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What is the definition of Emotional Intelligence.

Why is Emotional Intelligence important and how can it help you personally.

The three components that make up Emotional Intelligence.

The seven characteristics of Emotional Intelligent people: Change agents, Self-Aware, Empathetic, Not Perfectionist, Balanced, Curious and Gracious.

Five steps to develop your Emotional Intelligence: be in touch, increase joy, positive self-regulating strategies, manager self-talk and lean in.

How to measure Emotional Intelligence in an organization.

Our EQ can enhance as much as we're willing to put into developing it!

Showing emotions is a sign of weakness in some organizations, why would this be the case?

Emotional Intelligence is typically a property of a Management 3.0 organization, would you agree or disagree?

Some people have a work-instance and a personal-instance of themselves. They behave differently at work compared to how they behave at home. How could this be useful or not be useful?

Click to enlarge Emotional Intelligence sketch notes

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Emotional Intelligence Module | Management 3.0 Module on Social Connections at Work

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What is the definition of Emotional Intelligence. Why is Emotional Intelligence important and how can it help you personally. The three components that make up Emotional Intelligence. The seven characteristics of Emotional Intelligent people: Change agents, Self-Aware, Empathetic, Not Perfectionist, Balanced, Curious and Gracious.

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Emotional intelligence (EQ or EI) is the ability to perceive, express, and regulate emotions. Learn the role that emotional intelligence play in relationships and other areas.

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Spread the loveThere are four major styles of leadership which apply well in the educational setting. While each of these styles has its good points, there is a wide berth of variation, and in fact, transformational leadership is truly an amalgamation of the best attributes of the other three.

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In researching various leadership theories, I've found that not only do many of the theories overlap, but the theorists' work does as well. This is to be expected, as no one leadership style or theory can work in isolation, and no leader can align with one style to utilize in all situations. Therefore, it is essential that today's leaders recognize and incorporate elements from various leadership styles to apply to unique situations in leadership positions.

What is Servant Leadership?

Servant leadership has become a common term among educational and business leaders over the past decade. The term, however, was first created in Robert K. Greenleaf's essay, " The Servant as Leader " in 1970. In his essay, he states:

The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions...The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

Servant leadership focuses on the responsibility of the leader not only to ensure the success of the organization, but also a responsibility to his/her followers and stakeholders. This includes:

acting in an ethical manner,

putting others first, and

showing sensitivity to others' concerns.

The servant leader will also assist subordinates in professional growth and empowerment, as well as building a supportive community environment.

This philosophy speaks to leaders who consider the needs of their followers first-especially in education. It inspires us to balance the needs of followers with the desire to lead, and encourages us to treat others with respect, altruism, fairness, and honesty. In addition, it requires a leader to build community and lead in an ethical manner.

2 Other Leadership Styles in Education

In addition to servant leadership, there are a few current leadership theories that have either evolved from or are closely aligned with servant leadership.
Authentic Leadership
Closely aligned with servant leadership is authentic leadership. Northouse stated in his book Leadership Theory and Practice that authentic leadership encompasses both the intrapersonal domain, which focuses on the leader and his or her self-concept and self-knowledge, and the interpersonal domain, which is more relational and created by leaders and followers together (Northouse, 2013, pp. 205-225).

An advantage of authentic leadership is that it is developmental and can be nurtured in any leader. It has a definite moral dimension. However, critics of the process feel that it is still in the formative stages of development and that it is not clear how authentic leadership affects production or positive outcomes for the organization.
Ethical Leadership
Often used interchangeably with servant leadership, ethical leadership focuses on that which is fair and just to others. Particularly, ethical leadership focuses on acting with integrity, fairness, and ethical practices. Ethical leadership also entails knowledge of policy and social justice, as well as district culture.

In addition, a leader must be aware of all moral and legal consequences of decision-making and strive to practice inclusive leadership with an emphasis on cultural diversity. Scholars through the years have supported the role of reflective practice by educational leaders, and this is encouraged in this domain of leadership as leaders strive to become more self-aware and serve as role models of ethical leadership.
Why Servant Leadership is Effective in Schools
While often used in business models, servant leadership specific to school administration can contribute to the success of the school district. It is well known that one responsibility of the school superintendent is to nurture the vision, mission, and culture of the district. Further, research has supported the idea that greater involvement from a wide variety of stakeholders increases the buy-in and ultimately the success of the mission and vision of the district. A superintendent who practices servant leadership maintains priority on the needs of his/her stakeholders and is committed to the success of the corporation.

Another benefit of servant leadership it that it is designed to create leadership opportunities among the disadvantaged. Greenleaf states that it is his hope that the disadvantaged, following education in service leadership, will "return to their roots and become leaders of the disadvantaged". He further discusses the merits of leaders rising from the ranks of the disadvantaged to lead their people on a path to an improved life. This is applicable to school leadership, as no school district is immune from poverty among its children. Instilling servant traits in our children is a responsibility that not only benefits our schools, but our communities as a whole.

Greenleaf's research on servant leadership encourages us to focus on the needs of those in our organization rather than attempting to motivate them to produce greater results.

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Types of Effective Leadership Styles in Schools - Standard for Success

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In researching various leadership theories, I've found that not only do many of the theories overlap, but the theorists' work does as well. This is to be expected, as no one leadership style or theory can work in isolation, and no leader can align with one style to utilize in all situations.

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Parents, teachers, and students all want to know what personal qualities will help students perform well in their studies. While teaching quality, resources, and other environmental factors help students achieve their best, students' personal qualities can give them an edge over others.

Past research has found two personal qualities that are important for student success. The first quality is intelligence. Being smart enough to master algebra and coding is obviously important for success. The second quality is conscientiousness. Being organized enough to remember your homework and organize your notes is another clear advantage.

It isn't hard to see why being smart and working hard would help students get better grades and higher test scores. Students' IQ scores explain about 15 percent of the differences in achievement. Conscientiousness explains about 5 percent of such differences.

But research shows that emotional intelligence can also give students a critical edge.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to perceive, use, understand, and manage emotions.

Some emotional intelligence tests use rating scales. For example, test-takers might rate their agreement with statements like "I am aware of the nonverbal messages other people send." Other emotional intelligence tests directly measure emotional abilities with skill-based tasks. For example, test takers would have to identify which emotion is expressed in a face.

Our new research paper showed that emotionally intelligent students get better exam results and better grades. This meta-analysis summarized 1,246 research findings on the link between emotional intelligence and academic performance. While these findings could not directly show a cause-and-effect relationship between emotion-related characteristics and performance, they do reveal notable associations between them. Overall, we found that differences in students' emotional intelligence could account for about 4 percent of differences in achievement.

But some types of emotional intelligence were more strongly related to achievement than others. Skill-based tasks of emotional intelligence accounted for 6 percent of differences in academic performance whereas self-ratings of emotional abilities accounted for 1 percent of differences.

But also, some kinds of abilities seemed to be especially significant-including understanding emotions and managing emotions.

Students who can understand emotions can accurately label their own and others' emotions. They know what causes emotions, how emotions change, and how emotions combine.

Students who can manage emotions know how to regulate their emotions in stressful situations. They know what to do to maintain good social relationships with others.

Emotion management ability accounted for 7 percent of differences in academic performance.

Emotion understanding skills accounted for 12 percent.

That is, measures of emotion understanding skills seem to account for student success to a greater extent than measures of conscientiousness (5 percent), and almost as much as IQ scores (15 percent).

Why would emotional intelligence be important for success in education?

There are three likely reasons why emotional intelligence relates to higher academic performance.

First, emotional intelligence helps students cope with emotions in the academic environment. Students can feel anxious about exams, feel disappointed with poor results, feel frustrated when they try hard but cannot achieve what they want, or feel bored when the subject matter is not interesting. Being able to regulate these emotions so they do not interfere with learning helps students achieve.

Second, emotional intelligence can help students maintain their relationships with teachers, students, and family. Maintaining close personal relationships means they can call on friends and teachers to help them when they struggle, can learn from others in group work, or can call on others for emotional support.

Third, humanities subjects (like literature or history) require some level of emotional and social knowledge. For example, the universal themes and character development in literature requires understanding human motivations and emotions.

What do emotionally intelligent students do differently that allows them to succeed at school?

Emotionally intelligent students know more about emotions, which makes studying arts or humanities subjects easier for them. But what they do differently is mainly how they regulate their emotions. There are three ways emotion regulation would be different for high emotional intelligence versus low emotional intelligence students.

First, emotionally intelligent students use better processes to regulate their emotions. We know that some processes are more effective than others. For example, concentrating on negative emotions (rumination) is linked to worse outcomes, whereas looking on the bright side (positive reappraisal) is linked to better outcomes. We know that emotionally intelligent people generally report using more of the better processes (like positive reappraisal) less of the worse processes (like rumination).

Second, emotionally intelligent students might pick strategies that are more appropriate or effective for the situation they are in. That is, they may be more sensitive to key details of the situation, and therefore be more flexible in their responses. We know that positive reappraisal is linked to well-being in uncontrollable situations (where nothing can be done about the stress) but not controllable situations (where perhaps it is better to change the situation than change the way you think about it). Perhaps emotionally intelligent people are more sensitive to whether situations are in their control or not, and pick their strategies accordingly.

Third, emotionally intelligent students might implement the strategies better. For example, when using 'positive reappraisal', an emotionally intelligent student might be able to think of a feasible positive spin or silver lining. In contrast, a low-EI student might only be able to think a vague or unrealistic positive view of things, which would be less effective for making them feel better.

How could this play out in a student's day?

Consider a hypothetical student Cooper, who is good at maths and science but has low emotional intelligence abilities. She has difficulty seeing when others are irritated, worried, or sad. She does not know how people's emotions may cause future behavior. She does not know what to do to regulate her own feelings. A typical day of school for Cooper shows how her low emotional intelligence can interfere with a student's ability to achieve at school.

Cooper arrives at school. Her best friend Alice is staring at the ground with her arms folded. Her eyes are a little red and puffy. Cooper tells her about a cool TV show she watched last night. Alice does not seem interested so Cooper goes to talk to someone else. Because Cooper has poor ability to perceive Alice's emotions, she has not noticed anything is wrong. Alice is upset that Cooper did not show any sympathy for her. Alice tells Cooper that she is not a good friend.

Cooper goes into class. The class is meant to analyze the motivations and emotions of the characters in the book they are reading. Cooper finds this very hard. She is not able to answer many of the questions. Alice sometimes helps Cooper with things like this, but she is mad at Cooper today and refuses to help. Alice rolls her eyes and says that the questions are easy.

Cooper feels ashamed that she can't do the work other students seem to find easy. She is also upset that Alice is mad at her. She can't seem to shake these feelings, and she is not able to concentrate on her math problems in the next class. Because of her low emotion management ability, Cooper cannot bounce back from her negative emotions.

This example shows how paying attention to building a student's emotional intelligence can help them learn, achieve, and succeed at school.

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Why You Need Emotional Intelligence to Succeed at School

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Parents, teachers, and students all want to know what personal qualities will help students perform well in their studies. While teaching quality, resources, and other environmental factors help students achieve their best, students' personal qualities can give them an edge over others. Past research has found two personal qualities that are important for student success.

