Neither Requiring Nor Prohibiting 8th Grade Algebra Improved Minority HS Math Outcomes

 A decade ago San Francisco banned 8th grade algebra in an attempt to improve math outcomes for students of color. The Wall Street Journal reports:

A study by Stanford University researchers released in March 2023 found that San Francisco’s policy largely failed in its equity goals, with the proportion of Black and Latino students enrolling in Advanced Placement math courses hardly moving.

Then there's this from later in the story:

In the late 1990s [California] became one of the first states to push an “algebra for all” approach that strongly encouraged eighth-grade algebra.... Achievement on a 10th-grade high school exit exam didn’t improve after a majority of California students took algebra in eighth grade. In some cases, the research showed achievement declines.

So requiring 8th-grade algebra had no effect, and banning 8th-grade algebra had no effect.