Cogent Education

Reforming the Math Hierarchy: Policy, Practice, and the Politics of Equity in Access and Pathways

Cogent Education is pleased to welcome you to submit your research to the Article Collection "Reforming the Math Hierarchy: Policy, Practice, and the Politics of Equity in Access and Pathways".

Decisions about when and how students are introduced to higher-level mathematics remain highly contested. Despite reform efforts aimed at broadening access, research consistently shows that students are assigned within mathematics hierarchies in ways that are only partially explained by prior achievement. These assignments are often associated with race, class, and other demographic factors outside of students’ control. Research also suggests these patterns persist even in policy environments that formally endorse expanded participation in advanced mathematics. In this Special Issue, we explore how P–16 systems organize and sustain differentiated mathematics pathways under reform conditions. We pay special attention to the institutional processes that can shape access within the math hierarchy. By bringing together empirical studies across P-16 contexts, the Collection focuses on how stratified mathematics structures are reproduced, modified, or contested within contemporary reform efforts.

Mathematics pathways play a central role in shaping students’ educational trajectories and postsecondary opportunities. Extensive research shows that hierarchical structures in mathematics education, including tracking, streaming, acceleration, and prerequisite sequencing, often reproduce social inequalities by differentially sorting students into advanced learning opportunities. These patterns persist even when systems adopt reforms intended to broaden participation and expand access to higher-level mathematics. At the same time, reform efforts have generated new questions about how curriculum design, institutional policy, and instructional practice interact with longstanding structures of differentiation. This Special Issue is important because it brings together research examining how efforts to reform mathematics pathways intersect with the continued reproduction and reconfiguration of stratified opportunity structures across P–16 systems. By focusing on these dynamics, the Collection advances understanding of how inequality is maintained and contested within contemporary mathematics education systems.

We welcome submissions that consider the following topics:

1. Structures of Mathematics Pathways
   a. Historical and contemporary organization of tracking, sequencing, and placement systems in P–16 mathematics education
   b. The “race to calculus” and competing logics of acceleration, readiness, and progression
   c. International comparisons of mathematics pathway design and differentiation structures
2. Access, Equity, and Opportunity Structures
   a. Racial, socioeconomic, and linguistic disparities in access to advanced mathematics
   b. Opportunity-to-learn frameworks and unequal exposure to rigorous mathematical content
   c. Systemic and implicit bias in course placement and advancement processes
3. Pedagogy, Assessment, and Placement Reform
   a. Instructional approaches for heterogeneous and advanced mathematics classrooms, including culturally responsive pedagogy and UDL
   b. Alternative assessment models for determining readiness for advanced mathematics
   c. Prerequisite structures and algorithmic placement systems as mechanisms shaping access
4. Policy and Institutional Change
   a. State, district, and system-level efforts to restructure or reduce mathematics tracking

Meet the Guest Advisors

Margaret Thornton is an assistant professor in Rowan University’s department of educational leadership and research. Margaret’s research interests include equity-focused school leadership development, school leadership for detracking, and critical race theory. She began her career in education in detracking programs in Central Virginia in both teaching and leadership capacities.

Sofia Ferreyro-Mazieres is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her research interests include equity and access in mathematics education, including detracking initiatives, mathematics pathways and curriculum reform. Sofia currently teaches mathematics education courses for teacher candidates and graduate students. Prior to entering higher education, she taught mathematics across Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Ontario Catholic and public-school systems.

Doug McDougall is a professor emeritus in the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. Dr. McDougall has been involved with conducting research in schools for over 30 years focusing on school improvement, professional learning groups, student and teacher needs around students at risk, and peer coaching at both the elementary and secondary level. Prior to entering higher education, he taught mathematics and computer science from Grades 4 to Grade 12 in Ontario public and independent schools. He is the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Journal for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education.

The Guest Advisors declares no conflict of interest regarding this work.