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As states and districts seek to elevate learning and prepare more students for work in the digital future, they have not only a unique opportunity, but also an urgent imperative, to redesign high school math. This report examines an array of education policies that exert considerable influence on the math students learn and when they learn it, factors that have a profound influence on students' futures. It shares up-to-date information about how some states are navigating these policies as they develop innovative redesigns of high school mathematics and about strategies aimed at improving student outcomes, particularly for historically underrepresented students. A survey of state math supervisors highlights the priorities driving these changes. To illustrate various redesign strategies, the report features examples from five states: Georgia, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Drawing from those strategies, the research evidence, and the survey of state math supervisors, it provides insights and recommendations for states and districts to consider as they update their high school math policies.

For this brief, EdTrust and Just Equations partnered to explore differences in patterns of math course enrollment for high school students using data from students who participated in the 2009 High School Longitudinal Study (HSLS:09). Like other research has shown, the authors find that high-achieving Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds who take and pass Algebra I in eighth grade still end up taking advanced math courses in high school at lower rates than their peers. The data also points to the likelihood that students who did and did not take advanced math courses in high school have different experiences with math teachers' and counselors' practices and perceptions. This brief addresses the following research questions: (1) Among high-achieving underserved students, are there differences in postsecondary outcomes between students who did and did not take advanced courses while in high school? and (2) Do institutional, school-level factors (e.g., school climate, advice and expectations, school counselors' and educators' beliefs and practices) play a role in perpetuating inequities in advanced math course-enrollment for high-achieving underserved students? The report concludes with recommendations that federal and state policymakers can take to address the longstanding, institutional challenges that deny high-achieving Black and Latino students and students from low-income backgrounds access to the higher level math courses that will put them on a path to achieving their dreams. [This report was co-produced with Just Equations.]

This "Building Capacity for Change" "playbook" highlights practices and strategies that proved to be effective in supporting the rollout and implementation of certain programs under the New York State Department of Health's First 1,000 Days on Medicaid Initiative, a series of evidence-based reforms aimed at improving health and social outcomes for expectant parents, young children, and their families. Recognizing that advancing the health and well-being of the state's youngest citizens requires a well-coordinated comprehensive strategy, the Rockefeller Institute of Government partnered with the Department of Health to develop and incorporate a framework of collective impact--bringing the strengths and resources of organizations across program and policy sectors together to work toward a shared goal--for selected reforms that were being piloted in target communities across the state. This playbook is designed as a guide for Medicaid providers and other early childhood health practitioners, local community organizations, and state policymakers on how collective impact strategies can be used to promote cross-sector coordination and align resources in ways that advance maternal and early childhood outcomes. Wisdom and evidence gained from working with providers, partner organizations, and families in the field as these Medicaid reforms were rolled out are discussed, and supporting data and project outcomes resulting from efforts embracing a strategic collective impact approach are presented. The playbook is organized into four main parts: background on New York's "First 1,000 Days on Medicaid Initiative" to offer context for the depth and breadth of this bold reform effort; a discussion of the collective impact framework and strategies for implementing it in local areas where social service reforms are piloted; and two sections describing project activities in local areas piloting two "First 1,000 Days on Medicaid" reforms.

This brief focuses on the important role that math requirements contribute to inequity in access to college, in particular the value placed on calculus, even though it is not an essential course for students who are seeking non-STEM degrees. The boost earned by students who are fortunate enough to have access to calculus, a benefit unequally distributed across our high schools, is problematic. In this paper, the authors offer alternative approaches to ensure course requirements make sense for students given their higher education goals and for limiting the impact of one math course that is not essential for all students. [This brief was co-produced by Just Equations. Eileen and Harold Brown provided additional funding for this series of briefs.]