Expanding high school math curriculum

Abstract

Over four years ago, the math department at El Dorado High School was faced with a problem of an increasing number of students who were not successful in Algebra I. Those students were failing both in the first semester and second semester. Large numbers of students were taking only the required credits of math to graduate. Faced with this knowledge and knowing that graduation requirements for math were going to increase for future classes, the math department made a decision to create two new math classes: Transition Algebra was placed between Pre Algebra and Algebra I; and Transition Geometry was placed between Algebra I and Geometry. By examining students’ grades in Pre Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry in the three years prior to implementing the new math classes and the three years after students could take the new math classes, we have answered two main question: are students more successful in their math classes? And, have these two math classes met a need for our students that previously was unfilled?