1.2 Research Questions
This study addresses the following questions:
- How much does mathematics achievement change during the last 2 years of high school and are these changes related to student background and school characteristics?
- What are the most common mathematics course sequences taken by students in the 11th and 12th grades and are these sequences related to student background and school characteristics?
- What mathematics course sequences are associated most closely with mathematics achievement?
The first question will examine learning gains in mathematics over the latter half of high school. Changes in both the level of mathematics achievement (as measured by IRT-estimated number-right scores) and the type of mathematics knowledge (as measured by proficiency probability scores) will be examined. Exploring this research question reveals whether students have improved their overall mastery of mathematics skills and identifies the content areas in which students are making (or not making) gains. Additionally, the variation of learning gains among students from different backgrounds enrolled in different kinds of schools will be assessed. This will update previous research on sociodemographic and school sector differences in achievement using a recent cohort of high school students. The second question will identify the number and types of mathematics courses most frequently taken by high school juniors and seniors and will link these course patterns with sociodemographic characteristics of students and their schools. The final question will address which course sequences are associated with the largest gains in mathematics achievement and which are associated with the smallest gains in mathematics achievement between the 10th and 12th grade, apart from student background and school characteristics.