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Miami Herald
04-05-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
The return of student loan debt collection: What borrowers need to know
After a five-year pause, the Trump administration is bringing back financial penalties for the many millions of borrowers who are too far behind on their student loan payments. It's led to confusion and financial uncertainty. At least 5 million people are in default, meaning they have failed to make payments on their loans for at least nine months - and millions more are projected to join them in the coming months. The Hechinger Report spoke to student loan experts about what to expect and how to prepare, as well as about a separate effort in Congress to adjust how student loans work. The Biden administration restarted loan repayments in October 2023. That came without any consequences, however, for about a year. But interest, which had also been frozen since the start of the pandemic, has been piling up for some borrowers since the fall of 2023. All told, about 43 million federal student loan borrowers owe a total of $1.6 trillion in debt. Starting May 5, those in default face having tax refunds withheld and wages garnished if they don't start making regular payments. A college degree can be a path to long-term financial security, but the process of repaying loans can lead to financial hardship for many borrowers. About half of all students with a bachelor's degree graduate with debt, which averages more than $29,000. And although average debt tends to be lower for graduates of public universities (about $20,000), close to half of people who attend those schools still leave with debt. Related: Interested in more news about colleges and universities? Subscribe to our free biweekly higher education newsletter. The student loan landscape is likely to change in some way over in the coming months: The Trump administration is expected to push the limits on aggressive collection practices, while Republicans in Congress are determined to adjust repayment options. Here's what we know about what the Trump administration's actions mean for student borrowers. If you have questions we haven't answered here, tell us: editor@ Or reach us securely and privately using options on this page. What happens if I don't start repaying my loan? Once you've failed to make a loan payment in 270 days, you will probably enter into default. That means, as of May 5, the government can take your federal tax refund and apply it to your debt. Starting in June, the government can also withhold up to 15 percent of any money you receive from Social Security, including disability payments. And later this summer, officials said, they will start the process of taking a cut ofyour paycheck, although borrowers have the right to appeal. Going into default can also harm your credit score, which can make it harder to rent an apartment or borrow money for other reasons, like buying a car. Can I go back to school to avoid repaying my loans? Some influencers on social media have recommended enrolling in school as a way to delay making payments. It's true that most loans are deferred while you're in school, meaning you wouldn't have to pay while you're taking classes, but you may also add to what you already owe if you spend more time in college. Unless you're confident a new certificate or degree will boost your income, delaying repayment and increasing what you owe could make paying off your loans even more difficult. I can't afford to repay my loan. What should I do? There are other options. One type links your monthly payments to what you earn. These income-based repayment plans can shrink your monthly loan bill. There is also a graduated repayment plan that can lower your payments initially, after which they increase every two years. A third option is an extended repayment plan, which lowers your monthly payments but adds months or years to the time it will take to pay off your loans. The government's Loan Simulator is one way to find options available to you. Where can I go if I need help? The Education Department's Default Resolution Group can help provide advice for borrowers who are already in default. The Federal Student Aid call center is set up to answer questions. Borrowers can also reach out to their loan servicers for guidance. Related: The Hechinger Report's Tuition Tracker helps reveal the real cost of college What's the difference between loan deferment, loan forbearance and default? Loan deferment: The Education Department may grant a loan deferment for several reasons, including when a borrower is experiencing an extreme economic hardship or is unemployed. That means the borrower can temporarily stop paying off the loan without any financial penalties; in the case of subsidized undergraduate loans, interest doesn't keep accruing during that time. Forbearance: A loan forbearance also allows a borrower to stop payments, or make smaller ones, without any penalties. However, interest usually keeps building on all loans during that time. Default: If a borrower is in default, it means they have failed to make payments for at least 270 days without permission. That's when the government can begin to garnish tax refunds, Social Security benefits and wages, and a borrower's credit score will drop. I've heard income-driven repayment plans are in trouble. Is that true? There are several types of income-driven repayment plans, which are meant to keep payments affordable. The Biden administration's Saving for a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan is on hold because of legal challenges from Republican-led states. That plan previously offered eligible borrowers a repayment plan with lower monthly payments and a quicker path to loan forgiveness than other