Des Moines Public Schools staff has noticed 25% of Black males in 9th grade Algebra 1 classes are not succeeding.
Director of Secondary Teaching and Learning Sarah Dougherty told Local 5 she believes it is because of institutional racism.
“Our Black male students are disproportionately underserved, and we see a performance gap," Dougherty said.
She explained there are systems in place that lead to lower rates of high student achievement, such as the assumption the student needs more help at math because they scored low on a placement test.
“Our goal is to go all the way upstream and understand those systems and where students are falling off that pathway," Dougherty said.
The district is also explaining the different ways students will use math in their daily lives outside of algebra class, such as managing money or playing music.
Even though more students are taking Algebra 1, the pandemic has made it difficult to understand the trend.
The number of minority students succeeding or failing at math mirrors what is happening around the country, indicating it is not a trend seen only in Des Moines.