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Identifying, defining, and refining your values is critical for you to find meaning in your life and your work. Your values represent the beliefs, feelings, ideas, and concepts that are most important to you. Your belief system forms them and defines what you stand for as an individual. They provide guidance and motivation, and they fuel your inspiration. Ultimately, one's values form the basis of one's identity.

As a leader, your identity cannot be separated from your identity as the person people look to for guidance and direction. In fact, your identity as a person becomes your identity as a leader, which, in turn, helps to create the impact on the people and organization in which you serve.

Unfortunately, many leaders and individuals, in general, fail to spend the necessary time and energy tuning into their values. They may understand values on a superficial, surface level, but they rarely dig into the beliefs, feelings, and depths of the concepts and ideas that drive the creation of their values.

For example, leaders may say that they value profits, excellence, high standards, and the ongoing success of their organizations. Or they may say that they appreciate their people and a commitment to operating ethically. These are all excellent concepts to believe in, and they can certainly drive an organization's success. But I think it is essential to take it one step further, dig deeper and become even more in tune with the values that form the core of who you are. By amplifying your internal self-awareness of the values that drive your thinking, behaviour, and decision making, you can make better choices for yourself and have a more positive impact on those around you. In the absence of understanding your values and what drives your behaviour overall you may be operating on auto-pilot, act very reactive vs. proactive and regret things you say and do as a result.

In my view, there is always another layer to explore when it comes to values, and the more attuned leaders can become with their values, the more likely they are to operate with composed self-awareness and control in order to provide outstanding leadership for their people and their organizations. Furthermore, if you can identify and live in close accordance with your values, you can improve the richness and happiness of your life both inside and outside the workplace.

How to Identify Your Values

When you think about the qualities that contribute to excellent leadership, you would probably cite some of the following:

These are all excellent qualities for a leader to possess, and you probably exhibit many of them regularly but, this list is just a series of words if not put into practice on a consistent basis. They may describe specific values that you agree with on an intellectual level, and they may represent the way you behave in your role, but they may not identify your values.

Let's say you value integrity-what does that mean to you? It's easy to say you value integrity because you try to act and speak consistently with a specific set of standards and principles, but can you describe why you value it? Can you illustrate what those principles are? Do you understand why those principles are so important?

Unless you explore the meaning of the word as it applies to your life and experiences, then it isn't truly a value is it?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with aspiring to speak and act with integrity, and the words I listed above all represent qualities that leaders should possess. But, as I said, there is always another layer to be explored as it relates to defining your values.

Here are some of the steps you can take to identify-and exemplify-your true personal values:

#1 - Let Go of Preconceived Notions of Your Values
Much of the time, leaders assume that because they are leaders, they must possess the values that are conducive to leadership excellence. But to honestly get in touch with one's values, it's necessary to start from scratch and let go of those assumptions.

You may be able to recite a list of words like the ones above, but that does not equate with a real understanding of your values. Yes, some of those words may happen to be consistent with your actual core values, but until you take the time to explore them in a meaningful manner, they are little more than aspirational concepts that may or may not drive your thinking and behaviour.

#2 - Consider the Meaningful Moments of Your Life
Remembering the most meaningful moments of your life can help you get in touch with your core values. Consider the past experiences, whether at work or elsewhere, that stand out in your memory. How would you describe those "peak experiences?" What were you doing? How did you feel? What was the setting? What values were you exemplifying during these moments?

Examples of these meaningful moments often involve achieving challenging goals, feeling in awe and wonder at nature, creating something artistic, overcoming adversity and experiencing critical and significant moments with family or friends. They can be as grand as experiencing the birth of a child, the ascension of a mountain peak or a noteworthy promotion. Or they can be as seemingly simple as losing yourself in a book or a piece of music. The point is that these experiences are meaningful, indelible, and unforgettable. The reason for this is that during these times, you are in alignment and living consistently with your values. That's why it's so important to identify these moments.

It's also important to consider the times in your life when you felt especially frustrated, angry, isolated, upset, or irritated. These are the times when you were probably not living in alignment with your values. As you remember these unpleasant times, try to describe what values were being suppressed or ignored.

#3 - Dig Deeper
As you consider the meaningful moments of your life, your core values will begin to reveal themselves. For instance, as you remember your promotion, it probably made you happy and fulfilled. But happiness and fulfillment are not necessarily core values. Explore your feelings and try to determine why you felt happy and satisfied.

It might look like this:

The promotion meant that you would be making more money

The additional income meant that you would be better able to support yourself and your family

Supporting yourself and your family gives you a sense of pride and responsibility

Pride and responsibility make you feel connected in a more profound way to others

The value you've identified through this process is not career advancement, nor is it wealth; it's connection to others that you find meaningful, which is why, on the deepest level, the experience of the promotion was so meaningful and memorable.

You can apply this process to all the important moments in your life, and it is an excellent step towards identifying your most authentic, most deeply held values.

Translate Your Values into Leadership Excellence

The best leaders don't just pay lip service to a list of words that sound good as values. They know themselves deeply, and they understand the core values that drive them. They have explored their inner worlds and have identified the reasons why they think and behave in specific ways and realize what is important to them both personally and professionally. They also know that one's values must be in tune with one's professional approach, thinking, and behaviour. We are the same person, after all, that walks into and out of the office environment every day, aren't we?

Identifying your values will help you understand more deeply who you really are as a human being. It will give you the grounding you need to lead with consistency and excellence. What's more, getting in touch with your values will help you connect with others on a deeper, more profound level that will only enhance your ability to lead. Your life will become richer and more fulfilling, and your leadership will reflect the best version of yourself.

Learn More about Leadership and Values

Are you interested in learning more about how personal values inform and enhance leadership? Are you wondering how you can dig deeper to identify the values that truly matter? Are you curious about how you can make the connection between your values and your ability to lead?

I want to hear from you!

Please email me at joanne.trotta@leadersedgeinc.ca to start the conversation! I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

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How to Identify Your Values and Become a Better Leader

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Identifying, defining, and refining your values is critical for you to find meaning in your life and your work. Your values represent the beliefs, feelings, ideas, and concepts that are most important to you. Your belief system forms them and defines what you stand for as an individual.

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In business, values are two-fold. You have the values that define an organization. Values at this level serve to show the spectrum of stakeholders - both internal and external - what the organization is about. They also tend to influence the culture and climate of the workplace. You then have the values that define you as an individual. Values on this level underpin and guide our decision making and behaviors. We're content and without conflict - both internally and externally - when we stick close to our own and our organization's values. We are also able to lead with greater clarity around who we are and what vision we're working towards when we lead with our values. Herein lies the value in values.

When we work and lead with values in mind we can reduce complexity, struggle and stress at work. Our organization's values and our own - providing they are compatible - offer us a reliable and guiding foundation which we can use to orientate ourselves, our aims and our decisions. This is a highly transparent way to work. Transparency has a strongly positive effect at various levels:

Firstly, if we're transparent we know where we're heading, we reduce stress and have clearly defined goals and values-based rules to work and lead by.

Secondly, this transparency then filters down to those we lead. They find us easier to understand and predict, they have greater clarity around what we want and expect from them and can use this knowledge to guide how they work.

Thirdly, we are also transparent to those who are managing us. Simply put they are more likely to see the why of our decisions and leadership behaviors.

Leading and making decisions in this way can reduce unnecessary mystery behind decisions and leadership behaviors which often result in confusion, conflict and many hours wasted in unnecessary meetings. Instead of this, we have clarity and consistency underpinned by values.

So how do we lead and make decisions in this way? First, we need to know our own values, the values of our organization and understand the state and interaction of both. First get to know your own values. Then move on to reacquainting yourself with the values of your organization and sit with them for a while. Use the questions below to raise some insight. You don't have to answer them in any structured way but do try to use them to gain some new knowledge about how you're working and how your workplace is functioning. Knowledge, after all, is power.

Do your personal values align with those of your workplace?

Is the work you do already noticeably guided by a combination of these personal and professional values? If not why do you think this is?

Are the values threaded strongly through the culture and climate at work?

If they are, how does this benefit? If they aren't, are there any areas where you think they could and should be more influential?

Now you understand the lay of the land you can go on to think about how you can let values guide more of your leadership behavior and decision making. Here are a few ideas:

1. Communicate with yourself and the people around you about your why. By communicating the organization's values and your own, you provide clarity around the why of your decisions and leadership style. Getting clear about this and communicating it gives you a framework to be guided by.

2. Comes to terms with the exposure. Leading and making decisions in a values-based way often has massive upsides, one of which includes transparency. However, with transparency, there is extra exposure around who you are and what you stand for. This can feel really unusual in the workplace to begin with as most of us tend to be closed books. Our values are deeply rooted. When we lead with them we are going to be more exposed and perhaps more vulnerable too. But the pros outweigh the cons more often than not. Introduce more values based talk slowly so you're able to get progressively more comfortable. There's no need to rush.

3. Consciously connect with values. You need to start doing this to begin with, because it won't always be automatic. When you consciously connect with yours and the organization's values before big decisions or meetings you will be able to feel more aligned in the decisions you make and the person you are in the interactions you have.

4. Look out for how you're feeling. In particular, look out for when you're feeling comfortable with decisions you're making or how you're behaving and when you feel uncomfortable too. Feelings of comfort will often show you that you're aligned to your values. Feelings of discomfort often highlight the opposite. When you notice this you can figure when you're aligned with your values and when you're not and why. Also, look out for any scenarios or decisions in the past that you play over and over in your head. Constant rumination about past choices and behaviors often hint at an internal conflict or misalignment between what we've said/done/decided and your values.

5. Encourage a values-based culture. Support those you lead to connect with their values. By asking them to think about their values and how they can be of use in the workplace you are more likely to be accountable for staying connected to your own. Leading and making decisions based on values has many positive benefits, it's a great thing to pass these down to those you manage too.

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We're content and without conflict - both internally and externally - when we stick close to our own and our organization's values. We are also able to lead with greater clarity around who we are and what vision we're working towards when we lead with our values.

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In 1727, Benjamin Franklin formed the Junto, a forerunner of modern-day civic clubs. It was dominated by businessmen having goals of community fellowship and service. Charter members were a shoemaker, a surveyor, a woodworker, a glazier, and four young printers. Character was a significant concern of that organization. Franklin's own values included temperance, order, resoluteness, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation, cleanliness, and humility. Clearly, these are poles apart from current-day expressions such as "one-upmanship," "looking out for number one," and "assertiveness," which have captured considerable public following ¹.

Management author Peter Drucker states:

Each organization has a value system that is influenced by its task. In every hospital in the world, health is the ultimate good. In every school in the world, learning is the ultimate good. In every business in the world, the production of goods and services that please the customer is the ultimate good. For an organization to perform at its highest level, its leader must believe that what the organization is doing is, in the last analysis, an important contribution to people and society, one that is needed or adds some value ³.

In A Business and Its Beliefs: The Ideas That Helped Build IBM, Thomas Watson, Jr., explains the importance of values:

1. To survive and achieve success, an organization must have a sound set of values on which it premises all policies and actions.

2. The single most important factor in an organization's success is its leaders' faithful adherence to those values.

3. If an organization is to meet the challenges of a changing world, it must be prepared to change everything about itself except its core values.