previously available options. But borrowers can still enroll in the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) plan and other income-based repayment options, in which payments are capped at 10 percent of a borrower's income, or the Income-Contingent Repayment Plan, which requires payments of up to 20 percent of income and allows full repayment more quickly. Congressional Republicans hope to eliminate several of these plans in favor of just one income-based repayment plan, but it's unclear if that bill will pass the Senate. Related: College Uncovered: The Borrowers' Lament What's happening with the court cases challenging the SAVE program? Courts have effectively paused the SAVE plan. The 8 million borrowers who are enrolled don't have to make payments, and interest will not be added while the court decides the case. With those payments paused, borrowers in this group who are intending to seek loan forgiveness for working in public service are also not making progress toward that goal. If Congress eliminates the SAVE program or the courts officially kill it, those borrowers would need to enroll in a different repayment plan. Does Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) still exist? Yes, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is still available. Borrowers should still be eligible if they are in an income-driven repayment plan and make regular payments for 10 years. They must work for the federal, state or local government - teachers and firefighters are eligible, for example - or for qualifying nonprofit organizations, such as some health care clinics or foster care agencies. The goal of PSLF is to encourage graduates to pursue careers that may pay less than jobs with private companies but which benefit their communities or the country as a whole. The Trump administration issued an executive order in March aimed at limiting which organizations' jobs could qualify for PSLF - for instance, a nonprofit could be excluded if the government decides it is "supporting terrorism," engaging in civil disobedience or aiding undocumented immigrants in violation of federal law. So far, it's unclear what the effect will be. Related: Student loan borrowers misled by colleges were about to get relief. Trump fired people poised to help What other changes might be in store for student loans? As part of the federal budget process, congressional Republicans have proposed a slew of changes to student loans that some policymakers worry will make borrowing more expensive for students - especially those in graduate programs. The proposals include changes to: Subsidized loans: Congressional Republicans want to get rid of subsidized loans for undergraduates, which would mean interest would accrue while a student was in college. They also want to cap total undergraduate borrowing at $50,000. Grad Plus: They also want to end the Grad Plus program, which allows students to borrow money to cover the cost of graduate school. Student advocates worry that this would push more students into the private student loan market, which has fewer protections for borrowers. Income-driven repayment: One proposal would simplify income-driven repayment into one option and prevent interest from causing student debt to balloon for students in income-driven repayment plans. The proposed changes are included in the federal budget bill and may undergo many revisions as Congress figures out its spending priorities for the year. Contact senior investigative reporter Meredith Kolodner at 212-870-1063 or kolodner@ or on Signal at merkolodner.04 This story about student loan repayment was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. The post The return of student loan debt collection: What borrowers need to know appeared first on The Hechinger Report.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Some Red-State Universities Are Dealing With Baby DOGEs Too
This story about DOGE cuts was produced by the Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter. Oklahoma wants some of its less expensive universities to cut travel and operational costs, consolidate departments, and reduce energy use—all in the name of saving money. Already, earning a degree at one of these regional institutions is relatively inexpensive for students, costing in total as much as $15,000 less per year than bigger state universities in Oklahoma. And the schools, including Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the University of Central Oklahoma, graduate more teachers and nurses than those research institutions. Those graduates can fill critically needed roles for the state. Still, state policymakers think there are more efficiencies to be found. Higher education is one of the specific areas targeted by a new state-run agency with a familiar name, with the goal of 'protecting our Oklahoma way of life,' Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt said in the first DOGE-OK report this spring. The Oklahoma Division of Government Efficiency, created about the same time as the federal entity with a similar title, counts among its accomplishments so far shifting to automated lawn mowers to cut grass at the state Capitol, changing to energy-efficient LED lighting, and cutting down on state government cellphone bills. The Oklahoma governor's office did not respond to a request for comment about this effort. Oklahoma is one of about a dozen states that have considered an approach similar to the federal DOGE, though some state attempts were launched before the Trump administration's. The federal Department of Government Efficiency, established on Jan. 20, the day Donald Trump took office, has commanded deep cuts to federal spending and the federal workforce, with limited justification. As academia becomes a piñata for the president and his