Math Matters : The Links Between High School Curriculum , College Graduation , and Earnings

Research publications reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, officers, or Board of Directors of the Public Policy Institute of California. Short sections of text, not to exceed three paragraphs, may be quoted without written permission provided that full attribution is given to the source and the above copyright notice is included. iii Foreword In an effort to address the poor performance of students graduating from California schools, the public policy debate has focused on more spending, smaller class sizes, teacher hiring, and a more equitable allocation of resources. For some reason, it seems that school curriculum has received less attention. Yet, as important as other concerns are, student outcomes will always be related to the type and quality of the available curriculum. In this study, Heather Rose and Julian Betts focus on the relationship between the math courses students take in high school, whether they graduate from college, and their earnings in the labor force 10 years after graduating from high school. The authors' conclusions are encouraging. Math curriculum— especially advanced courses such as algebra and geometry—has a positive effect on college graduation and on earnings later in life. Although these are findings that might seem obvious to some, and explained by privileged backgrounds for others, this study finds that the effect of math courses on later earnings does not appear to vary much with respect to student or school characteristics and that a rigorous math curriculum at any school can benefit students of any type. Another important finding of this study is that not all math courses are equal. To quote the authors, " It is not simply the number of math courses that matters; what matters more is the extent to which students take more demanding courses such as algebra and geometry. " The findings of this study underscore the importance of local school districts' meeting the challenge by recruiting qualified teachers trained in mathematics and by offering all students the opportunity to take a full range of advanced math courses in high school. The authors note that schools should not suddenly require that all students take advanced math courses, but they should encourage and prepare them to do so. This study is one of a series of projects under way at PPIC on education policy for the state of California. Future reports will include iv contributions to …