The need is to be open to change in structure, tasks, technology, and people, but always guided by, and remaining true to, basic or core values. Watson goes on to say that when IBM has been successful, it has been true to its three core values--respecting the individual, providing the best customer service possible, and performing every job with excellence. And when IBM has gone astray at times in its history, it is because it lost sight of--or deviated from--one or more of these three business values ⁴.

Values and the Importance of Courage

Certain values are mentioned most often in the American workplace:

Honesty in all dealings, as a foundation for all other values.

Respect for others, as shown by consideration for their beliefs and needs.

Service to others, guided by the principle of doing for others as you would have them do for you.

Excellence in all work performed, reflecting the Greek ideal of excellence as a virtue, and resulting in both public admiration and personal pride.

Integrity, having the courage to act and live by one's convictions, thus providing strength in moral dilemmas.

Philosopher-psychologist Rollo May explains the importance of courage:

Courage is not a virtue or value among other personal values like love or fidelity. It is the foundation that underlies and gives reality to all other virtues and personal values. Without courage, our love pales into mere dependency. Without courage our fidelity becomes conformism.

The word courage comes from the same stem as the French word Coeur, meaning "heart." Thus just as one's heart, pumping blood to one's arms, legs, and brain enables all the other physical organs to function, so does courage makes possible all the psychological virtues. Without courage, other values wither away into mere facsimiles of virtue.

An assertion of the self, a commitment, is essential if the self is to have any reality. This is the distinction between human beings and the rest of nature. The acorn becomes an oak tree by means of automatic growth; no courage is necessary. The kitten similarly becomes a cat on the basis of instinct. Nature and being are identical in creatures like them. But a man or woman becomes fully human only by his or her choices and his or her commitment to them. People attain worth and dignity by the multitude of decisions they make from day-to-day. These decisions require courage ⁵.

Many leadership situations are characterized by ambiguity, uncertainty, and even danger. The leader must be able to act in spite of these factors. Many decisions will require overcoming fear, gritting one's teeth, and doing what must be done. True leadership requires courage to act and live by one's convictions.

Leadership and Values

Why is it important for an organization to have values, and what is the role of the leader in establishing and enforcing values? There are many ideas on these questions, but few are as influential as those of the philosopher Plato.

Plato answers these questions as he lays the groundwork for his book The Republic. He retells the myth of Gyges and the invisible ring: A young shepherd stumbles upon a magic ring that has the power to make the wearer invisible. Immediately, he takes advantage of the ring to do things he could never do before -- eavesdrop, steals, trespass -- and in a short time, he amasses wealth, kills the king, seduces the queen, and rules the land ¹⁴.

The moral of the story is that, given power without accountability, an individual may do terrible deeds that are harmful to others. People need the values of a just society and the oversight of wise leaders to govern their actions; otherwise, they may engage in selfish and destructive behavior.

Plato's Allegory of the Cave

Imagine human beings as though they were in an underground cave-like dwelling with its entrance open to the light across the whole width of the cave. They are in it from childhood with their legs and necks in bonds so that they are fixed, seeing only in front of them, unable because of the bond to turn their heads all the way around ¹⁵.

In this allegory, people trapped in the cave represent the world's ignorant masses. They see only representations of objects, sights, and sounds that can be discerned by the physical senses. The individual who escapes the cave to witness the true nature of things is the philosopher. Using intellect, philosophers are able to discern forms -- abstract, immutable truths that are the real foundation of the universe. The philosopher who escapes the cave knows the true nature of reality ¹⁶.

The Republic is ultimately concerned with the question of justice. Plato believed that to establish justice, one must know what is good. Therefore, philosophers who understood the form of the good should rule as kings. The rest of society should be organized to fulfill those rulers' demands ¹⁷.

Plato believed that for the good of all individuals, a republic is needed, administered by philosopher-kings. The argument can be made that, in a similar way, every workplace needs high ethical values upheld by strong and caring leaders.

It must be recognized that a leader may have false or harmful values that are injurious to others. The examples of Hitler, Stalin, and many other tyrants in history can be cited. These cases only point more clearly to the need for caring leaders who are both strong and good.

How Leader Behavior Influences Employee Conduct and Organizational Reputation

People will forgive the leader who fails to manage by objectives, is inefficient in the use of time, or fails to achieve the smoothest human relations, but they find it difficult to forgive the leader who is immoral and non-principled. Such a person lacks moral authority and is not trusted or respected. Even as important as vision is to leadership success, more important are values, because the values of the leader will determine the rightness and wrongness of all that he or she does.

The leader sets the moral tone of an organization. What the leader says and does regarding values has an enormous influence on others. More than any memo, directive, or brass band, the actions of the leader communicate. The leader's actions set the standard for people's behavior toward one another and for performance on the job.

When Warren Buffett took over as interim chairman of Salomon after the Treasury auction crisis, his first action was to instruct senior managers to report "instantaneously and directly" any legal violations or moral failures by Salomon employees. He told the firm's assembled personnel: "Lose money for the firm, I will be very understanding; lose a shred of reputation for the firm, I will be ruthless." Leaders like Buffett understand instinctively what researchers have documented--a commitment to basic values such as honesty and responsibility is crucial for building trust, and trust is the bedrock of organizational survival and growth over the long term ²¹.

The more you understand your values, the clearer you can be in your ideas about life, the more confident you can be in your actions, and the more developed you will be as a leader.

Because of the ability to influence moral behavior, the leader should address two questions:

1. What values or principles do I wish to promote?

2. Are my actions helping accomplish that goal?

Author Carol Cooper summarizes the need for values-based leadership: The world needs more people who do not have a price at which they can be bought; who do not borrow from integrity to pay for expediency; who are as honest in small matters as they are in large ones; who know how to win with grace and lose with dignity; whose handshake is an ironclad contract; who are not afraid to go against the grain of popular opinion; who are occasionally wrong and always willing to admit it. In short, the world needs leaders ²³.

References

1. E. Morgan, Benjamin Franklin (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2002).

2. L. Wieseltier, Total Quality Meaning, The New Republic (July 19, 1993), pp. 16-18, 20-22, 24-26.

3. P. Drucker, The New Society of Organizations, Harvard Business Review 70, no. 5 (September-October 1992), p. 98.

4. T. Watson, A Business and Its Beliefs (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003); and T. Watson, Jr., and P. Petre, Father, Son and Company (New York: Bantam Books, 1990).

5. R. May, The Courage to Create (New York: Norton, 1975), pp. 3-5.

6. J. Dalla Costa, The Ethical Imperative (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1999); and G. Goethals et al., Encyclopedia of Leadership, vol. 2 (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004), p. 496.

7. Holy Bible, King James Version, John 8:32.

8. W. Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1; see also J. Wooden and S. Jamison, Wooden (Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, 2007), p. 9.

9. See A. Serwer, Southwest Airlines, Fortune 145, no. 5 (2004): 86-88.

10. T. Brock, Weather Any Storm with a Little Flexibility,îCyberSense, June 26, 2000, from http://bizjournals.bcentral.com/extraedge/ consultants/cybersense/2000/06/26/column205.html (retrieved August 13, 2005).

11. J. Dalla Costa, The Ethical Imperative.

12. J. Petrick and J. Quinn, Management Ethics (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1997).

13. Petrick and Quinn, Management Ethics.

14. Plato, The Republic, trans. A. Bloom (New York: Basic Books, 1968); and M. Cicero, De Officiis (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1961).

15. Plato, The Republic.

16. A. Herman, The Cave and the Light (New York: Random House, 2014).

17. O. Kidder and H. Oppenheim, The Intellectual Devotional (New York: Rodale, 2006).

18. H. Holtzer, "Lincoln on Leadership," Civil War Times (Winter 2013), p. 45.

19. G. Goethals et al., Encyclopedia of Leadership, vol. 2, pp. 880-81.

20. Plato, The Republic; S. Wells, From Sage to Artisan (Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black, 1997); and T. Peters, "Leadership," Harvard Business Review 79, no. 11 (December 2001), pp. 121-28.

21. L. Paine, Value Shift (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003); and J. Huntsman, Winners Never Cheat (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2008).

22. K. Albrecht, The Northbound Train (New York: AMACOM, 2003); and M. Rokeach, The Nature of Values (New York: Free Press, 1973).

23. C. Cooper, Surviving at Work (London: Health Education Authority, 1995); and J. Ciulla, The Ethics of Leadership (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2003).

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Leadership Values: The Importance of Courage

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In 1727, Benjamin Franklin formed the Junto, a forerunner of modern-day civic clubs. It was dominated by businessmen having goals of community fellowship and service. Charter members were a shoemaker, a surveyor, a woodworker, a glazier, and four young printers. Character was a significant concern of that organization.

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Interview with Education Leaders - David Helfand

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Here are five books to help you explore the idea of servant leadership, so you can achieve your personal best as a leader in 2018.

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I meet monthly with a group of organizational development folks. Some of them are professors. Some are consultants. Others are practitioners in their organizations. I love the meetings because they challenge me to learn and grow. Several of the participants are connected to the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership. It's through this connection that I came to read Servant Leadership.

As one of the guys, Jeff, said, Greenleaf isn't a cheap date. That is, the material in Servant Leadership isn't an easy read. You've got to stay focused, work at it, mull it over, and generally put more work into it. However, it's worth it.

What is a Servant?

When I'm thinking about what it is to be a servant, I instantly think of Heroic Leadership and the example of the Jesuits. I think of folks who put the rules and their ego behind them to serve others. The essence of humility, as was explained in , is power held in service to others. So a servant is quite simply one who serves others. It's because of that service to others that other characteristics, such as humility, surface.

Great leaders are servant leaders, whether you look towards Jesus' contributions (which nearly every religion recognizes as a great man, even if denying that he was the Messiah) or you look at present day servants such as the Dali Lama (see My Spiritual Journey for more on the Dali Lama).

What is Leadership?

The heart of leadership is the ability to lead or guide others. While there's some belief in natural skill in the ability to lead, most scholars agree it takes some level of study to become a great leader. While leadership is often confused with management, which is coordination of objectives and managing outcomes, it's a separate discipline which requires the ability to motivate people, and also the ability to "see the big picture" and devise a meaningful place to go. Leaders observe the current reality and create a vision for a new world that their followers would like to be in, and then set out upon the journey with them.

Modeling Servant Leadership

The challenge of leadership is the drifting away from the mission of leading people and falling victim to an ever-increasing ego, where the leadership becomes more about the power of the leader and less about how the leader is serving the needs of the followers. This is akin to the maxim that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Leaders must have a constant vigilance to ensure that their leadership doesn't become about them and remains about the people that they're leading - and serving.

For this, Greenleaf has a model. The model is primus inter pares - "first among equals". That is, the organization should have a set of leaders who are peers. They hold no position over one another, but are instead a collection of similarly motivated people who care about the organization and the people it touches, both internally and externally. This equality forms the basis of limiting ego. As they hold no position of power over one another, it's difficult for their ego to grow out of control.

The balance to this, however, is the need for someone to be able to drive the group to a decision. While the utopian idea that everyone is a peer is useful for controlling egos, it's awful at helping the organization get things done. As a result, you need the ability for there to be a leader whose role it is to ensure that things continue to move forward. At effective law and accounting firms this might be the managing partner. That is, a partner who, for a time, is responsible for driving the discussions forward. (Admittedly, I've seen very few of these effective firms or effective managing partners.)