supporters, Republican state lawmakers and governors are assembling in line: They want to get their whacks in too. Beyond Oklahoma, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a state-level DOGE in February, with a promise to review Florida's university and college operations and spending. Republicans in the Ohio Statehouse formed an Ohio DOGE caucus. One of the Iowa DOGE Task Force's three main goals is 'further refining workforce and job training programs,' some of which are run through community colleges, and its members include at least two people who work at state universities. The current political environment represents 'an unprecedented attack on higher education,' said Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, and general counsel for the American Association of University Professors. The state-level scrutiny comes atop those federal job cuts, which include the layoffs of workers who interact with colleges, interdepartmental spending cuts that affect higher education, and the shrinking of contracts that support research and special programs at colleges and universities. Other research grants have been canceled outright. The White House is pursuing these spending cuts at the same time that it is using colleges' diversity efforts, handling of antisemitism, and policies about transgender athletes to force a host of changes that go beyond cost-cutting—such as rules about how students protest and whether individual university departments require more supervision. Higher education, which relies heavily on both state dollars and federal funding in the form of student loans and Pell Grants, research grants, and workforce training programs, faces the prospect of continued, and painful, budget cuts. 'Institutions are doing things under the threat of extinction,' Dubal said. 'They're not making measured decisions about what's best for the institution, or best for the public good.' For instance, the Trump administration extracted a number of pledges from Columbia University as part of its antisemitism charge, suspending $400 million in federal grants and contracts as leverage. This led campus faculty and labor unions to sue, citing an assault on academic freedom. (The Hechinger Report is in an independent unit of Teachers College.) Now Harvard faces a review of $9 billion in federal funding, also over antisemitism allegations, and the list of universities under similar scrutiny is only growing. Budget cuts are nothing new for higher education—when a recession hits, it is one of the first places state lawmakers look to cut, in blue states and red. One reason: Public universities can sometimes make up the difference with tuition increases. What DOGE brings, in Washington and statehouses, is something new. The DOGE approach is engaging in aggressive cost-cutting that specifically targets certain programs that some politicians don't like, said Jeff Selingo, a special adviser to the president at Arizona State University. 'It's definitely more political than it is fiscal or policy-oriented,' said Selingo, who is also the author of several books on higher education. 'Universities haven't done what certain politicians wanted them to do,' he added. 'This is a way to control them, in a way.' The current pressure on Florida colleges extends far beyond budget matters. DeSantis has criticized college campuses as 'intellectually repressive environments.' In 2021 Florida state lawmakers passed a bill, signed by the governor, to fight this perceived ideological bent by requiring a survey of public university professors and students to assess whether there is enough intellectual diversity on campus. At New College, in Sarasota, DeSantis led an aggressive cultural overhaul to transform the college's atmosphere and identity into something more politically conservative. The governor has cited Hillsdale College, a conservative private Christian institution in Michigan, as a role model. Faculty and students at New College sued. Their complaints included allegations of academic censorship and a hostile environment for LGBTQ+ students, many of whom transferred elsewhere. One lawsuit was ultimately dropped. Since the takeover, the college has added athletics programs and says it has attracted a record number of new and transfer students. Across America, Republicans control both the legislature and the governor's mansion in 23 states, compared with 15 states fully controlled by Democrats. In those GOP-run states, creating a mini-DOGE carries the potential for increased political might, with little oversight. In Florida, the 'state DOGE serves as an intimidation device,' one high-ranking public university administrator told the Hechinger Report. The administrator, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, said, 'There's also just this atmosphere of fear.' In late March, university presidents received a letter signed by the 'DOGE Team' at the governor's office. It promised a thorough review by FL DOGE officials, with site visits and the expectation that each college appoint a designated liaison to handle FL DOGE's ongoing requests. The letter highlighted some of the items FL DOGE might request going forward, including course codes, descriptions, and syllabuses; full details of all centers established on campus; and 'the closure and dissolution of DEI programs and activities, as required by law.' State spokespeople did not respond to a question about whether FL DOGE is designed to attack higher education in the state. Molly Best, the deputy press secretary, noted that FL DOGE is now up and running, that cities and counties are also receiving letters requesting certain information, and that the public will be updated in the future. DOGE in Florida also follows other intervention in higher education across the state: Florida's appointed board of governors, most of whom are chosen by DeSantis, removed dozens of courses from state universities' core curricula to comply with the Stop WOKE Act, a state law that took effect in 2022. The law, which DeSantis heavily promoted, discourages the teaching of concepts such as systemic racism or sexism. The classes removed from Florida's 12 state universities were primarily sociology, anthropology, and history courses. 