Research brief

Unequal Access to 8th-Grade Algebra: How School Offerings and Placement Practices Limit Opportunity

November 2025

By: Daniel Long, Megan Kuhfeld, Scott J. Peters

Description

This NWEA research brief examines how access to early Algebra – a key gateway to advanced high school math, STEM majors, and higher lifetime earnings – remains highly inequitable across the United States. Using NWEA data from 162,000 eighth-grade students across 22 states, the study looks at both whether schools offer Algebra by 8th grade and how students are placed when it is offered. The findings point to significant gaps tied to school poverty levels, geography, and race/ethnicity.

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