Connecting with the Cosmos

Many of the books that I read are structural guides. They talk about ideas and frameworks. They tell you to tweak this or do that and stop doing this other thing in order to get the results you want. This is the structure that I expect from a book. However, there are times, like for Servant Leadership and in cases like and Leading from the Emerging Future, where the structure is accompanied by a bit of mysticism. I do not mean this in a pejorative sort of way, I mean that there's a connectedness or wholeness - a sense that the author expects that you can't fully understand what the house will look like by just the structure. Strangely, I found more mysticism in Servant Leadership than in religious books like My Spiritual Journey and Spiritual Evolution.

A few dozen miles from my house is a place called Camp Chesterfield. It's the home for the Indiana Association of Spiritualists. While there has historically been some controversy around the idea of mediums practicing on the camp property, the place has an overall sense of peace to it. I don't believe in healing crystals or many of the other beliefs that some of the residents of Camp Chesterfield hold. If you asked me to describe the grounds to you, I'm certain I wouldn't be able to convey the same peace to you. Somehow, everything comes together in a way that works.

Greenleaf believed that religion at its root means "to rebind", as in to rebind humans to the cosmos. That is, there is something about connecting ourselves to the world that can't be explained. He describes the general ways of operating in various types of organizations. These are more like, as the Jesuits might say, a compass instead of a map. That is, they don't tell you exactly how to get from one place to another, but instead give you a general direction.

Having had the honor of working with organizations that really understood how to work together - and those who do not - I can tell you that from the outside they look very similar. However, there's a certain atmosphere in some organizations that make them different.

Organizations for Development's Sake

Every organization has a purpose. Commercial organizations are designed to make money. Non-profit organizations are designed to improve humanity through their output. Educational institutions are designed to help educate us towards a better world. Religious institutions are designed to connect us with the religion's god. However, is their stated purpose their only purpose?

For Greenleaf the answer is no. However, to understand why, you have to realize that he believed organizations are designed for the betterment of everyone that they touch. That is, every person internal or external to the organization should be made better by it.

Educational institutions shouldn't "burn up" professors in the service of the students. Religious organizations shouldn't persecute others in the service of their beliefs. Commercial organizations shouldn't pressure their vendors to the point where their vendors aren't able to grow and thrive.

In other words, the age-old debate of whether the ends justify the means is put to bed with a clear answer of no. You can't do "anything necessary" to achieve the purposes of the organization, because the organization's real goal should be the betterment of everyone involved.

Wholehearted Leaders

Brené Brown calls the kinds of people who are capable of interacting in healthy ways throughout their lives "wholehearted people" (see Rising Strong Part 1 and Part 2). Dr. Wayne Dyer calls these people "No Erroneous Zone" people (see Your Erroneous Zones). Whatever you call these people, you'll find that they know who they are. They're not looking outside themselves for validation. They're not bending to the latest winds of change.

There's no map here for how to become the kind of wholehearted leader that believes they're a servant. There are not five easy steps to building your character as a person and as a leader. However, there are more clues to the organizational structure, and more importantly the aspirations for organizations, which lead to the kind of growth that allows someone to become a servant leader.

Becoming a servant leader may not be a straight or easy path - but it's one that is worth it, so you may want to go read Servant Leadership.

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I meet monthly with a group of organizational development folks. Some of them are professors. Some are consultants. Others are practitioners in their organizations. I love the meetings because they challenge me to learn and grow. Several of the participants are connected to the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership .

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As part of my research for the recent Servant Leadership Online Training Summit, I reviewed scores of servant leadership books and resources. I was humbled by the accumulated wisdom in all of them.

When my colleagues asked me to put together a list of my favorites, it was hard to pick just 10! But I put together this list as a resource for anyone interested in deepening their understanding and practice of servant leadership. Some books I chose because they set a basic foundation, others because they are full of practical advice, and still others because they espoused servant leadership concepts without calling them by that name. And note that although my organization Berrett-Koehler Publishers has published many books on servant leadership, I did my best not to stack the deck - this is my list, and mine alone.

Robert K. Greenleaf

This is the little book that started it all (at least in the 20th century), challenging conventional wisdom about what leadership was all about. Robert Greenleaf is widely recognized as the father of modern servant leadership.

The Big Idea: Service ought to be the distinguishing characteristic of leadership. Greenleaf claims that the two roles of servant and leader can be fused in one real person, and can become productive in the real world, in fact, more productive than many other leadership principles.

Find the book at The Center For Servant Leadership or on Amazon.

Robert K. Greenleaf

left off. With a foreword by
This book picks up where The Servant as Leader Stephen R. Covey and an afterword by Peter Senge, this book is considered the bible of modern servant leadership. In addition to main principles, it has chapters on how to implement servant leadership in businesses, educational institutions, foundations, and churches.

The Big Idea: "The servant leader is servant first. It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first."

Find the book on Amazon.

Hermann Hesse

Contrary to popular belief, Greenleaf's Aha! moment on servant leadership did not come from Jesus, but rather from this obscure book by the German novelist Hermann Hesse. Written as a novel but autobiographical in nature, Hesse describes a mythical expedition in search of the elusive "League." On this trek, Hesse meets a man named Leo who carries luggage and does menial chores. When Leo disappears, the expedition falls into disarray. After decades of searching, Hesse finds Leo-and discovers he was the leader of the League.

The Big Idea: Leo was a great leader all along, but the members of the expedition couldn't see it. Once Hesse opened his eyes, the truth of servant leadership stared him in the face. That opened Robert K. Greenleaf's eyes, too.

Find the book on Amazon.

Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller

This parable from bestselling authors and leadership experts Ken Blanchard and Mark Miller describes a manager who encouters challenges that make her rethink what it means to be a true leader. She learns from a mentor tho teaches her the power of SERVE.

S = See the FutureE = Engage and Develop OthersR = Reinvent ContinuouslyV = Value Results and Relationships The Big Idea: Ken and Mark's SERVE model, which goes like this:

E = Embody the Values.

Find the book on the Berrett-Koehler bookstore or on Amazon.

Cheryl Bachelder

This book describes the turnaround that former CEO Cheryl Bachelder led for Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, the company behind Popeyes Chicken. Unlike many servant leadership books that are long on theory but short on practice, Dare to Serve focuses on implementation, even in the most trying circumstances.

The Big Idea: Servant leadership is not just for softies who want to optimize relationships at the expense of results. Cheryl proves that servant leaders can balance people, purpose and principles to produce outstanding results.

Find the book on the Berrett-Koehler bookstore or on Amazon.

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner

From bestselling authors and executive educators Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, this is one of the most successful business books of the last three decades. Author Adam Grant describes it as "a practical, evidence-based resource on how to mobilize people around a common goal."

1) Model the Way2) Inspire a Shared Vision3) Challenge the Process4) Enable Others to Act The Big Idea: Jim and Barry's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, which are:

5) Encourage the Heart

Find the book on Amazon.

Kenneth R. Jennings and John Stahl-Wert

In the foreword, Ken Blanchard called this book "the most practical guide available to implementing servant leadership in your life and work." The fable describes a son who takes over a business from his dying father, who teaches him five key servant leadership actions.

1) upend the pyramid2) raise the bar3) blaze the trail4) build on strength The Big Idea: The five key servant leadership actions, which are:

5) run to great purpose

Find the book on the Berrett-Koehler bookstore or on Amazon.

Liz Wiseman

From bestselling author and leadership expert Liz Wiseman, this book introduces two leadership types: those who are "Multipliers," who give coworkers energy and strength, and those who are "Diminishers," who drain energy, intelligence and capability from their colleagues.

The Big Idea: Multipliers are servant leaders who can help to transform recalcitrant and accidental Diminishers to become Multipliers themselves.

Find the book on Amazon.

James A. Autry

Author and business coach James Autry provides practical advice to 1) offer guidance during conflict and crisis, 2) assure continued growth and progress as a leader, 3) train managers in the principles of servant leadership, and 4) transform a company with morale problems into a great place to work.

The Big Idea: How managers can remain true to the servant leadership model in the face of difficult day-to-day and long-term management challenges.

Find the book on Amazon.

Adam Grant

Bestselling author Adam Grant describes three broad interpersonal styles: taking, matching, and giving. Takers are self-oriented who try to take more than they give. Matchers are those who try to give and take in reciprocal amounts. Givers are other-oriented who try to give more than they take. The giver style is the most aligned to servant leadership.

The Big Idea: Givers can either be very happy and successful, or very unhappy and unsuccessful. Takers and Matchers tend to be moderately happy and successful. Grant shows Givers how to optimize happiness and success.

Find the book on Amazon.

So there you have it, my first reading list for servant leaders! I suggest reading them in the order presented. Figuring four hours to read each per book, and one book per week, you'll complete this 40 hours of servant leadership training in ten weeks!

I know some of you may wonder why I didn't mention the Bible. As a preacher's kid (of the Methodist and ecumenical persuasion), I have a lot to say on this subject, but I'll address that in a later post.

Hope you enjoy reading these must-read servant leadership books. Please share your thoughts on these and other books about servant leadership you want to recommend on our Servant Leadership Facebook Group or below in the comments!

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As part of my research for the recent Servant Leadership Online Training Summit, I reviewed scores of servant leadership books and resources. I was humbled by the accumulated wisdom in all of them. When my colleagues asked me to put together a list of my favorites, it was hard to pick just 10!

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Year in Review: The 16 Most Interesting Interviews With Education Leaders We Published This Year

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Every week or so, we publish a new 74 interview with one of America’s top educators, education experts, researchers, policy makers or advocates. You can see the full archive here. Below is a roundup of the 16 most revealing, surprising and insightful sit-downs from the past year. Consider these your…

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Year in Review: The 16 Most Interesting Interviews With Education Leaders We Published This Year

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Worksheets, Educational Games, Printables, and Activities | Education.com

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Explore Education.com’s collection of worksheets, educational games, printables, and activities to enhance children’s learning at home or in the classroom.

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Gender Gap: Why Boys Can't Keep Up | Education.com

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Boys are falling behind girls in school performance. What's behind the boy crisis, and how can parents and teachers help?

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Photo by Christopher Futcher/iStock

Latino and African-American students were less likely to pass algebra 1 and less likely to attend high schools that offer advanced math or science classes than their white and Asian peers, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

Ryan Smith, executive director of Education Trust-West, an Oakland-based education policy nonprofit, said the new federal data "is maddening."

"We have math and science geniuses in our low-income communities and in schools that serve students of color. We need to give those students the tools to thrive," he said. "This should be at the center of our conversation when we talk about equity."

The data, based on the 2015-16 Civil Rights Data Collection survey of U.S. public schools reveals the following:

African-American students make up 17 percent of the overall 8th grade enrollment, but only 11 percent of those enrolled in algebra 1.

Latinos made up 25 percent of the overall enrollment but only 18 percent of those taking algebra 1.

Eighty five percent of white students passed algebra 1 in 8th grade, while only 65 percent of African-American students did. Asian and Latino students were nearly tied, at 74 percent and 72 percent respectively.

