Beginning in the 2024-2025 school year, a new state law will require middle school students to take advanced math classes. The rationale behind the new law, according to Texas Education Agency, is that “early exposure significantly increases the likelihood of [a] student earning a postsecondary credential or degree, six times over.”
TEA’s website states, “In 2023, Senate Bill 2124 2124 (88th Texas Legislature, Regular Session) was signed into law, establishing Texas Education Code §28.029, Middle School Advanced Mathematics Program.
The law requires school districts and open-enrollment charter schools to develop an advanced mathematics program that is designed to enable [middle school] students to enroll in Algebra I in eighth grade.”
The purpose of the MSAMP is to “increase the number of students who complete an advanced mathematics course in high school.”
To this end, each public school district and open-enrollment charter school in Texas is required to develop a program to enable students to take Algebra I in eighth grade. Specifically, the law requires local education authorities [school districts] to automatically enroll each sixthgrade student who performed in the top 40% on the Grade 5 Math STAAR Assessment or a local measure, that includes the student’s fifth grade class ranking, or demonstrated proficiency in the student’s fifth grade mathematics coursework.
“The parent or guardian of a student who has been identified for automatic enrollment in a LEA’s middle school advanced mathematics program may opt the student out of the program,” TEA’s website states.
Miller Grove ISD Superintendent Linda Rankin explained that, under the terms of this new state law, fifth grade students who score in the 60th percentile or higher are automatically placed in advanced math classes beginning in sixth grade. In MGISD’s case, six to eight students will be affected.
These students will complete all of the sixth grade mathematics coursework and part of seventh grade math coursework during their sixth grade year; the remainder of seventh and eighth grade math coursework would be done during their seventh grade year. Students would take Algebra I in eighth grade. In ninth grade, they would take advanced geometry, followed by Algebra II in 10th grade, advanced or college Algebra in 11th grade and another advanced math their senior year.
“We don’t have the teachers [to accommodate this requirement],” Dr. Rankin said. “We have one junior high math teacher who also coaches, so there’s no way to split them back up. We can make it work for next year [2024-2025]. The following year, [we’d have to] put those kids independently on a computer. I don’t think that’s what’s best for kids. To me, especially if you’re combining three grade levels over two years, those kids are going to need more instruction than anybody else.
'My recommendation at this time is to put that under our District of Innovation and not do the advanced math right now. Allow those kids to take Algebra I and geometry as sophomores. We still get the same results if they can take those advanced math courses. Sixth, seventh and eighth [grade math courses] all depend on each other. Geometry and Algebra II are independent of each other,' Dr. Rankin told MGISD Board of Trustees during their June 24 meeting.
The DOI designation “give[s] districts more local control to suit their individual needs. The Texas Education Agency does not have the authority to approve the innovation plan of a school district. That means there is local control over the DOI standards so that each school can pursue the best options for their individual students and staff,” according to TEA’s website. Texas currently has 979 Districts of Innovation, which includes all seven Hopkins County school districts.
Rankin said that, if granted permission to follow this plan, she would work with the district sitebased committee, then, bring the proposed exemption request back to the trustees for final approval before it’s submitted to TEA.
Board members voted to allow Rankin to pursue an exemption to this law, based on MGISD’s District of Innovation status.