Thread by @DrYasmiyn

My new article "On Track or Derailed? Race, Advanced Math, and the Transition to High School" in @SociusJournal summarized in tweet form.

A thread:

#Sociology #Soctwitter #mathequity #BlackandSTEM
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.11…

Taking advanced math in HS influences academic success, what careers we pursue, and how much $ we make. Studies find racial gaps in who takes Calculus in HS & Algebra I in MS, but there is little research on race and adv math course taking during the transition to HS. 2/

This study uses national data to examine adv math course taking in 9th grade for students on the accelerated track who took Alg I+ in 8th grade and students on the standard track who took <Alg I. I also look at the role of performance factors & parents, teachers & counselors 3/

Because schools transitions and course placements are both embedded in racialized organizational contexts (see @victorerikray's 2019 article), I argue that minoritized youth may be more likely to experience academic disruption during the transition from MS to HS. 4/

To test this, I also examine differences between students in eight racial/ethnic groups: 1) White, 2) Black, 3) Black Latinx, 4) Nonblack Latinx (POC), 5) White Latinx, 6) East Asian, 7) South Asian, and 8) Southeast Asian/ Pacific Islander. So what did I find? 5/

Nearly 1 in 4 students who take accelerated math in 8th grade end up retaking Algebra I in 9th grade. South Asian students are the least likely to be knocked off of the accelerated track (only 4% do so). Whereas Black and Black Latinx students are the most likely at 40%. 6/

Yes, you read that right. 40% of Black and Black Latinx students who took advanced math courses in middle school were knocked off of the accelerated math track during the transition to HS. That's two out of every five students! 7/

And around 10% of students who take standard math courses in middle school end up in an advanced math course in 9th grade. Importantly, the rate of upward mobility is twice as high for South Asian students (21%). 8/

If you think this is just a reflection of academic performance, think again. Black students have 45% lower odds and Black Latinx students have 56% lower odds of staying on the accelerated track in 9th grade than their white peers with the SAME math performance in 8th grade. 9/

In addition South Asian students have a whopping 300% higher odds of staying on the accelerated track in 9th grade, and nearly twice the odds of getting onto the accelerated track in 9th grade, than white peers with the same math performance in 8th grade. 10/

While some have highlighted the overrepresentation of South Asians and underrepresentation of Black people in science, tech, and medicine. My research reveals that these patterns begin long before college and are not just about differences in academic performance. 11/

Two more findings of note: Talking to a fave teacher about math courses only matters for Black students on the accelerated track. Yet the impact is tremendous bc the positive effect of talking to a fav teacher is large enough to CLOSE the Black-white gap in track persistence. 12/

Lastly, talking to a counselor about math courses only matters for Black Latinx students on the accelerated track. But talking with a counselor actually decreases their likelihood of staying on track, which magnifies the Black Latinx-white gap in track persistence. 13/

If you are interested in reading further, you can access the article using the link in my first post. It's #OpenAccess so there is no pay wall. And let me know if you have any questions and comments. That's it for now. 14/

@schuessler_iu @UTPopCenter