Smith pointed to several reasons for the disparities, including:

Funding inequities that leave some schools with well-equipped classrooms and science labs and others without.

A shortage of experienced math and science teachers at schools that serve students of color.

Inadequate preschools and daycares that leaves many low-income, African-American and Latino students unprepared for kindergarten and unable to catch up academically.

Low expectations, or "the belief that black and brown children can't do math and science," Smith said.

The study breaks down math and science course enrollment and passing rates by race and ethnicity, gender and disability. It involved 17,337 districts and 50.6 million public school students.

In California, some programs stand out for narrowing the math and science achievement gap. In San Diego, a math and science tutoring program called Pathways links college undergraduates with local K-12 students, most of whom are Latino and African-American. The program has shown to be effective at raising students' academic performance.

Based at San Diego State University, the Pathways program sends about 120 tutors to 15 schools a year, serving more than 4,000 students annually. Tutors work in classrooms alongside the teachers, and are paired with students who are lagging academically.

"We've found that beyond the academics, it really helps having another caring person in the classroom to support student learning," said Nadia Rohlinger, the program coordinator. "To have a near-peer who looks like you, has had similar experiences, says to students, 'You know what? I'm here, I go to college and you can do it, too,' ... it just works on a whole different level."

Based on surveys from teachers and students, those students enrolled in the Pathways program raised their grades and had higher attendance rates on days that the tutors were in class, she said.

"That's huge," she said. "And heartwarming. We really feel we're making a difference."

The federal survey found that high schools that had majority African-American or Latino enrollment were less likely to offer math and science classes at all levels except algebra 1, especially at the advanced levels. Only 38 percent of predominantly minority schools offered calculus, compared to 50 percent of all high schools. Just over half - 51 percent - offered physics, compared to 60 percent of high schools overall.

The data also showed a stark gap between students learning English and other students. English learners were underrepresented in chemistry, physics, calculus, advanced math and algebra 2, although not lower-level classes like in algebra 1, geometry and biology.

There was some good news. Girls did almost as well as boys in math and science class enrollment, even outnumbering boys in some classes. Girls made up 52 percent of students in chemistry and advanced math and 51 percent in algebra 2. Girls were outnumbered in physics, though, 46 percent girls to 54 percent boys.

The data echoes other studies of the achievement gap in math and science.

Education Trust-West published a report in 2017 that found that in California, only 11 percent of students learning English attend schools that offer the advanced math courses and these students are less likely than their peers to be enrolled in these courses when available.

Another report found that Latino students in California are more often placed in non-college-preparatory classes than their white or Asian peers and more often required to take remedial classes in college.

A 2016 study published in Educational Researcher found large gaps in science knowledge between white and African-American and Latino children, noting "income inequality and racial segregation in schools perpetuate the disparities in learning opportunities and contribute to science achievement gaps throughout the elementary and middle grades."

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Latino, African-Americans have less access to math, science classes, new data show

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Photo by Christopher Futcher/iStock Latino and African-American students were less likely to pass algebra 1 and less likely to attend high schools that offer advanced math or science classes than their white and Asian peers, according to new data released by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights.

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Recent scholarship has examined how accelerated math trajectories leading to calculus take shape during middle school. The focus of this study is on advanced math course taking during the critical yet understudied period that follows: the transition to high school. Data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 are used to examine advanced math course taking in ninth grade, including both track persistence among students who took advanced math in middle school and upward mobility among students who took standard math in middle school. Results reveal sizable racial gaps in the likelihood of staying on (and getting on) the accelerated math track, neither of which are fully explained by prior academic performance factors. Interactions with parents and teachers positively predict advanced math course taking. In some cases, interactions with teachers may also reduce inequality in track persistence, whereas interactions with counselors increase such inequality. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Researchers, educators, and policy makers continue to express great interest in understanding math course-taking trajectories, and with good reason. Taking higher level math courses in high school has strong, positive effects on a host of postsecondary educational outcomes and is associated with higher wages in adulthood, both directly and indirectly through its impact on educational attainment ( Long, Conger, and Iatarola 2012; Rose and Betts 2004). Moreover, students who take multiple higher level math courses are more likely to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields ( Domina and Saldana 2012; Tyson et al. 2007), which is essential for building domestic talent, meeting STEM workforce demands, and addressing STEM racial equity concerns ( NSB 2016, 2018). Yet despite marked growth in the share of students taking higher level math courses in high school, substantial racial gaps remain ( Champion and Mesa 2016; Dalton et al. 2007; NSB 2014, 2018; Planty, Provasnik, and Daniel 2007; Smith 2004).

Racial gaps are also evident in accelerated algebra courses offered during middle school that place students "on track" for calculus by their senior year of high school ( Cogan, Schmidt, and Wiley 2001; Gamoran and Hannigan 2000; McFarland 2006). Accordingly, several recent studies have examined factors that shape a student's likelihood of taking algebra I in eighth grade ( Domina 2014; Loveless 2008; Walston and McCarroll 2010). But in contrast to this growing body of research, there is much less research on patterns of racial inequality in advanced math trajectories between middle school and high school, which is a period of academic, structural, and social change that can adversely affect a student's educational performance and well-being ( Mizelle 2005; Neild 2009; Schiller 1999). To this point, despite evidence suggesting that minoritized youth are likely to experience greater disruption during the transition to high school ( Benner 2011; Langenkamp 2010), there is limited national research on race and advanced math course taking between eighth and ninth grade.

In this study I use nationally representative data from a recent cohort of high school students to investigate differences in advanced math course taking in ninth grade for students who were on either the accelerated math track or the standard math track in eighth grade. Students who were on the accelerated track took algebra I or a higher level math course in eighth grade; students on the standard track took a math course below the level of algebra I. Therefore, I examine two distinct pathways to advanced math in ninth grade: one in which students stay on the accelerated track (track persistence) and another in which students get on the accelerated track (track formation). By distinguishing these two pathways, we can better understand where racial gaps in advanced math course taking come into play: are they accounted for primarily by previous course taking and performance, or do gaps remain even after both are taken into account? I also examine engagement with parents, teachers, and counselors, as reported by students, as potential mechanisms for understanding variation in advanced course taking patterns. Analyses for this study are motivated by three research questions:

1. Does the likelihood of taking advanced math in ninth grade vary by race for students who were on the accelerated track in eighth grade? What about for students on the standard track?

2. Are within-track differences by race fully accounted for by students' prior course taking and performance?

3. If academic factors do not fully explain these differences, to what extent are remaining racial differences moderated by students' interactions with their parents, teachers, and counselors?

Background

The standard math course sequence begins with algebra I (or an equivalent course, e.g., integrated math I) in 9th grade, followed by geometry in 10th grade and algebra II in 11th grade. In 12th grade, depending on state and local graduation requirements, students may have the option to take precalculus, an equivalent math course, or no course at all ( Riegle-Crumb and Grodsky 2010; Stevenson, Schiller, and Schneider 1994; Tyson and Roksa 2017). Adding calculus makes this a five-year sequence, which is why students interested in higher level math typically begin the sequence in middle school. Indeed, research shows that students who do not complete algebra I by eighth grade are unlikely to reach calculus in high school without extraordinary effort ( Champion and Mesa 2016; Waterman 2010). Thus for students interested in advanced math, the timing of algebra I is critical ( Lucas 1999; Stein et al. 2011).

Because most advanced math trajectories begin in middle school and continue in high school, the transition from middle to high school is crucial for students' course-taking pathways. Promotion to ninth grade, widely regarded as the start of high school, signals a different stage in the life course defined by greater independence and a new set of academic expectations ( Mizelle 2005; Neild 2009; Schiller 1999). For most students, this transition also includes a physical move from a middle school to a separate high school. Although the transition to high school is normative and predictable in the United States, it can present significant challenges for students, including those identified as gifted or high achieving, and these challenges can negatively affect their grades and school engagement ( Alspaugh 1998; Barber and Olsen 2004; Benner 2011; Langenkamp 2010; Roeser, Eccles, and Freedman-Doan 1999; Schiller 1999). Students may also face distinct challenges shaped by their social characteristics and resources ( Benner and Graham 2009). As a result, minoritized students are likely to experience greater disruption during school transitions than their white peers ( Benner 2011; Langenkamp 2010; Sutton et al. 2018). Notably, when asked about their perceptions of the transition to high school, students identify math course placement as a distinct concern ( Mizelle 2005).

Racial Differences in Advanced Math Course Taking

Racial gaps are well documented in the literature on advanced math course taking in middle school (e.g., Champion and Mesa 2016; Cogan et al. 2001; Gamoran and Hannigan 2000; Hallinan 1992; Walston and McCarroll 2010; Waterman 2010). For instance, Walston and McCarroll (2010) reported that 67 percent of Asian students take algebra I by eighth grade, compared with 45 percent of white students, 38 percent of Latinx students, and less than 20 percent of black students. These gaps widen as students move through high school, with the largest gaps in higher level math courses such as calculus ( Champion and Mesa 2016).

There is considerable research on differences in advanced math course taking during middle school, but few studies have examined these patterns during the transition to high school. In one such study, Archbald and Farley-Ripple (2012) found that racial gaps in 10th grade advanced math placements are explained by course taking and achievement in 8th grade. However, these findings were based on a single school district and so are not generalizable. In short, there is a clear need for research on advanced math course taking and track persistence between 8th and 9th grades. Moreover, as school transitions are embedded in stratified communities ( Benner 2011) and racialized organizational contexts ( Ray 2019), this research should attend to possible racial variation in these experiences.

Tracking and Mobility: Pathways to an Accelerated Math Track

The focus of this study is on two distinct pathways to advanced math in ninth grade. Students who follow the first pathway take algebra I or a higher level course in eighth grade and thus must stay on track to continue on an accelerated math pathway in high school. As Loveless (2008) argued, this early start is likely to leave students on the accelerated math track vulnerable to curricular disruption unique to the transition to high school. For instance, many students end up repeating algebra I in ninth grade. Although we lack national, empirical research on algebra I retention during the transition to high school, we do have suggestive state-level data. For example, districts in North Carolina and California report high algebra I retention rates between middle and high school; in North Carolina, algebra I retention rates were higher in ninth grade than in subsequent grade promotions ( Clotfelter, Ladd, and Vigdor 2013; Waterman 2010).

Retaking algebra I is a curricular disruption that reduces students' positional advantage by affecting future course taking and achievement ( Mulkey et al. 2005). Although some educators may favor this practice (possibly as a way for students to increase their comprehension or get a better grade), research suggests that repeating algebra I offers little benefit, especially for higher performing students ( Finkelstein et al. 2012; Fong, Jaquet, and Finkelstein 2014; Waterman 2010). And because course retention is commonly associated with academic failure ( McFarland 2006), this practice is also likely to reduce students' self-confidence and academic engagement ( Lewis and Diamond 2015). The lack of benefit and likely harm produced by repeating algebra I make it particularly important to understand racial variation in algebra I course retention between eighth and ninth grades, particularly when unwarranted by previous academic performance.

