workforce in Texas.

Compare, for instance, students who only passed a year of math beyond Algebra II, that would be pre-calculus. Those students had a one in two chance of getting a college credential, far better than the one in five chance without taking higher math courses. Students who took any AP math were three times as likely to complete college than those who took just Algebra II. So the more rigorous math courses our students take, the better their chances get. Here is the key - four years of math in four years of high school. That goal will be made even easier because soon there will be more math options for students to choose from.

There needs to be a greater awareness among students, families, counselors and our policy makers that it is critical for students to take advanced math classes to greatly increase their chances of graduating career and college ready, completing higher education and competing for high wage jobs. Let’s make it our state mantra: Math matters! It matters for the success of our kids and the future prosperity of our state to continue to grow and develop our workforce.

There is a real cause for concern when we lower our expectations for what our students can achieve. In the past, every time we have raised the bar for our students and teachers, both have answered the bell and raised achievement levels. This is not something we should be fearful of or fight against. Our students and our teachers can meet these challenges if we raise standards. We can’t keep lowering academic requirements and expect students to be ready for college, careers and life.

Bill Hammond is CEO of the Texas Association of Business.