With One Weird Trick, Texas Doubled Advanced Math Access
In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed its version of an automatic enrollment policy. Going forward, school districts would have to automatically enroll students who scored in the top 40 percent on the grade 5 state math test into advanced coursework in grade 6, putting them on a pathway to complete Algebra I by 8th grade. The idea was simple: too many capable students were being left out of advanced math pathways not because they couldn’t handle it, but because no one told them they could.
Two years into implementation, the results from the spring 2026 state test (STAAR) are striking. The first cohort of affected students were in 7th grade this year, and the percentage of 7th graders who took the grade 8 math assessment has doubled since 2023, rising from 16% to 32%. Last year, 127,760 7th graders took an advanced math class, up from 66,463 three years ago.
More notable still: the gains weren’t confined to already-advantaged students. The number of economically disadvantaged 7th graders taking the grade 8 math assessment more than doubled between 2023 and 2026, compared to a 70% increase for their non-low-income peers. In other words, low-income students gained access to the advanced pathway at a much faster rate than everyone else.
The performance data are also holding up. When TEA analyzes math results by students’ enrolled grade level rather than the specific test they took, proficiency rates increased across every middle school grade in 2026.
The full picture on whether accelerated enrollment translates into long-term gains in Algebra won’t be available until this time next year, when the first cohort fully impacted by the law reaches 8th grade. But the early evidence suggests that Texas may have found a relatively low-cost lever for expanding rigorous coursework. More states should look into creating their own versions!
Chad Aldeman is a nationally recognized expert on education policy, including school finance; teacher preparation, evaluation, and compensation; and state standards, assessment, and accountability.
With One Weird Trick, Texas Doubled Advanced Math Access
In 2023, the Texas Legislature passed its version of an automatic enrollment policy. Going forward, school districts would have to automatically enroll students who scored in the top 40 percent on the grade 5 state math test into advanced coursework in grade 6, putting them on a pathway to complete Algebra I by 8th grade. The idea was simple: too many capable students were being left out of advanced math pathways not because they couldn’t handle it, but because no one told them they could.
Two years into implementation, the results from the spring 2026 state test (STAAR) are striking. The first cohort of affected students were in 7th grade this year, and the percentage of 7th graders who took the grade 8 math assessment has doubled since 2023, rising from 16% to 32%. Last year, 127,760 7th graders took an advanced math class, up from 66,463 three years ago.
Source: 2026 STAAR Results presentation from the Texas Education Agency
More notable still: the gains weren’t confined to already-advantaged students. The number of economically disadvantaged 7th graders taking the grade 8 math assessment more than doubled between 2023 and 2026, compared to a 70% increase for their non-low-income peers. In other words, low-income students gained access to the advanced pathway at a much faster rate than everyone else.
The performance data are also holding up. When TEA analyzes math results by students’ enrolled grade level rather than the specific test they took, proficiency rates increased across every middle school grade in 2026.
The full picture on whether accelerated enrollment translates into long-term gains in Algebra won’t be available until this time next year, when the first cohort fully impacted by the law reaches 8th grade. But the early evidence suggests that Texas may have found a relatively low-cost lever for expanding rigorous coursework. More states should look into creating their own versions!
Chad Aldeman
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