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Who benefits from high school exit exams? Examining variations in math course-taking by abilities and socioeconomic status

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.32.8545

Keywords:

math course-taking pattern, exit exam, on track, off track, equity

Abstract

Using the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, the association between high school exit exams and mathematics course-taking patterns is explored. Exit exams are linked to a decreased likelihood of students taking upward-bound mathematics during their four years of high school. Exit exams are also associated with fewer mathematics credits earned. However, exit exams are linked to increased likelihood of students completing Precalculus or higher, but have no discernible association with completing Algebra II or higher. Importantly, significant disparities exist in these associations, with underprivileged, underperforming students often experiencing limited access to advanced math courses due to exit exams. 

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Author Biographies

Seong Won Han, University at Buffalo

Seong Won Han is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Her research focuses on cross-national comparisons of educational inequality, examining factors such as gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic inequality in relation to diverse student outcomes, including performance in math and science and STEM career expectations across various nations. She also investigates mechanisms that limit access to high-level STEM courses in high school for low-income and historically underrepresented, minoritized youth in the United States, including state policy, associated capital, college entrance patterns, and STEM major selection. 

Chungseo Kang, Jeonbuk National University

Chungseo Kang is an assistant professor in the Department of Education at Jeonbuk National University in Korea. His research interests focus on educational inequality, particularly the mechanisms through which inequality arises within the education system. He also explores how these mechanisms function and how educational processes are constructed and articulated in discourse.

Lois Weis, University at Buffalo

Lois Weis is State University of New York Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. She has written extensively about the current predicament of White, African American, Latino/a, and Southeast Asian working-class and poor youth and young adults and the complex role gender and race/ethnicity play in their lives in light of contemporary dynamics associated with the global knowledge economy, new patterns of emigration, and, more recently, opportunities and outcomes related to STEM.

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Published

2024-08-27

How to Cite

Han, S. W., Kang, C., & Weis, L. (2024). Who benefits from high school exit exams? Examining variations in math course-taking by abilities and socioeconomic status. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 32. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.32.8545

Issue

Vol. 32 (2024)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2024 Seong Won Han, Chungseo Kang, Lois Weis

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.