More States Put Strong Math Students on a Path to Advanced Courses

In Tennessee, seventh graders who exceed expectations on this year’s state math test will be placed in Algebra I in 2027–2028.

Similar laws aimed at providing advanced course pathways for strong math students were passed this past legislative session in Oklahoma, Ohio, Iowa, Georgia, and Arizona, continuing a trend initiated under state laws in Indiana, Texas, and Virginia in 2025, and North Carolina back in 2018.

Meanwhile, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Ohio in the past two years have passed other laws mandating math screenings and intervention programs to help struggling math students in the lower grades and to put children on track to prepare for algebra by the end of middle school, according to laws published on their respective legislative websites.

Algebra is the backbone of artificial intelligence and the gateway course for students to complete calculus and/or college-level math courses before high school graduation, policy experts say.

“Algebra is focused on reasoning. It’s really when the math becomes applicable,” said Chelsea Crawford, executive director of TennesseeCAN education policy institute and former chief of staff for that state’s department of education.

“There are so many careers in data science, AI, and manufacturing that require high-level math—even right here in Tennessee. We need to ensure students that they can pursue those pathways,” she told The Epoch Times.

About half of public middle schools in the Volunteer State already offered Algebra I to eighth graders, while the other half didn’t have enough certified teachers to provide that opportunity. This mandate will allow all middle school math teachers to receive the optional certification at no cost to them or their districts. Parents can also decline their child’s invitation to take the course before high school, Crawford said.

Tennessee Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka), who sponsored the legislation, said there’s a shortage of petroleum engineers, electrical engineers, accountants and many other specific vocations in his state that require strong math skills. Colleges and universities across the state, meanwhile, reported a “fever point” level of students taking remedial math courses.

With Oracle planning a manufacturing facility, plus growth in several other sectors including defense, retail, and residential, the need to incentivize STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) for younger students became urgent.

“Even construction,” Cepicky told The Epoch Times. “When you build things, math matters.”

Iowa’s new law requires school districts to provide advanced math course pathways to students in grades five through seven, with the expectation that those students would complete Algebra I by their freshman year of high school. In Georgia next year, fourth- and fifth-grade math instruction will be increased to 60 minutes per day or 300 minutes per week, and the most proficient math students in grades seven through 12 will automatically be enrolled in advanced math courses. Ohio’s law calls for advanced math classes for high-performing students in grades three through five.

The Arizona law allows educators to use either state assessments or end-of-year class test results to recommend middle school students for advanced math instruction. Oklahoma’s legislation creates an office of mathematics, which will be expected to create individual instruction plans and advanced course pathways to students who score above grade-level math.

Without these laws, schools in most states have the option of offering advanced math placements, but those that don’t have the staff or interest from administrators are free to teach students at varying levels in the same grade-level classes.

“You hear about public schools that have to teach to the middle,” Crawford said. “We want to celebrate student outcomes. This law is about not holding students back.”

Some state laws use a two-pronged approach also aimed at improving math performance in the lower grades. Ohio requires assessments for diagnosing learning impediments for low-performing math students in grades K through three. North Carolina requires those assessments for elementary and middle school students multiple times per year, according to state legislature websites.

With dual-enrollment partnerships between public schools and higher education institutions becoming common in North Carolina, these advanced course pathways also help students get to and through college, said Bryce Fiedler, director of Carolinas Academic Leadership Network.

“High school courses not only challenge and reward high-performing students—they also create opportunities to earn college credit, reducing the time and cost of earning a degree,” he told The Epoch Times.

The ExcelinEd education policy center in a recent report said automatically enrolling high-performing students in advanced math courses while also giving parents the ability to decline it—changing the default choice from “opt in to opt out” has produced measurable gains in every state that implemented it.

In Texas, for example, only 22 percent of black students scoring within the top 20 percent on the state math assessment ahead of middle school were traditionally enrolled in Algebra I before high school. After the law took effect last year, that percentage spiked to 82 percent. The percentage of Hispanic students climbed from 46 percent to 80 percent, while white students increased from 75 percent to 83 percent, according to the report.

“This policy succeeds when paired with well-defined advanced math pathways, clear family communication, prepared teachers and strong student support,” the report says.

“States that implement this policy thoughtfully and hold themselves accountable through data will expand not only the number of students who reach Algebra I in middle school, but also the number who are prepared for the opportunities that follow.”

In Indiana, the new advanced math pathways requirement will help traditional public schools compete with charter and private schools. That state has universal school choice, including open enrollment options where families select any public district.

Emory Edwards, vice president of outreach for EdChoice national school choice policy center, said he selected a charter school for his oldest child, Emory Michael, after the incoming seventh grader qualified for Algebra I.

When Emory Michael ages out of his current middle school in the spring of 2028, his father expects that there will be several options across all school types for his son to eventually pursue advanced placement calculus, statistics, and other courses to prepare him for a college engineering program.

“There was a real explosion in the science of reading, and now we’re seeing that seismic shift for math,” Edwards told The Epoch Times. “Education is always slow to move, but that conversation about eighth-grade algebra shouldn’t be something foreign.”