According to the High School and Beyond Study of 1986, (Click here for footnote 10.) mathematics was the subject most sensitive to school completion and further coursetaking (Secada 1992). And, according to the 1990 High School Transcript Study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, more students were taking more advanced courses in 1990 than in 1982. (See text table 1-2.)
According to a recent College Board study, geometry, the "gatekeeper" for college enrollment, was completed by 93 percent of college-bound seniors (NCES 1992b). However, of both college- and noncollege-bound seniors, approximately two-thirds completed a geometry course or above. Data from the 1990 NAEP indicated that, nationally, 67 percent of 17-year-olds had taken geometry or higher and fewer than 10 percent reported that they had taken precalculus or calculus (NCES 1992b). Findings from the 1990 High School Transcript Study corroborate these findings.
There is little difference between the percentages of white and black 17-year-old students who are taking these more advanced mathematics courses, and significantly fewer Hispanic students take the courses. Approximately two-thirds of white and black students have taken geometry or higher, compared to just over half of Hispanic students. However, the average achievement scores for white students are significantly (over 20 points) above both black and Hispanic students' average achievement scores. This may be due to the fact that white students are placed in higher level mathematics classes while in the middle schools so they have more opportunity to develop a strong background in mathematics. According to NELS:88 data, eighth grade minority students were placed in lower level mathematics classes at a rate much higher than their white peers. For example, black and Hispanic eighth grade students were nearly twice as likely as white students to be placed in remedial mathematics classes (NCES 1992f).
In science, enrollments in biology increased between 1982 and 1990 by 17 and 19 percent in chemistry. Ninety-two percent of graduates had taken biology, while 50 percent had taken chemistry. However, only 21 percent of graduates took physics. (See text table 1-3.) The coursetaking patterns differ little by sex, but there are differences by race/ethnicity. Only in physics does the pattern differ for males and females; a greater proportion of males than females have taken physics (25 and 18 percent, respectively). Asian graduates have taken chemistry and physics at a much higher rate than their counterparts (64 percent of Asians took chemistry, and 38 percent took physics). These were followed by white students (52 percent of whom took chemistry, and 23 percent of whom took physics). Approximately 40 percent of black and Hispanic students have taken chemistry by graduation, and fewer than 15 percent have taken physics.
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