Surprising as it may seem, high-ability students often end up falling short of their potential. Studies based on national data have found that substantial numbers of high-achievers—particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds—lose their edge as they progress through middle and high school. Closer to home, Fordham research discovered that just one-third of Ohio’s high-achieving, low-income students went on to attend four-year colleges.
What can be done to help more high flyers “maintain their altitude”? There are plenty of good ideas out there, and to their credit, Ohio policymakers have already implemented several of them. Such initiatives include whole-grade screenings for gifted identification and a requirement that high school juniors take the ACT or SAT, which ensures students with strong college potential are not skipping these exams. Governor DeWine has successfully pushed for the Governor’s Merit Scholarship, which provides students in the top 5 percent of their school’s graduating class with $5,000 per year for college.
Another promising policy is automatic enrollment in advanced coursework. North Carolina is the pioneer on this front. In 2018, Tar Heel legislators required schools to provide advanced math courses to all students—starting in third grade—who achieve high marks on their previous year’s state math exams. Several other states have followed suit, including Illinois, Texas, and Washington.
The rationale for auto-enrollment is straightforward. Getting onto an advanced pathway—especially in math—is critical for admission to competitive colleges and for successful STEM careers. But too many young Ohioans are missing out on advanced learning opportunities, despite having strong academic records. The reasons vary. In many schools, placement on advanced tracks is based on teacher recommendations or parental requests, a process that could easily overlook disadvantaged students. Applying for such courses may discourage some students—or just not seem “cool.” Meanwhile, some schools—more likely urban or rural—offer little or no advanced coursework.
Auto-enrollment policies aim to level the playing field. It doesn’t take a special recommendation or pushy parent to advance a student. Instead, demonstrated achievement on a standardized test is what puts students on more rigorous academic pathways. These policies also require schools that haven’t been providing challenging coursework to begin doing so. This combination of equity and merit has led respected education groups—including Education Trust, Excel in Ed, and Stand for Children—to push for auto-enrollment policies for high-performing students.
Ohio hasn’t yet adopted such a policy, but it should. As a starting point, lawmakers should require automatic enrollment in eighth grade Algebra I for high-achieving seventh graders. Taking this course in eighth grade is critical, as it allows for a math sequence during high school that opens doors to both selective colleges and math-focused areas of study. (Conversely, waiting until ninth grade for Algebra I limits students’ ability to take college-prep math as juniors and seniors. They simply run out of time.)
How to craft such a policy? One crucial question is where to set the bar for automatic enrollment. Remember, this isn’t an “algebra for all” policy, a well-intended but flawed idea that sets up ill-prepared students for failure or leads to watered-down algebra courses. Instead, this plan extends automatic enrollment only to seventh graders who demonstrate readiness for eighth grade Algebra I.
Testing data shared by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) offer clear guidance about where to set the bar. Seventh graders who score “accomplished” or “advanced”—the top two achievement levels—on state math exams overwhelmingly succeed if they take Algebra I in eighth grade. In fact, a remarkable 99 percent of seventh graders scoring at the two highest levels went on to achieve proficient or better in Algebra I.[1] Given these numbers, any seventh grader achieving accomplished or advanced on their state math test should be automatically enrolled in eighth grade Algebra I. No further questions asked.
DEW data also show that almost half of today’s seventh graders who reach the accomplished level (or higher) on state math tests do not take eighth grade Algebra I despite their demonstrated ability to succeed in that course. These students—Ohio has roughly 10,000 of them—are the ones who would benefit from an automatic enrollment policy. Instead of getting stuck in regular eighth grade math, they’d get bumped to Algebra I.
Policymakers should also attend to several details that would help make this policy change work well. First, they should include a parental opt-out provision. If parents don’t believe their child is ready for eighth grade algebra, they should be allowed to seek placement in a regular math course. Second, to help schools that will need to implement a new algebra course in eighth grade, DEW should be ready to provide guidance and share best practices on how to do this. Third, policymakers should consider how to beef up middle school math teachers’ capacity to teach Algebra I. They might also set aside some funds for professional development, especially to support middle schools where Algebra I has not been regularly offered.
Too often, eighth graders who have demonstrated readiness for Algebra I find themselves on the outside looking in. That needs to change. Seventh graders who have worked hard and demonstrated their ability to succeed have earned their spot in that class. Let’s make sure they actually get it.
[1] Eighty-six percent scored accomplished or advanced in eighth grade Algebra I.