'You can't erase history,' said Meadow Swantic, a criminal justice major at Florida Atlantic University, a public institution, in an interview at its Boca Raton campus. 'There's certain things that are built on white supremacy, and it's a problem.' Fellow Florida Atlantic student Kayla Collins, however, said she has noticed some professors' liberal bias during class discussions. 'I myself have witnessed it in my history class,' said Collins, who identifies as Republican. 'It was a great history class, but I would say there were a lot of political things brought up, when it wasn't a government class or a political science class.' At the University of Central Florida, in Orlando, political science major Liliana Hogan said she had a different experience of her professors' political leanings. 'You hear 'People go to university to get woke' or whatever, but actually, as a poli-sci student, a lot of my professors are more right-wing than you would believe,' Hogan said. 'I get more right-leaning perspectives from my teachers than I would have expected.' Another UCF student, Johanna Abrams, objected to university budget cuts being ordered by the state government. Abrams said she understands that tax dollars are limited, but she believes that college leaders should be trusted with making the budget decisions that best serve the student body. 'The government's job should be providing the funding for education, but not determining what is worthy of being taught,' Abrams said. Whatever their missions and attempts at mimicry, state-level DOGE entities are not necessarily identical to the federal version. For instance, in Kansas, the Committee on Government Efficiency, although inspired by DOGE, is in search of ideas from state residents about ways to make the state bureaucracy run better rather than imposing its own changes. A Missouri Senate portal, also inspired by the federal DOGE, works in a similar way. Yet the federal namesake isn't taking suggestions from the masses to inform its work. And at the federal level, then–DOGE chief Elon Musk in February emailed workers, asking them to respond 'to understand what they got done last week,' he posted on X. 'Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.' Employees were asked to reply with a list of five accomplishments. The Ohio DOGE caucus noted explicitly that it won't be doing anything like that. 'We're not going to be emailing any state employees, asking them to give us five things they worked on throughout the week,' Ohio state Rep. Tex Fischer, a Republican, told a local radio station. 'We're really just trying to get like-minded people into a room to talk about making sure that government is spending our money wisely and focusing on its core functions that we all agree with.'
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Why Steubenville, Ohio, Might Be the Best School District in America
There's no more fundamental task for a school than teaching kids to read. But what about kids living in poverty? Don't schools need more money, and more staff, to be able to get good results? Well, yes and no. Poverty is certainly correlated to reading scores, and the best evidence suggests money helps boost a range of student outcomes. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter But that doesn't mean the best school district in the country is the most well-resourced or the one with the fanciest buildings or most prestigious alumni. In fact, based on how much students learn — which, in my opinion, is how schools should be evaluated — there's perhaps no better district in the country than Steubenville, Ohio. Last fall, I worked with The 74's Art & Technology Director Eamonn Fitzmaurice to find districts where students had high reading scores despite serving large concentrations of low-income students. We highlighted Steubenville, a high-poverty district in Ohio's Rust Belt, as a true outlier. (In a follow-up piece, we showed that Steubenville was also exceptional at teaching kids math.) But I wanted to revisit the case of Steubenville after it was spotlighted recently on Emily Hanford's award-winning 'Sold a Story' podcast. Are its results just a one-time fluke? And if not — if the results are real — what can other districts learn from Steubenville's success? First, it's quickly apparent that Steubenville is not a flash in the pan. A 2012 Hechinger Report story noted that its success traces back to the early 2000s. Related It's also incredibly consistent over time. I used the Zelma tool from the Education Data Center to look at its recent results. The graph below compares Steubenville's third-grade reading proficiency rates (in blue) to the statewide average (in gray). As the graph shows, Steubenville consistently gets 95% to 99% of its third graders over the proficiency bar. In 2018, it had a bad year, and 'only' 93% of third graders scored proficient. But the district did not suffer much of a drop-off in the wake of the pandemic, hitting 97% in spring 2022. Steubenville's results are also remarkably strong across student groups. Last year, for example, 100% of its Black students, 99% of its low-income students and 92% of its students with disabilities scored proficient in third grade reading. How does Steubenville get such remarkable results? What can other districts learn from its success? It's not that the district has extra money or more