The Aftermath of Accelerating Algebra Evidence from District Policy Initiatives
The Aftermath of Accelerating Algebra Evidence from District Policy Initiatives
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DOI：
10.3368/jhr.50.1.159
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发表时间：
2015-12-01
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
Vigdor, Jacob L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Clotfelter, Charles T.;Ladd, Helen F.;Vigdor, Jacob L.
在过去的一代人中，在中学学习第一门代数课程的学生比例翻了一番，有人呼吁普及八年级代数课程。我们利用北卡罗来纳州两个大学区在代数时间上的重大政策变化，来推断随着学生在高中阶段的进步，加速进入代数课程对学生数学课程表现的影响。我们没有发现任何证据表明加速度在任何规格下都有积极的平均影响，对代数和传统的后续课程几何的表现都有显著的负面影响。对成绩好的学生来说，将代数加速到中学似乎是良性的或有益的，但对成绩差的学生来说，无疑是有害的。我们考虑了这些影响是否反映了对不合格教师的依赖，并得出结论，这种机制只能解释结果的一小部分。
The proportion of students taking a first algebra course in middle school has doubled over the past generation and there have been calls to make eighth grade algebra universal. We use significant policy shifts in the timing of algebra in two large North Carolina districts to infer the impact of accelerated entry into algebra on student performance in math courses as students progress through high school. We find no evidence of a positive mean impact of acceleration in any specification and significant negative effects on performance in both Algebra land the traditional followup course, Geometry. Accelerating algebra to middle school appears benign or beneficial for higher-performing students but unambiguously harmful to the lowest performers. We consider whether the effects reflect the reliance on less-qualified teachers and conclude that this mechanism explains only a small fraction of the result.