What Governors Can Do: Automatic Enrollment in Advanced Math

Five actions a governor and transition team can take

1. Sign an executive order in the first 30 days.Direct the state education agency (SEA) to publish placement data, issue opt-out guidance and use existing federal flexibilities. No legislation is needed for any of these.
2. Make it law in the first session.Propose automatic enrollment legislation. Action 2 links to model bills from ExcelinEd and ALEC and to design guidance from EdTrust.
3. Set SEA policy for districts.Require universal screening on the existing state test, standard parent notices and compacted middle school pathways.
4. Publish the gap.Report every year how many top scorers are placed in advanced math, by school, district and student group, including family income and rural status.
5. Extend the pipeline past Algebra.Use governor's schools, dual enrollment and state math competitions to keep top students moving.

The problem: ready students are left out

In most states, a strong score on the state math test does not guarantee a seat in advanced math. Placement usually depends on teacher recommendations, parent requests and whether the school offers the course at all. As a result, capable students, especially from low-income and rural families, are passed over more often than equally ready classmates, both in placement decisions and because their schools do not offer the course.

• Many schools do not offer the course. Only 58% of schools in a 22-state sample offered algebra by 8th grade, and fewer than half of high-poverty schools did (NWEA, 2025).
• Equal scores, unequal placement. Even among students in the top 20% of 5th-grade math achievers, the share who took algebra in 8th grade ranged from 60% to 84% depending on the student's background (NWEA, 2025).
• New York. In 2023-24, 58% of 7th graders scored proficient on the state math test, but only 37% of 8th graders in schools serving both grades took Algebra 1 the next year, leaving about 20,000 ready students out. More than one in four middle-grade schools (27%) do not offer Algebra 1 in 8th grade (EdTrust-New York, 2026).
• Ohio. Only 20% of students completed Algebra I by 8th grade in 2024 (Fordham Institute, 2026).

The cost shows up in the state's future workforce. Children from families in the top 1% of income are 10 times as likely to become inventors as children from families below the median, and differences in 3rd-grade math scores explain less than a third of that gap. That points to lost opportunity rather than lost ability (Bell, Chetty et al., Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2019).

What automatic enrollment is, and what the evidence shows

Automatic enrollment changes the default: a student who scores at or above a set level on the existing state math test is placed in the next advanced course unless a parent opts out. Teachers and parents can still recommend students who fall below the cutoff. No new test is needed, and the same number of students is taught. Johns Hopkins researchers expect the main costs to be short-term teacher training and, where a course is missing, a virtual or dual-enrollment option (Johns Hopkins, 2024).

The studies so far point the same way: more ready students are placed, gaps between equally skilled students shrink, and grades hold steady.

Where states stand

Eleven states have enacted automatic enrollment in some form since North Carolina enacted the first statewide requirement in 2018, and eight of them did so in 2025 or 2026. Designs differ mainly on the cutoff (proficient, the top performance level, or the top 25-40% statewide), the starting grade and whether the requirement applies only "if available."

Model policies are available from ExcelinEd and ALEC, and EdTrust supports the approach, so the policy has backing from organizations across the spectrum.

Action 1Sign an executive order in the first 30 days

An executive order can start the work months before a bill passes: it can direct state agencies to measure the gap, guide districts and use federal funds the state already receives. In states where the chief state school officer is elected or answers to a state board, the same directives can be framed as requests or a joint agreement.

The order should direct the SEA and partner agencies to:

• Measure the gap within 90 days. Publish how many top scorers in each school were placed in advanced math the following year, and which schools do not offer Algebra I in 8th grade.
• Issue opt-out guidance. Give districts a model placement policy, parent notice and compacted middle school pathway they can adopt under existing local authority.
• Use federal flexibilities. Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Section 1003A lets a state reserve up to 3% of its Title I-A allocation for direct student services, including advanced courses not offered at a student's school. Title IV-A (Section 4107) can fund advanced coursework and STEM enrichment. Section 1111(b)(2)(C) lets a state allow 8th graders in Algebra I to take the high school end-of-course test instead of the grade 8 test, provided they later take a more advanced math test in high school. The U.S. Department of Education has invited waiver requests for further flexibility. Arkansas's waiver, approved in July 2026, lets students in grades 5-8 who are enrolled in high school courses take end-of-course tests instead of grade-level tests.
• Close course gaps. Have the state virtual school or public university system offer the full math sequence free to any student whose school lacks the next course.
• Prepare a bill and budget request for the first legislative session.

