This article reports on a study designed to estimate the effect of high school coursetaking in the algebra-calculus pipeline on the likelihood of placing out of postsecondary remedial mathematics. A nonparametric variant of propensity score analysis was used on a nationally representative data set to remove selection bias and test for an effect…

The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in North Carolina recently addressed the issue of advancement in and equitable access to advanced mathematics. Under a recent policy, WCPSS uses a SAS-generated predicted probabilities of students' success in obtaining a passing score on the NC Algebra I End-of-Course (EOC) exam, to determine…

Predicting student success has long been a question of interest for postsecondary admission counselors throughout the United States. Past research has examined the validity of several methods designed for predicting undergraduate success. High school record, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, and combinations of all three have…

Background: Many studies have looked at students' mathematics achievement in the middle and high school years and the kinds of factors that are associated with their achievement. Within this domain, however, most research utilized cross-sectional data. Cross-sectional designs have both statistical and conceptual limitations. Few studies used…