Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

It has been demonstrated the students who take more, and more advanced, math courses in high school have a greater likelihood of earning their diploma, as well as entering and graduating from college. Unfortunately there are widely documented disparities in math course-taking trajectories and achievement by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. This paper uses theories regarding student-teacher race congruence to assess to what extent race or gender congruence in ninth-grade math courses is associated with increased probability of advanced math course-taking in high school. Using panel data from a large urban district, the authors find consistent, positive effects of a race congruent math teacher on student course progression, and taking honors or AP level math courses. This finding has implications for minority teacher recruitment, training, and retention, as well as the training of all teachers in culturally responsive classroom practices.