Virginia’s new Law will take effect in the next school year. It requires that high-performing students be automatically enrolled into accelerated or advanced math. Virginia has taken a recent step to increase the number of students enrolled in middle school accelerated math classes by changing its accountability system.

Virginia is the most likely state in the country to use state-level action to encourage local districts, to offer accelerated mathematics opportunities to middle schoolers who are academically prepared.

Virginia’s New Advanced Math Auto Enrollment Law
Virginia’s law on autoenrollment applies to students in grades 5-8 who achieve the 25 ^th percentile in Virginia for its standardized mathematics exam. Parents can opt out of the program.

The bill for autoenrollment was sponsored and passed by a bipartisan majority in the Virginia Legislature. Katrina Callsen is a Virginia House of Delegates Democratic Member, who is a former middle-school math instructor. Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the Republican Virginia governor, signed it into law last week.

Virginia has joined Texas and North Carolina in enacting auto-enrollment legislation for advanced middle school mathematics. Indiana is currently debating a similar auto enrollment bill. Illinois, and Washington states have laws that require auto-enrollment for advanced high school courses.

Early results from advanced coursework autoenrollment have been generally positive. These policies are also supported by the education-focused non-profit organizations The Education Trust , The Collaborative For Student Success. ExcelInEd, for example, has model advanced middle school math auto enrollment legislation.

The Texas autoenrollment laws were enacted in response to the successful outcomes of a Dallas Independent School District policy for middle school mathematics that began with the 2019-2020 academic year. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found similar positive results among North Carolina’s traditionally underrepresented groups in a study.

Virginia’s new accountability system incentivizes Algebra for Middle School
Virginia’s new law on auto-enrollment will not mandate that schools offer algebra to middle school students, but its new accountability system encourages to reward middle schools for offering algebra and other accelerated classes to students who are prepared. This will also encourage school systems to prepare students for algebra at middle school.

The middle school accelerated course factor in Virginia’s new accountability system is based upon a similar factor used in Florida. RAND Institute survey of middle school principals from several states revealed that 99% Florida middle schools offer algebra, compared to 67% California. The study revealed that middle schools which do not offer algebra serve disproportionately low-income and minority students.

Why Is Algebra Placement Getting State-Level Attention?

It is common to see middle-school algebra as a gateway to high paying STEM and quantitative careers. Calculus is also important to get into selective colleges.

Math’s sequential nature makes algebra access extra important. According to , University of Winnipeg mathematics professor Anna Stokke says math is “relentlessly hierarchy–it’s similar to climbing a ladder.” Each rung depends on the one before it.”

Brian Conrad, Stanford University Professor and Director of Undergraduate Mathematics Studies, , explains how important this math path timeline is for future career options.

For a four-year degree in fields such as data science, computer sciences, economics and other quantitative disciplines, it is necessary to have a solid foundation in math. This includes two years of algebra and a year each of geometry. Advanced students may also need additional coursework that leads up to calculus.

The New York Federal Reserve recently detailed college majors with a median salary of at least $100,000 annually by mid-career. These 19 majors, with the exception of one, require calculus.

Virginia Joins Nationwide Push to Accelerate Math

Virginia’s new changes to encourage accelerated mathematics are part of the nationwide backlash against math classes that keep nearly all students in one math class up until the 11th grade. Critics call this ” algebra for none.”

Virginia became the focus of a political firestorm after the Virginia Department of Education proposed a statewide math detracking like the one in San Francisco Unified Schools District (SFUSD) in 2021. In his campaign for governor in 2021, promised that accelerated math would be protected, even after the VDOE withdrew the proposal following public opposition. This was a key factor of his victory.

Other states have had similar political reactions. Similar opposition was shown to a 2021 statewide proposal proposed in California as well as proposals submitted in Middletown, Connecticut and Princeton, New Jersey. 82% of San Francisco voters supported in a 2024 referendum that would bring algebra back to middle school.

These programs also have not had positive educational outcomes. Researchers from Stanford University conducted a 2023 study that found the detracking program of SFUSD had failed to increase diversity in advanced mathematics.

The focus of policymakers in education is now shifting towards ensuring that more students have access to accelerated math to get to algebra in middle-school, and states are intervening in the advanced placement process.

It is likely that, given the educational and political importance of advanced math programs, other states will follow Florida, North Carolina and Texas in increasing the access of students who are prepared to them.

Todd Truitt, an attorney and parent educator advocate from Virginia, originally appeared in RealClearEducation. This is one of the Internet’s leading voices for global education news.