Latino, Black enrollment in advanced math shot up after states made this change. Should it be a model?

By Suzanne Gamboa, NBC News

Latino and Black students in advanced math courses grew when Texas districts stopped relying on recommendations and automatically enrolled qualifying students.

SAN ANTONIO — In a state that has passed anti-diversity laws and tried to squelch instruction on systemic racism, a new law could open doors for Latino and Black children long shut out of advanced math courses.

Just a handful of states have taken the step Texas did this year. Under a law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in May, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools must automatically enroll in an advanced math course sixth graders who score in the top 40% of the math portion of the state standardized test known as STAAR.

Texas school districts can also consider class ranking or a student’s proficiency in fifth grade math coursework to place them in advanced math.

In the Dallas school system, the policy has improved the share of Latino sixth graders enrolled in honors math from one-third to almost 60%, The Dallas Morning News reported for the Education Reporting Collaborative.

For Black sixth graders, the share increased from about 17% to 43%, and for white students, gains were even higher, increasing from half to about 82%.

Experts said biases about the capability of Latino and Black students in advanced courses often have been a blockade to their entry in such courses, since the practice is to rely on teacher and counselor recommendations or the students’ or their families’ initiative.

Read more here to learn more about the positive effects of this initiative.

Laws like this one support future generations of Black and Brown people. Visit this exhibit to see how education used to look during the Jim Crow South.

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