Students who follow the second pathway to advanced math in ninth grade did not take an advanced math course in eighth grade and so must get on track if they are to access advanced math courses. Although these students lack the prerequisites for taking advanced math in ninth grade, the transition to high school sometimes gives them opportunities for upward mobility. For instance, some schools allow students to fast-track their math sequences by doubling up on courses, for example, enrolling in both algebra I and geometry in ninth grade ( Kelly and Price 2011). Alternatively, students may be allowed to take geometry without the required prerequisite by either testing out of algebra I or, in rare cases, skipping the course altogether. The importance of accommodations such as these must not be understated, as they offer students additional opportunities to access advanced math courses. Yet despite their potential benefits, there is limited research examining alternative pathways to advanced math in high school and even less focused on the potential for racial differences in access to these accommodations.

Academic Preparation and Performance

Previous course taking and achievement are key predictors of high school math placements ( Dauber, Alexander, and Entwisle 1996; Hallinan 1992; Kelly 2009; Schneider et al. 1998). Previous preparation largely explains racial gaps in advanced math course taking during both middle and high school ( Kelly 2009; Newton 2010; Riegle-Crumb and Grodsky 2011; Waterman 2010). Although academic performance is also a strong predictor of both upward and downward track mobility in mathematics during high school, Hallinan (1996b) noted that access to the most advanced tracks is often limited because of strict prerequisites.

Why then might we find differences in previous preparation among students on the same curricular track? One potential explanation has to do with increased access to algebra I in middle school. Especially in places with algebra-for-all initiatives such as California, unprepared eighth graders now have greater access to algebra I than they did in the past ( Domina et al. 2014; Loveless 2008; Stein et al. 2011). That these so-called misplaced students are predominantly black and Latinx ( Loveless 2008) highlights one way previous preparation could contribute to racial gaps in persistence. Another potential explanation focuses on the most common measures of performance in the course-taking literature, grades and test scores, which capture the interplay of both student ability and opportunities to learn ( Gamoran et al. 1997; Rowan, Correnti, and Miller 2002; Schiller et al. 2010; Schmidt et al. 2015). Unequal access to learning opportunities before high school, often due to differences in teacher quality or in course availability, content, and rigor, could lead to differences in academic preparation and performance among rising ninth graders, even if they are on the same track and have the same grades in previous courses ( Gamoran 1987; Hallinan 1996a; Morton and Riegle-Crumb 2020).

Researchers have also identified specific instances in which prior achievement does not fully explain differences in advanced math placements. For example, Walston and McCarroll (2010) found racial gaps in algebra I course taking during middle school among otherwise high-scoring students. And Kelly (2009) found evidence of racial inequality in high school math course placements even when accounting for students' socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement. Evidence from North Carolina schools suggests that even high-performing students (on the basis of standardized test scores) are at risk for repeating algebra I in ninth grade ( Clotfelter et al. 2013). These findings are consistent with previous findings that both academic and nonacademic factors contribute to course placements ( Dauber et al. 1996). Because staying on the accelerated math track in high school is typically determined by previous course taking and achievement ( Hallinan 1992; Kelly 2009; Schneider et al. 1998), evidence of students' repeating algebra I despite having previously performed well would support a claim of curricular disruption.

Potential Mechanisms: The Influence of Parents, Teachers, and Counselors

Students' course placements are often decided in collaboration with parents, teachers, and counselors. Although most students benefit from parental support and encouragement, studies find differences in both how knowledgeable parents are about the inner workings of schools and how involved they are in managing their children's academic careers ( Calarco 2018; Lareau 1987, 2002, 2003). In some cases, parents may even try to actively intervene in or override school course placement decisions ( Lewis-McCoy 2014; Lewis and Diamond 2015; Useem 1991, 1992a, 1992b), but school staff members are likely to resist these efforts ( Useem 1991). Indeed, Kelly (2004) found almost no evidence that direct parental involvement affects track placement; his findings point instead to the parent-student relationship as a key contributor to track placement. However, race may still influence the educational access and opportunities afforded to students and their families ( Lewis-McCoy 2014; Lewis and Diamond 2015). Accordingly, in this study I examine the effect of talking with a parent about math course options and heeding parents' course suggestions.

Within schools, teacher and counselors play integral roles in student development and transition and serve as important sources of academic and social support ( Dimmit and Carey 2007; Kunter et al. 2013; Shill 1987). For instance, teacher support can ease the transition to high school for students and embolden them to enroll in more rigorous courses ( Langenkamp 2010; Lantz and Smith 1981). The impact of this support may be even greater among black students, for whom teachers, more than parents or friends, are a primary source of motivation ( Casteel 1997; Ferguson 2002). Although students typically have less contact with counselors than with teachers, counselors also influence placement by describing and recommending particular courses ( Shill 1987). In many districts, teachers and counselors are key decision makers in the course placement process, while in other districts, middle school teachers and counselors can influence course placements indirectly through, for example, their role in a vertical team (of teachers in high schools and feeder middle schools with vertically aligned programs) or letters of recommendation ( Anderson 2005; Gamoran 1992; Mizelle 2005).

Advanced course placement decisions are typically based on a combination of both skill-based requirements, such as grades and test scores, and subjective requirements, such as student or parent requests and teacher recommendations ( Kelly 2007; Kelly and Price 2011). Although different schools may weight these two sets of criteria differently ( Hallinan 1992; Useem 1992a), if each school applies its placement criteria consistently, there should be no racial differences within schools for students with similar academic profiles. However, Ray (2019) maintained that in racialized organizations, the decoupling of formal rules from organizational practice is often racialized. So if there is a disconnect between how school placement policies are envisioned and how they are used in practice, as some have suggested (e.g., Lewis and Diamond 2015; Oakes and Guiton 1995; Riehl, Pallas, and Natriello 1999), then subjective factors could produce within-school differences in access to advanced math.

The question of teachers' subjective bias remains a point of contention among scholars. Although Ferguson's (2003) review of the literature unearthed little evidence of bias in teacher perceptions independent of students' previous academic performance, scholars have also identified instances in which teachers' perceptions and students' empirical realities do not align. For instance, quite a few recent studies have demonstrated a significant relationship between students' race and teachers' ratings of academic behavior and performance; typically, Asian students are viewed more positively by teachers than white students with similar backgrounds and performance, while black students are perceived more negatively (e.g., Irizarry 2015a, 2015b; Irizarry and Cohen 2019; Bates and Glick 2013; McGrady and Reynolds 2013; Ready and Wright 2011). These patterns are likely due to stereotypes emanating from dominant racial schemas, such as those that characterize black and Latinx youth as uneducable, unmotivated, and oppositional ( Harris 2011; Solorzano 1997; Tyson 2011) and Asian youth as intelligent, hardworking, and naturally good at math ( Lee 2009; Lee and Zhou 2015; Wong 1980).

Lewis and Diamond's (2015) research on tracking in a suburban high school documents how well-meaning teachers and counselors perpetuate racial and ethnic stereotypes in both their interactions with students and their actions related to course placements in ways that reinforce the unequal distribution of social and material resources. Thus, even in the absence of prejudice or racial animus, working in racialized organizations such as schools can reinforce the connection between racial schemas and material resources ( Ray 2019). Importantly, the effects of racial stereotypes may be more pronounced during the transition to high school ( Sutton et al. 2018). In consideration of these findings, in this study I examine how students' interactions with parents, teachers, and counselors shape their course-taking pathways and whether these interactions mitigate racial differences in track mobility.

Data and Methods

I use data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS), sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. The HSLS is a nationally representative, longitudinal study of students who were enrolled in ninth grade during the fall of the 2009-2010 school year. Sampling for the HSLS was completed in two stages, with schools randomly selected at the first stage and students randomly selected from schools in stage 2. In total, more than 21,440 ninth graders completed the base-year questionnaire in fall of 2009 (wave 1). Students were asked about their backgrounds, attitudes, and schooling experiences, with many questions focusing on math-related experiences. This study relies primarily on students' self-reports from the base-year questionnaire because of the inconsistent documentation of eighth grade course taking on high school transcripts.

Advanced Math Course Taking in Ninth Grade

The dependent variable for this study, a dichotomous measure of advanced math course taking, was created using students' self-reported math course enrollment during the fall of ninth grade. Following convention regarding the sequencing of courses leading to calculus by 12th grade, students were categorized as being in advanced math in ninth grade if they selected any of the following courses: geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, integrated math II through IV, or higher level math courses such as precalculus or calculus. Students who were not enrolled in one of the advanced math courses listed were categorized as not being in advanced math. This latter group included students who reported taking a standard ninth grade math course (e.g., algebra I, integrated math I, prealgebra), remedial math course (e.g., basic, business, consumer math, general math), some other unidentified math course, or no math course at all.

Eighth Grade Math Track

Students were also asked to identify the most advanced math course they had taken in eighth grade, which, given the timing of the wave 1 survey, would have been completed that same year. Following the same convention as above, students were identified as having taken advanced math if they selected any of the following: algebra I, geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, or higher level courses such as precalculus or calculus. Students who did not take one of the advanced math courses listed were identified as not being in advanced math. This latter group included students who selected math 8, advanced or honors math 8 (not including algebra), prealgebra, integrated math, or some other unidentified math course. This information was then used to create a dichotomous measure of track placement. Students who had taken advanced math in eighth grade were categorized as being on the accelerated math track, and all others were categorized as being on a standard track. Students' prior math track serves as my primary grouping variable.

Having access to full transcripts and course names facilitated the identification of two groups of students. The first group includes students who reported having taken algebra I in eighth grade but, according to their transcripts, had actually been enrolled in the first part of a two-year algebra sequence (e.g., algebra I-A and I-B). These students (fewer than 20 in total) were recoded as having been on the standard math track in eighth grade. The second group includes students who reported taking algebra I in ninth grade but, according to transcript data, also completed more advanced math courses, typically geometry, that same school year. This information was used to identify students who double-dosed in math for enrichment, often through block scheduling (e.g., taking algebra I in the fall and geometry in the spring) ( Henry, Barrett, and Marder 2016) and thus were likely not yet enrolled in an advanced math class at the time of wave 1 data collection (fall of ninth grade). These students (about 180 in total) were recoded as being enrolled in advanced math in ninth grade.

Student Background

HSLS variables for students' racial background and Hispanic/Latinx ancestry, along with more detailed ancestry information for Asian students, were used to construct a comprehensive measure of race. Students with Hispanic or Latinx ancestry were categorized as either white Latinx if their sole racial identification was white or black Latinx if they identified as black or African American. All remaining students with Hispanic or Latinx ancestry were categorized as nonblack Latinx. Non-Latinx students who identified either exclusively as white or as white with American Indian ancestry were categorized as white. And those who identified as black or African American were categorized as black. From those who remained, students who identified as Asian or Pacific Islander were divided into one of three categories on the basis of regional ancestry: East Asian (i.e., Chinese, Japanese, Korean), South Asian (e.g., Indian, Sri Lankan), or Southeast Asian (e.g., Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese). Students who identified as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander were also included in the latter group. Non-Latinx students whose sole racial identification was American Indian or Alaskan Native were excluded from the study because of their small subgroup sample size.

Multivariate analyses include two additional student background characteristics as model controls. The first is SES, a standardized measure developed for the HSLS; this composite measure was constructed from data on the educational attainment, family income, and occupational prestige of students' parents or guardians. A dichotomous variable for gender (male = 1) is also included as a model control.

