Of five major content areas covered in math classes — numbers and operations, measurement, geometry, data and statistics, and algebra and functions — teachers are putting a bigger emphasis ...

High school math, and algebra, in particular, is in crisis. Although some students thrive on the pathway to calculus, most do not. Algebra I is the single most failed course in American high schools.

Top students can benefit greatly by being offered the subject early. But many districts offer few Black and Latino eighth graders a chance to study it. By Troy Closson From suburbs in the Northeast to ...