Latino and Black students in advanced math courses grew when Texas districts stopped relying on recommendations and automatically enrolled qualifying students.
In a state that has passed anti-diversity laws and tried to squelch instruction on systemic racism, a new law could open doors for Latino and Black children long shut out of advanced math courses.
Just a handful of states have taken the step Texas did this year. Under a law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools must automatically enroll in an advanced math course sixth graders who score in the top 40% of the math portion of the state standardized test known as STAAR.
Texas school districts can also consider class ranking or a student’s proficiency in fifth grade math coursework to place them in advanced math.
In the Dallas school system, the policy has improved the share of Latino sixth graders enrolled in honors math from one-third to almost 60%, The Dallas Morning News reported for the Education Reporting Collaborative.
As long as everyone has an opt-out option, this seems like a really good idea.
I agree.
I have seen this backfire. When I was in high school ~25 years ago, the superintendent was trying to get his AP test rates up. There's the usual group of the smartest kids in school taking these classes, but they tracted in a kid none of us knew into my AP bio class.
I'm not sure what other classes they put him in, but he struggled and ended up dropping out and not finishing high school.
It caused something of a row.