Education Week - September 21, 2022 - 9

| WEBINAR
grade, rather than accelerating some
students before then, to create a more
even playing field.
The proposal garnered swift pushback
from parents of high-achieving
students, who argued that it would
make it harder for their children to
reach calculus by senior year, the news
site EdSource reported.
Universities 'see calculus as
pay-to-play'
College admissions counselors'
anxieties probably mirror these parents'
responses. But admissions officers
at colleges and universities are
less likely to say that calculus matters.
A separate survey by the same organizations
earlier this year surveyed
137 public and private colleges. In
the new report, researchers compared
this prior data with counselors'
responses, and found that the two
"
I have been in
meetings where you
have [university]
officials adamant
that calculus is not
necessary to be
admitted to the
system, and you
have high school
counselors and
math teachers
insisting that it is.
PAMELA BURDMAN
Founder of Just Equations
calculus as pay-to-play, even if students'
intended major is philosophy, "
said another.
The American Association of Collegiate
Registrars and Admissions Officers,
a professional organization, did
not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
Some of the nuances in these numbers
are hard to capture. For example,
whether students need calculus to
succeed in STEM or other mathheavy
majors is a different question
from whether calculus should be a
prerequisite for any student admitted
to a selective college, Burdman said.
" We are not suggesting that calculus
is unimportant for students
who know that they want to pursue a
STEM field, particularly engineering,
physics, etc., " she said.
" We do think that college admissions
offices need more information
about math options, " Burdman
continued. " They need to speak
with their faculty to have a better
understanding of what their faculty
in different disciplines are expecting
among their students in quantitative
reasoning abilities. "
Selling colleges on alternative
math pathways
Statistics, which has gained popularity
in recent years as an alternative
advanced math course, is received
favorably by admissions officers at
colleges, the report's data show. But
some high school counselors are wary
of recommending it instead of calculus,
with one saying, " Highly selective
colleges think AP Calculus is harder
than AP Statistics. There is a bias. "
These expectations about what
counts as college-preparatory math
can hamper efforts to expand math
pathways in states, said Josh Recio,
a course program specialist focusing
on high school mathematics with the
Dana Center.
Recio, who worked with Georgia
groups' perceptions of calculus were
not always aligned.
" I have been in meetings where you
have [university] officials adamant that
calculus is not necessary to be admitted
to the system, and you have high
school counselors and math teachers
insisting that it is, " Burdman said.
The mismatch could reflect the
general opacity of admissions requirements-and
the belief that there
is one set of " official " requirements,
and then another, unspoken set of
rules that can give students a leg up.
" I had one admissions officer at a
highly selective college tell me they
had only admitted one student in the
past three years without calc[ulus] and
advised my student (first gen, single
parent, who had many other advanced
courses, and was homecoming queen
and the center of our student life) [to]
apply elsewhere, " said one counselor
quoted in the report.
" We are aware of schools that see
to expand statistics, quantitative reasoning,
and data science options, said
that decisionmakers were hesitant to
change anything about the sequence
of high school math until they knew
the president of the University of
Georgia system was on board. " Then,
it was OK, " Recio said.
" On the K-12 pathway side, it's very
much a look for permission first, " he
said.
Overall, the report's authors recommend
that K-12 systems strengthen
course options and college counseling
programs in lower-resourced
schools-and that colleges provide
clearer and more consistent recommendations
about what math courses
are required for different majors.
It may be easier to persuade some
colleges to make these shifts than others,
said Kung. A small school that's
looking to attract more applicants has
more incentive to make admissions
policies transparent than a flagship
state institution.
" The institutions with the most
power here have the least pressure to
change, " he said.
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Monday, Sept. 26, 2022
3-4 PM ET
https://edw.link/SmarterClassrooms
Content provided by
| WEBINAR
Be the Change: Strategies to Make
Year-Round Hiring Happen
As school districts continue to navigate the
teacher shortage, attracting-and keeping-
quality candidates is more important than
ever. But in order to hire top talent, districts
must look beyond " seasonal hiring " to optimize
and improve their recruiting process.
Learn how to leverage actionable data and
insights to diversify your recruiting efforts and
successfully deploy a year-round recruiting plan.
A diverse panel of industry experts
and K-12 leaders will discuss:
Data-driven research surrounding the K-12
recruiting and hiring landscape
* Actionable strategies for attracting
high-quality applicants
* Tips for branding your district as
a " destination district "
* Best practices for improving the recruiting,
hiring, and onboarding process
Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022 2-3 PM ET
https://edw.link/BeTheChange
Content provided by
SPEAKERS:
* Kelly Coash-Johnson,
Executive Director, AASPA
* J.W. Mozley, Ph.D., Executive
Director, Human Resources
Staffing Gwinnett County
Public Schools
* Kevin Agnello, Sr. Data Analytics
Engineer II, Frontline Education
* Susan Walters, Principal Solution
Consultant, Frontline Education
MODERATOR:
* HOLLY KURTZ, PHD, Director,
EdWeek Research Center
EDUCATION WEEK | September 21, 2022 | www.edweek.org | 9
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Education Week - September 21, 2022

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