staff. Steubenville spent $10,718 per student last year, which was about $1,500 less than the average Ohio district and well below many other districts in America. It also had slightly more students per teacher than other comparable districts. Related Some things Steubenville does have are not easily replicable. As Robert Pondiscio pointed out in a recent column, the district can boast incredible continuity: It has been following the same reading program, called Success for All, for the last 25 years. Teacher turnover is low, and the same superintendent has been in place for a decade. But Hanford found a few things that Steubenville did differently that other schools can learn from. Steubenville, for example, offers subsidized preschool beginning at age 3. And in those early years, teachers regularly remind students to speak in complete sentences as language practice for later, when those kids will start learning to read and write. The district also deploys staff differently than most do. Every elementary teacher, even the phys ed instructor, leads a reading class. And during that reading block — which all students have at the same time — children are grouped with peers performing at the same level, regardless of age. Related Steubenville kids are also practicing constantly, either as part of the whole class or in small groups, where kids work on their fluency skills by reading aloud to each other. That stands in contrast to schools that prefer to give kids silent reading or 'Drop Everything and Read' time, which can be great for kids who already read well but wasteful or even harmful for children who aren't ready for long blocks of independent free reading. Now, it's worth noting that Steubenville's robust education results have not guaranteed kids a path to economic security. Despite its near-perfect early reading scores, strong middle and high school achievement and a 96% graduation rate, the district's post-high school results are only slightly above statewide averages in terms of college-going and completion rates and the percentage of graduates who find 'gainful employment.' But those early adulthood outcomes are at least partly tied to the economic climate in a given community, and it's hard to find fault with anything that the school district itself directly controls. Most districts would envy Steubenville's impressive results.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Journalist Sara Murphy on the damage Helene did to western NC's inadequate child care system
Journalist Sara Murphy (Courtesy photo) The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina six months ago was, in many communities, enormous. Few aspects of normal life escaped being upended, and one very important such area was child care. As journalist Sara Murphy detailed in a recent report published by NC Newsline and the national news site, the Hechinger Report, six months after the storm, many young children and their families are still struggling with the disaster's consequences. At least 55 early child care centers were damaged in the storm, and several remain shut or are operating out of a temporary location. And the ramifications for kids, parents and the region's economy continue to take a toll. Click here to listen to the full interview with veteran journalist Sara Murphy.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
One state tried algebra for all eighth graders. It hasn't gone well
BRAHAM, Minn. — It was fourth-period Basic Algebra 8 class on a gray October morning at Braham Area High School. Teacher Rick Riccio had assigned an exercise on converting large integers to scientific notation, but fifteen minutes in, some students had lost focus. Two girls at a back table sang, their worksheets empty. Two boys pulled up games on their laptops, as two other girls discussed what they'd name their children someday. Riccio tried to reel them in as he walked around answering questions. "You're a little too crazy today," he said to the girls in the back. "You gotta settle down and get this done." Not all eighth graders are ready for the abstract concepts—like variables, linear functions, slope—that come with Algebra I, some experts and teachers say. Those more complex ideas also require extended concentration, which is difficult for many middle schoolers. "Eighth grade, they're just in full-on puberty, hormones," said Zach Loy, another math teacher at the high school, an hour's drive from Minneapolis. "Are they capable of sitting down and focusing on one thing for two, three minutes at a time without getting distracted? I see that as being the hardest barrier." But under a 2006 Minnesota law designed to boost the number of students going into math and science careers, all eighth graders were required to take Algebra I. At the time, legislators argued that getting more kids through algebra before starting high school would ensure they were on a path to graduate, having taken calculus, often seen as a gateway for entry to selective colleges and to well-paying jobs in fields like engineering and medicine. There was a logic behind that: In a traditional course sequence, finishing calculus is easier if students take Algebra I by eighth grade since they can continue on to geometry, Algebra II, precalculus or trigonometry, and then calculus their senior year. But a Hechinger Report analysis of federal data shows Minnesota's law hasn't worked out as planned. Between 2009 and 2017, the share of the state's students taking calculus did rise modestly, from 1.25% to 1.76%. But other states saw far larger gains, and Minnesota dropped from sixth to 10th place among states for calculus enrollment as a share of total enrollment. (2017 is the latest year for which there are compiled federal data on calculus enrollment, according to U.S. Department of