Prior Academic Factors

In addition to prior math track, I focus on two additional variables of prior course taking and performance. The first is a dichotomous variable that identifies enrollment in more advanced eighth grade math courses within each track. For students on the accelerated track, this measure captures enrollment in geometry or a higher level math course in eighth grade. And for students on the standard track, this includes enrollment in advanced or honors math 8 (not including algebra). I also include a categorical measure of prior course performance. This variable is based on students' self-reports of their final grades in their eighth grade math courses according to the following grade scale: A = 90 to 100, B = 80 to 89, C = 70 to 79, D = 60 to 69, F = below 60, or class was not graded. Because of the small proportion of students who earned grades below C (i.e., D and F) or no grade, these are combined into one category.

Parent, Teacher, and Counselor Involvement

This study includes six variables that capture parent, teacher, and counselor involvement in the course placement process. Students were asked, "Since the beginning of the last school year (2008-2009), which of the following people have you talked with about which math courses to take this year?" From the answer options provided, I created three dichotomous variables that indicate if students talked about their ninth grade math course options with (1) a parent, (2) a favorite teacher, and (3) a school counselor. Students were also asked why they took their particular ninth grade math courses. Responses were used to create three dichotomous variables that indicate if students took the courses because (1) a parent encouraged them, (2) a teacher encouraged them, and (3) the school counselor suggested they take their particular math courses (see Appendix Table A1 for variable weighted means and proportions).

Sample and Analytic Strategy

The focus of this study is on advanced math course taking patterns among first-time ninth graders enrolled in U.S. public high schools. Students who were not enrolled in eighth grade during the prior school year were excluded from analyses (5.9 percent of the initial sample). Because private schools are largely exempt from district and state oversight and curricular polices, the sample was further restricted to students enrolled in public high schools. Thus, in line with Domina (2014) and Loveless (2013), any students enrolled in private high schools were excluded from analyses. Because private schools were an oversampled sector in the HSLS, these students represent approximately 17.9 percent of the initial sample. Cases with missing values for the dependent variable were also excluded from analyses (8.7 percent of the initial sample). Missing values for independent variables were replaced using multiple imputation with chained equations that included the dependent variable as a model covariate, as well as the base-year student survey weight, creating 10 imputed data sets ( Royston 2005; von Hippel 2007). The analytic sample for this study is 14,350 students.

Analyses were completed in two stages. First, I used contingency tables to examine patterns of advanced math course taking. Specifically, I estimated the weighted distribution of students who took advanced math in ninth grade by race for two distinct groups: students who were on the accelerated math track in eighth grade and students who were on the standard track. Next, I used logistic regression with school fixed effects to capture within-school differences in advanced math course taking in ninth grade while accounting for school-level factors ( Allison 2009). Because fixed-effects regression models require that schools have variation in the dependent variable, the analytical sample for within school analysis is reduced to 13,390 students in 700 schools (means and proportions for within school sample are available in Appendix Table A2).

Instead of running separate regression models for each eighth grade math track, I used factor variables in Stata to estimate fully interactive difference in differences models (i.e., models that include an interaction term for each covariate) on the pooled sample with eighth grade math track serving as the moderator. In fully interactive models, main effects provide within-group estimates for the moderator category equal to zero (i.e. the reference category), and interaction terms provide estimates of variation between groups identified by the moderator. The main advantage of this model form is that it allows for tests of significance both within and between eighth grade math tracks.

Multivariate results are presented across six models. Model 1 provides baseline estimates for race. Model 2 controls for gender and SES. Model 3 accounts for prior academic performance. Model 4 brings in variables capturing interactions with parents, teachers, and counselors. And models 5 and 6 add significant interactions (at p < .05) between race and potential mechanisms. To evaluate change across models, I calculated the proportionate change in the average marginal effects across the same series of models estimated using the Stata module aextlogit (results available upon request) ( Silva and Kemp 2016). Finally, all analyses were conducted using the mi estimate command in Stata, which combines results across the 10 imputed data sets according to Ruben's rules.

Descriptive Statistics

The first column in Table 1 presents weighted estimates of advanced math course taking in ninth grade for students who were on the accelerated track in eighth grade. These percentages represent how likely students are to stay on the accelerated track. Altogether, about 77 percent of students on the accelerated track stayed on track in ninth grade, but disaggregated estimates reveal differences by race. White students (77 percent) and Southeast Asian students (76 percent) are about as likely to persist as the average student. Groups with lower levels of persistence include white Latinx students at 71 percent and nonblack Latinx students at 66 percent. And with about 60 percent taking advanced math in ninth grade, black and black Latinx students are the least likely to persist. Conversely, East Asian and South Asian students are the most likely to persist. About 84 percent of East Asian and 97 percent of South Asian students stayed on the accelerated track in ninth grade.

The second column of Table 1 presents weighted estimates of advanced course taking for students who did not take advanced math in eighth grade and were thus on the standard track. These percentages represent how likely these students are to get on the accelerated track in ninth grade, which about 10 percent were able to do. However, disaggregated estimates reveal less racial variation in upward mobility for some groups than in downward mobility. Estimates of getting on the accelerated track for white, black, and nonblack Latinx students fall within 2 percentage points of the overall average. For, both white Latinx and black Latinx students, they were more than 3 percentage points lower. However, 18 percent of East Asian, 14 percent of Southeast Asian, and 21 percent of South Asian students were able to get on the accelerated track in ninth grade, making Asian students, particularly East Asian and South Asian students, the clear exception.

Predicting Differences in Track Persistence

Next, I set aside between-school differences in course taking and focus my attention on within-school differences in the likelihood of staying on track. According to within-school estimates from Table 2, model 1A, both white Latinx and nonblack Latinx students have significantly lower odds (about .69 and .59, respectively) of staying on track than their white peers. The odds of staying on track are even lower for students from black racial subgroups: .44 for black students and .26 for black Latinx students, to be exact. In contrast, the odds of persisting for East Asian students are significantly higher than those of their white peers (about 1.43 times). The odds of staying on track are particularly high for South Asian students, at about 5.60 times those of their white peers.

Model 2A adds controls for student background, which significantly predicts staying on track. Odds ratios for white Latinx and nonblack Latinx students are almost entirely explained by background characteristics, particularly SES. However, background factors account for only about 29 percent of the difference in persistence for black Latinx students and about 18 percent of the difference for black students. And they have almost no impact on the odds ratios for East Asian and South Asian students.

Model 3A adds controls for prior course level and performance, both which are significant predictors of staying on track. These factors provide some context for understanding the mechanisms behind significant racial differences in track persistence For example, accounting for prior performance reduces the initial gap between East Asian students and their white peers by nearly half, a change that also renders it statistically insignificant. However, academic factors, which account for about 19 percent of the gap for South Asian students, and about 10 percent of gaps for black and black Latinx students, clearly fall short of fully explaining differences by race. Prior academic factors appear to have little bearing on the odds of track persistence for black and black Latinx students (.55 and .44, respectively), which remain significantly lower than their white peers with similar backgrounds and academic profiles. And at the other end of this spectrum, the odds of staying on the accelerated track for South Asian students are still 4.02 times the odds of similarly situated white peers.

Model 4A adds variables that measure the involvement of parents, teachers, and counselors, which have varying effects on track persistence. Students who talked with either parents or teachers are more likely to stay on track. Selecting a course because of parent or teacher encouragement has an even stronger effect on persistence, while interacting with a counselor has no effect at all. Yet these interactions account for about 5 percent of the remaining racial gap for black Latinx students and none of the remaining racial gap for black or South Asian students (compared with their white peers).

Predicting Differences in Track Formation

Table 3 presents estimates of advanced math course taking in ninth grade for students previously on the standard track. Consistent with descriptive results, East Asian students have 1.75 times the odds, South Asian students have 2.33 times the odds, and Southeast Asian students have 1.58 times the odds of getting on the accelerated track in ninth grade compared with their white peers (model 1S). This is not the case for other racial groups, which on the basis of the absence of significant coefficients are no more or less likely to get on the accelerated track in ninth grade compared with their white peers. In model 2S, SES is also a significant predictor of accelerated track formation in ninth grade. However, racial differences in SES accounts for none of the differences in getting on track for Asian students.

In model 3S, both previous course level and grade are significant predictors of getting on the accelerated track in ninth grade. For example, students who took honors math in eighth grade had 5.64 times the odds of getting on to the accelerated math track in ninth grade. Yet controlling for previous academic factors yields only modest reductions in the gaps for East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian students, who still have between 1.53 and 1.99 times the odds of taking advanced math in ninth grade than their white peers on the standard track. The reduction for East Asian students renders the coefficient insignificant; however, significant coefficients for South Asian and Southeast Asian students remain.

In model 4S, I turn my attention once again to the role of parents, teachers, and counselors. On the whole, these factors appear to be less important for predicting track formation than they were for track persistence. Nonetheless, both parent and teacher involvement emerge as significant predictors of getting on track. Of these, being encouraged by a parent, which is associated with 2.51 times the odds of getting on track, is by far the most substantively significant factor for whether a student on the standard track takes advanced math in ninth grade. Like models predicting track persistence, controlling for parent, teacher, and counselor involvement also explains a small portion of racial differences in track formation. For example, I find a 10 percent reduction in the likelihood of getting on track for South Asian students. However, South Asian students still have 1.49 times the odds, and Southeast Asian students have 1.84 times odds of getting on the accelerated track than their white peers.

Additional Considerations

An encouraging finding emerged from analyses of significant race interactions. Specifically, results from Table 4, model 5A, show that the small positive effect of talking with a favorite teacher on track persistence in Table 2 is actually a much larger effect experienced exclusively by black students. Specifically, black students on the accelerated track are the only group that benefits from talking with favorite teacher and have about 2.5 times the odds of staying on track when they did so. The interaction effect is also large enough to counter the black-white gap in persistence. This means that black students who talked with a favorite teacher have about the same odds of staying on track as their white peers, controlling for background, performance factors, and other interaction measures.

The effect of talking with a favorite teacher on advanced course taking for students on the standard math track is also moderated by race, though results from model 5S tell a different story. Although the small positive effect of talking with a favorite teacher on accelerated track formation remains, interaction terms show that white Latinx, black Latinx, and South Asian students actually experience negative returns to talking with a teacher. Indeed, talking with a teacher lowers their odds of getting on the accelerated track by 47 percent, 69 percent, and 76 percent, respectively.

Significant interaction effects related to school counselors add further complexity to this story. Up to this point, results for counselor variables have been both substantively and statistically insignificant. However, significant interactions for black Latinx students on the accelerated track highlight a specific instance in which counselors do have an effect on track persistence. As results from model 6A demonstrate, talking to a counselor about course options has a strong negative effect on track persistence for black Latinxs students. That is, black Latinx students who talked with counselors have more than 80 percent lower odds of staying on track than their white peers, whereas among black Latinxs who did not talk with counselors, the odds ratio is much smaller and statistically insignificant.

Discussion and Conclusion

This study is the first to use national-level data to investigate advanced math course-taking patterns by race during the transition to high school, contributing to a small but growing body of empirical research on the topic. I build upon and extend previous research on accelerated track formation in middle school by examining pathways to advanced math in ninth grade for two groups of students: those who took advanced math courses in eighth grade (accelerated track) and those who took standard math courses (standard track). The findings advance our understanding of advanced math trajectories in several important ways.

