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Commonly Selected High School Math Curricula are Getting Dusty: 3 Key Insights From Our High School Math Report

Explore insights on the state of high school math curricula. While progress in K-8 math curriculum choices is promising, our data reveals key challenges at the high school level.

$Diverse group of high school students doing math at their desks in a classroom.$

The Center for Education Market Dynamics • February 22, 2024

When it comes to the K-8 math market, Center for Education Market Dynamics (CEMD) data gives us reason to be optimistic about progress towards higher-quality curriculum choices in elementary and middle school. But, as we see in the figures below, our data on high school paints a different picture.

Here are 3 key insights from this data:

Many top high school math products are now pushing a decade old, and include curricula developed in the years after the Common Core State Standards debuted in 2010. These include HMH AGA (2015), Savvas High School Math Common Core (2015), and Core Connections AGA (2015), along with each of their Integrated Math counterparts developed in a similar timeframe. Though Illustrative Mathematics, a new product, tops the AGA and Integrated Math product list, many other newer, high-quality choices have yet to meaningfully register in this highly-fragmented market. This suggests that many high school math students nationwide are missing out on the important curricular improvements of the last decade.
Newer, smaller-scale curriculum developers appear less inclined to invest in the high school math market than in K-8. The major publishers all have high school offerings, but several of the new-generation, often more digitized players that have gained fast traction in the K–8 market (e.g. Zearn, i-Ready) have not launched in the high school market.
A notable subset of districts bucks the overall trend towards stagnancy in the high school math market. The top product identified in our analytic sample––selected by 8.3% districts in our sample—is Illustrative Mathematics, a relatively new curriculum known for its emphasis on critical thinking. These leading-edge districts, few though they are at this stage, suggest that plenty of leaders are hungry for better curriculum on behalf of their high school math students.

Ready to learn more? Be sure to check out CEMD’s report on the high school math market, along with our other market reports and blogs.