Education spokesperson Alberto Betancourt.) On the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national test done every two years, Minnesota fell from second place among the 50 states in 2009 on eighth-grade math scores to eighth place in 2022, the latest year of available data. Braham and other districts report that there's been no change in the number of their students taking calculus, in part because many students just aren't interested in STEM-heavy careers, administrators say. In addition, state education leaders responded to the 2006 mandate by introducing a policy in 2007 that enabled students to take Algebra I over two years instead of one, neutralizing the effect of starting the course earlier. In many school districts around the country, algebra has become a hot-button issue, with some parents pushing their kids to take it in eighth grade—and school districts to offer it then—because of the opportunities it may unlock in high school and beyond. But the share of students in eighth-grade algebra who are Black or Hispanic has remained low. A few districts have tried eliminating the eighth-grade algebra option altogether as a way to increase equity and get rid of separate advanced and standard math tracks, stirring parent opposition. Minnesota went the opposite route, effectively giving students the same opportunities by placing everyone on an accelerated track. Its experience suggests early universal algebra isn't a cure-all for boosting the share of students in advanced math. "That replicates what most of the studies have found," said Scott Peters, senior research scientist at educational assessment organization NWEA. Early algebra does appear to slightly boost enrollment in advanced math courses in the short term—for example, more 10th graders taking Algebra II—but the effect fades as students get older, he said. And there could be a downside. A 2015 study found that a brief experiment by California to enroll all eighth graders in algebra backfired, lowering test scores in large districts, though it had little effect on small and mid-sized ones. "If you push a kid too far, too fast, they might be either less interested or feel defeated, or it hurts their self-efficacy and confidence in math," study co-author Andrew McEachin said. The roots of universal eighth-grade algebra go back to the late 1990s, when policymakers began promoting it to get more students through calculus in high school. That, in turn, would boost their college and career chances—especially for Black and Latino students and those from low-income households—and help U.S. competitiveness, went the thinking. Between 2000 and 2005, the share of U.S. eighth graders enrolled in algebra shot up from 27% to 42%, according to the Brookings Institution. (By 2020-21 it was less than 24%, according to the Department of Education.) Minnesota legislators took notice. In 2006, a state education bill required for the first time that the state's eighth graders take Algebra I, starting in the 2010-11 school year. "I remember people saying they wanted to make sure students could complete algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and calculus in high school," said former state Sen. Steve Kelley, the bill's co-author. "To do that, we needed to have them take Algebra I in eighth grade." Many math experts warned against the move. "This whole idea is a very naive belief that if we just kind of make it for everybody, everyone will learn," Brookings education researcher Tom Loveless told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2008. That same year, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics recommended against mandating Algebra I at a prescribed grade level. "Exposing students to such coursework before they are ready often leads to frustration, failure, and negative attitudes toward mathematics and learning," the group wrote. But Minnesota kept universal algebra in eighth grade and is the only state that's adopted and stuck with the policy to date. California mandated its plan in 2008 but reversed course in 2010 after a court-ordered postponement and pressure to adopt the Common Core standards, which recommended that eighth graders take pre-algebra, not algebra. About 6.4% of school districts around the country, most of them in Minnesota, report having policies mandating algebra in eighth grade. At Braham and other Minnesota districts, the algebra-to-calculus pipeline hasn't materialized. In some districts, not many students head into careers that require calculus, and that's been true both before and after the mandate, said district leaders. Most students pursue fields in which calculus isn't needed, like nursing, education, business, or dental hygiene, said district social worker and career advisor Staci Kuhnke. Isanti County, where Braham is located, has about 70 manufacturers, an energy company headquarters, a hospital, and a community college. This year, in a senior class of 47 students, just one is taking calculus, through an arrangement with a local community college, she said. Most students do not take a math course in their senior year. Braham ninth grader Savannah Gudilias, 14, said she wished she'd waited till ninth to start Algebra I. She struggled so much that it hurt her confidence in math. "I didn't understand it and still don't," she said. She wants to be a nurse. "Actually, that takes too much math," she said. "Maybe a teacher. But not a math teacher." Caden Rivera, a 16-year-old junior, said middle school was the beginning of a math slide for her. She got As in elementary school math, but her grades fell once she hit algebra in eighth grade. "I was just really immature and didn't pay attention," she said. "And I needed more time—some people learn slower and others faster." After high school, she wants to get a