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  Math for Success
Math is a powerful tool for describing reality, communicating complex ideas, and solving problems. Regardless of their career path, every student needs a solid grounding in mathematical concepts. Yet across the state, too many students graduate from high school without that foundational knowledge, with the most vulnerable populations experiencing the biggest gaps in preparation.
Often, the problem follows students to college as they find themselves struggling to complete upper-level coursework—or barred from taking credit-bearing courses altogether until they master the prerequisite skills in developmental education classes. Meanwhile, even students who perform well academically may find themselves required to take postsecondary math classes that don’t align with the skills they’ll need in the career field they’ve chosen. We’re tackling these challenges through our focus on Math for Success. We’ll be searching for opportunities to help secondary teachers equip all students with the math skills required for college and career success. We’ll also work to ensure postsecondary institutions offer multiple math pathways so every student can learn the math content that best fits their needs. Through these efforts, we intend to make math a gateway to opportunity instead of a barrier to success.

Dig Into the Data
With the help of Education First and other partners in the field, we explored current data on Texas students to develop our strategy. Below are some of the findings we found most compelling.
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Voices from the Field
The Education First team conducted interviews with stakeholders across the state to deepen and contextualize our understanding of Texas students' experiences. Here are some of their insights.

“There are many rural eighth-grade campuses that don’t offer Algebra I…We have a number of students who may be capable and able to get on a pathway that sets them up for upper-division math courses, but they don’t have an opportunity.” (Higher Education Leader)

The following perspective was shared by a participant in the Central Texas Math Summit, led by the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin and E3 Alliance, and is included here to underscore the importance of a strategic focus on math:

“One [result of the summit] is better understanding, better articulation, better communication. What are the correct mathematical pathways? Who has that understanding and that knowledge and who doesn’t? And how do we make sure that we scale that understanding? Making sure that we have the right alignment all the way up and the right articulation between things like our areas of study, the university’s majors, and the endorsements at the K–12 level.”

Partner Spotlight
MathEquity Texas is a coalition of leaders across Texas focused on expanding and accelerating efforts to remove barriers that impede equitable outcomes for students. In Year 1, the MathEquity Texas community convened, learned together about equity dimensions and frameworks from published research, and created equity commitments. Over the next two years, members will take action, share their work, and monitor their progress. The initiative is facilitated and supported by the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin.

Learn more about MathEquity Texas here:
www.utdanacenter.org/our-work/higher-education/mathequity-texas

Read Director of Programs & Strategy Leslie Gurrola’s reflections on participating in MathEquity Texas here:
www.utdanacenter.org/blog/making-space-thoughtful-purposeful-equity-conversations

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