Action 2Make it law in the first session

A statute makes the default permanent and statewide; guidance alone leaves placement to each district. The strongest laws set an objective cutoff, start early enough to reach Algebra I by grade 8, close the "if available" exemption and require public reporting.

Model legislation

Start from one of the two published model bills, and check it against EdTrust's design guidance. ExcelinEd and ALEC offer ready-to-file bill text; EdTrust offers design principles rather than bill text.

Action 3Set SEA policy for districts

Much of what makes automatic enrollment work happens in SEA rules and guidance, which a governor can shape through appointments, the state board and the agency's budget. The SEA should set these expectations for districts:

1. Universal screening on the existing state test. Review every student's score, not only referred students, and send each school its list of qualified students before spring scheduling. Consider local norms as an added route in for schools that score below the state average.
2. Default placement with parent opt-out. Publish a model local policy and a plain-language parent notice that districts can adopt as is.
3. A standard compacted pathway. Define course codes for a grade 6 or 7 compacted course that leads to Algebra I by grade 8, as Ohio now requires.
4. Many routes in, one route out. Teacher recommendation, parent request and local measures can add students; only a parent can remove a qualified student.
5. Credit by exam and mastery-based progression. Let students who show mastery of a course move on to the next one in that subject, including in elementary grades.
6. Virtual and part-time enrollment. Let students who finish the most advanced course at their school take the next one online or at another school or college.

Action 4Publish the gap and reward growth at the top

Public reporting is one of the least expensive accountability tools a governor has. North Carolina's annual placement report showed district placement rates ranging from 33% to 100% of qualified students, showing the state where to focus help (Johns Hopkins, 2024). Publishing how many top scorers reach Algebra I the next year shows where placement is falling short.

• Report the placement rate. Each year, publish the share of top scorers placed in advanced math, by school, district and student group, including family income and urban, suburban or rural location, plus the schools that do not offer Algebra I in grade 8.
• Make high achievers a reported group. Report growth for students scoring at the top, not only proficiency rates.
• Give credit for advanced performance. Use a performance index in school ratings that counts advanced scores for more than proficient ones, which rewards schools for moving students ahead. Federal law, the Every Student Succeeds Act, leaves room for this.
• Track long-term outcomes. Use the state longitudinal data system to follow placed students through Algebra I results, calculus, college STEM majors and earnings.

Action 5Extend the pipeline past Algebra

Algebra I in grade 8 is the gateway, not the goal. Governors can also widen the routes that carry top students further.

• Calculus and dual enrollment for every high school. Use the state virtual school and public colleges so no student's math sequence ends because their school ran out of courses.
• Governor's schools and state STEM academies. Create or expand residential and summer programs, and admit students through universal screening rather than nominations alone.
• A state math competition network. Fund regional universities to run math circles and contests open to every qualified student, feeding state and national olympiad pipelines.
• Course access for advanced learners. Where states run course access programs or approved-provider lists, include accelerated math providers and university programs.
• Use the governor's platform. Name the goal in the State of the State and recognize districts with the highest placement rates.

First 100 days: checklist for transition teams

The sequence below gets a bill drafted, the data public and the first placements under way before next school year's schedules are set in spring.

Anticipated questions and responses

These questions come up in nearly every state, and states that have already acted have answers to each.

Resources

Every resource below is public and linkable as of October 30, 2026. Enacted state laws are linked in the table under "Where states stand."

Other sources cited: E3 Alliance testimony on Texas SB 2124; SCORE on Tennessee's 2026 session; Indiana Capital Chronicle on HEA 1634; ESEA Section 1111; ESEA Section 4107; A Nation Empowered, Vol. 2, Ch. 2.

STEM Talent Action supports state and federal policies that identify and develop America's highest-potential students, regardless of zip code, income or background.