culinary degree and knows she'll need more math, but she has no interest in calculus. Others are doing well in the course. Sean Oldenburg, an eighth grader, wants to someday get a job at the BNSF Railway Company, where four generations of his family have worked. He thinks he'll pursue an engineering degree, which would mean he'd take calculus in high school. Algebra I in eighth grade has been a stretch. "I could do multiplication tables, all that stuff great," he said. "Then you started adding these symbols, and I didn't get it." But he's confident he'll master it. "It just takes time," he said. When it comes to math, Braham's leaders have worries that are more basic than getting students to calculus. District scores on state eighth-grade math tests have lagged behind the state average most years since 2010. The district, which at fewer than 800 students is small, is 87% white and has a poverty level in the low-to-middle range, with 44% of students getting free and reduced-price lunch. Ken Gagner has been Braham's superintendent since 2015. Gagner, trim and graying, is mostly neutral on eighth-grade algebra for all—he said it's good for students to be exposed to increased rigor but worries those who aren't ready for the course could be turned off to math completely. What the district really needs to address its math gap, he and other administrators said, are more certified math teachers, and math tutors to help those struggling and smaller class sizes. Gagner said when the district advertises for math teachers he would be happy "if we would get four applicants." At Pillager Public School District, 100 miles northwest of Braham in another rural town, eighth-grade Algebra I has played out much the same way. Ryan Krominga, the district director of curriculum and instruction, said the mandate came with little direction from the state. So districts simply took their ninth-grade algebra textbook and content and started using it in eighth grade, he said. Many eighth graders aren't developmentally ready for the more complex concepts involved in algebra, he said. They don't get enough time with the concrete elements of math, such as multiplication and division, because there's pressure to get to algebra so quickly, he added. "In my experience, it hasn't worked out," he said of the requirement. "I haven't seen that kids have this huge understanding of mathematics or that they've increased their algebraic thinking." And the district has seen no increase in the number of students taking calculus, he said. Some years, they don't offer the class because they don't have enough students who want it. Not all districts dislike the policy. Jeremy Larson, assistant superintendent of learning and accountability at Moorhead Area Public Schools in the state's far west, said two years of algebra gives the district flexibility to slow down eighth graders who may have been accelerated too fast into Intermediate Algebra, the second part of the district's two-course Algebra I sequence. "If they're in Intermediate Algebra as an eighth grader and it's just kind of difficult, we say, 'Hey, let's just take a step back,'" said Larson. And unlike the other two districts, Moorhead's calculus numbers have increased, though not by much: An average of 1.3% of students in the district were enrolled in calculus in the three years before the eighth-grade requirement took effect in 2010. Today it's about 1.5%, or 13 more students per year in a district with total enrollment of about 6,200. The Minnesota Department of Education contends that the state's drop in calculus enrollment and eighth-grade math scores compared to those of other states isn't representative of its larger efforts. "These are two of many measures of student success that MDE looks at to guide our support of school communities," said spokesperson Anna Arkin in an emailed response to Hechinger's findings. "We are invested in every student receiving a world-class education and thriving in school." There's been no pressure to change the mandate. That's in part because of the 2007 revision legislators made to the state education standards, enabling schools to stretch algebra over two years, said Mike Weimerskirch, associate professor at the University of Minnesota's School of Mathematics. Weimerskirch said the issue didn't come up during the latest state committee revision of the math standards. "It's been long enough now that it's just kind of become accepted, become part of the culture, and we've learned to deal with it," he said. Back in Riccio's eighth-grade algebra class a day later, slowing down made a difference. Riccio decided that it would be a catchup session because so many students struggled with scientific notation the day before. "Looking at some of these papers that you guys handed in, a lot of you have not gotten this concept," he said. He went through the procedures again and put an integer on the whiteboard. "So what is our number then?" he asked. "Would it be 5 times 10?" offered one student. "Why is it 5? No," said Riccio, as students started cross-talking. "Everybody pay attention. Everybody quiet. Focus." He wrote another large integer on the whiteboard. "What if I give you something like this? Any volunteers?" "Can I try it?" said James Belland, a tall 14-year-old in a red T-shirt. "Jimmy, take a stab at it please," said Riccio. Belland came to the whiteboard and wrote the conversion. "You got it Jimmy," said Riccio. "Everybody give him a round of applause." The kids clapped and cheered. Riccio put up another problem and asked whether anyone else wanted to try. Ten hands shot up. "It's nice when these kids start getting it," said Riccio afterward. This story was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education, and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.