First, the results reveal a substantial amount of track mobility: fewer students stayed on the accelerated track during the transition to high school than their previous performance would lead us to expect. According to McFarland (2006), students typically retake classes when they earn failing grades, while downward moves (to lower level coursework) are associated with earning lower level passing grades. When disaggregated by eighth grade math track, I find that about 7 percent of students on the accelerated track earned below a C in their prior math courses, and just less than 14 percent earned a C. Yet nearly one in four students on this track either retook algebra I or took lower level math courses in ninth grade. This means that at best, one in six students who experienced downward mobility did so despite having earned good grades (A or B) in their prior math courses. Also, students on the standard track in eighth grade were much less likely than students on the accelerated track to take advanced math in ninth grade. However, about 10 percent of these students established accelerated math trajectories in ninth grade, which is in line with estimates of upward mobility in prior research (e.g., Hallinan 1996; Lucas 1999; McFarland 2006).

Second, the results show significant racial differences in the likelihood of both staying and getting on the accelerated track, some of which are not accounted for by prior course taking or performance. Specifically, I find that black and black Latinx students are less likely to stay on the accelerated track between eighth and ninth grade than their white peers. Both racial gaps in persistence remain largely unexplained after accounting for prior course performance and parent, teacher, and counselor involvement. These patterns, which occur only among students on the accelerated track, are consistent with prior research that identified students whose academic status is inconsistent with the stereotypes ascribed to them (e.g., high-achieving black students) as more susceptible to academic declines during the transition to high school ( Sutton et al. 2018).

The results also show that Asian students are either as likely as or more likely than their white peers to take advanced math classes. I find that South Asian students are more likely to remain on the accelerated track than their white peers, even after accounting for background, academic factors, and interactions with parents, teachers, and counselors. Moreover, East Asian, South Asian, and Southeast Asian students who were on the standard track are all more likely to get on the accelerated track than their white peers. Racial differences in prior performance explain just less than a quarter of the gap in track formation for East Asian students, a fifth of the gap for South Asian students, and close to a sixth of the gap for Southeast Asian students. Racial differences in parent and teacher involvement also contribute to racial differences in track formation for East Asian and South Asian students, though the latter remains statistically significant. However, parent and teacher involvement explain almost none of the gap for Southeast Asian students, which also remains significant.

Third, parent, teacher, and counselor involvement moderates racial gaps in important ways. I find that talking to a favorite teacher about math course options is particularly important for track persistence among black students. This effect is large enough to close the black-white gap in persistence by increasing the likelihood of staying on the accelerated track among black students to roughly the same level as their white peers. This finding highlights the importance of teachers for promoting black student success and reducing racial inequality in advanced course placements. Results for black Latinx students, however, stand in stark contrast. Specifically, I find that talking to a counselor dramatically reduces track persistence for black Latinx students. Among students on the standard track, I find that talking with a favorite teacher significantly lowers the likelihood of getting on the advanced track in ninth grade for black Latinxs, a pattern that is also present for Southeast Asian students, and to lesser extent for white Latinx students. Otherwise, I find no significant relationships between counselor recommendations and advanced math course taking or between talking with a counselor and course taking among students on the standard track. Given counselors' limited and infrequent contact with students ( Bridgeland and Bruce 2011), these findings for counselor involvement are not very surprising. These patterns highlight the differential effects of teacher and counselor involvement and their potential impact on racial inequality in advanced course taking.

Limitations

This study is not without limitations. Math test scores are not included in the analyses presented here because of problems with temporal ordering: algebraic reasoning tests created for HSLS were administered in the fall of ninth grade and thus were not yet available when ninth grade math course placements were being decided. However, results from an alternative model 2 with an additional control for math test scores (in quintiles), available in Appendix Table A3, show that the racial gaps described above are for the most part robust to the inclusion of test scores. Supplementary results also show that racial differences in test scores in the fall of ninth grade account for about 40 percent of the gap in persistence between black and white students. Because reductions in gaps between model 2 and alternative model 2 are among students with similar backgrounds, prior course taking, and math grades, this suggests that the effect of test scores on the black-white gap is more likely due to racial differences in opportunities to learn during middle school than to a growing presence of unprepared students in algebra I.

In addition, questions regarding interaction with parents, teachers, and counselors in the HSLS are both limited and retrospective. As a result, I am unable to discern the specific factors, contexts, or mechanisms that may explain why parents, teachers, and counselors influence track formation and mobility in the ways described here. For example, there is still much to learn about who black students regard as favorite teachers, how discussions about course taking develop, and why these interactions are uniquely important for black students on the accelerated track. I am also unable to discern whether the negative effect of talking with a counselor for black Latinx students is due to counselors' personal beliefs, a greater reliance on cultural cues because of their limited contact with students, judgments regarding the quality of math instruction in feeder middle schools attended by these students, or simply the absence of action-guiding advice from counselors, which ultimately relegates decision making to parents ( Sattin-Bajaj et al. 2018). Hence, this area of research would benefit substantially from more in-depth studies of the roles of teachers and counselors. Communication between parents and school officials also deserves greater attention, especially given the impact of the parent-child relationship for promoting continuity between middle and high school ( Crosnoe 2009). The short- and long-term implications of track mobility should also be a priority for future research.

Implications

This study reveals troubling patterns of advanced course taking and track mobility during the transition to high school. Although students on the accelerated track are substantially more likely than their peers on the standard track to take advanced math in ninth grade, they are also at risk for curricular disruption during the transition to high school. In an ideal world, we would expect that students who have met teacher expectations and mastered the curriculum would persist on the accelerated track ( Riegle-Crumb and Grodsky 2010). Instead, I find that the transition to high school disrupts some math trajectories, such that even strong academic performance may not be enough to retain students on the accelerated math track in ninth grade.

This study improves our understanding of differences in track persistence and formation during the transition to high school, including how students from certain racial groups are disproportionately either getting on track or being derailed. On the accelerated track, black and black Latinx students are more likely than white and Asian students to be displaced. At the same time, Asian students, particularly South Asian and Southeast Asian students, are overrepresented among those rising from the standard track to take their place. In other words, the transition to high school is also a period when significant curricular resorting occurs. This resorting magnifies racial gaps in advanced math trajectories and reinforces the racial schema used to justify entrenched racial inequalities in advanced course taking.

This study also exposes the intersectional complexity of advanced math course taking during the transition to high school for students within the Latinx and Asian panethnic umbrellas. Although Asian students are collectively more likely to get on the advanced track in ninth grade, South Asian students are more likely to stay on the advanced track than East Asian and Southeast Asian students. Notably, this advantage among South Asian students is not explained by either background characteristics or prior academic performance. And disaggregating Latinx students by race highlights the unique experience of black Latinx students on the advanced math track, who face a similar level of disadvantage as other black students. The fact that black Latinx students are typically aggregated with nonblack Latinx students of color and white Latinx students may help explain the negative but nonsignificant coefficients for Latinx students in prior research (e.g., Sutton et al. 2018).

The persistence of racial inequality in access to advanced math not only reinforces racial stereotypes and notions of a racial hierarchy of academic ability but also contributes to disparities across a host of postsecondary outcomes. State and district efforts to align curricula and increase access to rigorous courses across middle schools may help reduce gaps in preparation. Establishing state and local policies that facilitate the transfer of course credits may help reduce track displacement during the transition to high school. Involving teachers in the course placement process may improve the identification of students who might benefit from or be hindered by more advanced coursework. Finally, policies that promote supportive teacher-student relationships may attenuate some of these trends.

2
Morales-Chicas and Agger (2017) found that repeating algebra I does bolster academic success for some students, but this is in comparison with students on the standard track; their analysis did not include students on the advanced track who were not retained in algebra I.

4
Findings from a recent validity study using HSLS data ( Rosen, Porter, and Rogers 2017) suggest that students are reasonably good reporters of the courses they have taken.

7
Henry et al. (2016) defined double-dosing in math for enrichment as taking more than one math course, at least one of which is above the student's grade level.

9
Results from preliminary analyses demonstrated similar effects for students who reported earning D's, F's, or no grade in their eighth grade math course. According to Rosen et al. (2017), grade inflation in the HSLS does not appear to vary by race but is more likely to occur among lower performing students. In addition to separating students by math track, I also included math test scores from fall of ninth grade in supplementary models (see Appendix Table A3) to mitigate the latter issue.

10
Analyses were replicated with an analytic sample that included both public and private school students. Results from these analyses, presented in Appendix Tables A4 and A5, are largely consistent with findings described in this study.

14
Aextlogit is a Stata wrapper program that uses Kitazawa's (2012) method to compute semielasticities (with corresponding standard errors and t statistics) for regressors in fixed-effects logit models.

15
Model estimates for both significant and insignificant interactions are available in Appendix Tables 6 and 7.

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Author Biography

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On Track or Derailed? Race, Advanced Math, and the Transition to High School - Yasmiyn Irizarry, 2021

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Recent scholarship has examined how accelerated math trajectories leading to calculus take shape during middle school. The focus of this study is on advanced math course taking during the critical yet understudied period that follows: the transition to high school.

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Interview with Education Leaders - Tony Chambers

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School Mission

A school mission statement often includes their focus and commitment on a daily basis. A school leader's mission should always be student-centered. They should always be focused on bettering the students they serve. You want every activity that occurs in your building to revolve around what is best for the students. If it is not beneficial for the students, then there is no reason that it should continue or even begin to happen. Your mission is to create a society of learners where students are constantly challenged by teachers as well as their peers. You also want teachers who accept a challenge to be the best they can be on a daily basis. You want teachers to be facilitators of learning opportunities for students. You want students to experience meaningful personal growth every day. You also want to involve the community in the learning process, because there are many community resources that can be utilized to promote growth throughout a school.

School Vision

A school vision statement is an expression of where a school is going in the future. A school leader must realize that it is typically best if vision is implemented in small steps. If you approach it as one large step, then it will likely overwhelm and consume you as well as your faculty, staff, and students. The first thing you have to do is to sell your vision to the teachers and the community and get them to invest in it. Once they truly buy into your plan, then they can help you carry out the rest of the vision. You want all stakeholders to be looking to the future while focusing on the now. As a school, we want to set long-term goals that will ultimately make us better, while maintaining focus on the current task at hand.

Special Education Programs

Understanding the importance of special education programs is vital to a school administrator. As a school leader, it is essential to know and care about the legal guidelines established by Public Law 94-142, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1973, and other related laws. You also need to make sure that all of those laws are being carried out within your building and that every student is given fair treatment based upon their Individualized Education Program (IEP). It is critical that you make the students who are being served in special education relevant and that you value their learning as much as any other student in your building. It is equally pertinent to work hands-on with the special education teachers in your building and be willing to assist them with any problems, struggles, or questions that may arise.

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Crafting an Educational Leadership Philosophy for Administrators

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A school mission statement often includes their focus and commitment on a daily basis. A school leader's mission should always be student-centered. They should always be focused on bettering the students they serve. You want every activity that occurs in your building to revolve around what is best for the students.

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Development of a Personal Leadership Philosophy