This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters. If you’re an eighth grader who wants to take algebra, can you even take the class? The answer to ...

A recent lesson in teacher Mike Taliana’s algebra class at Oceanside’s Lincoln Middle School: Write the equation of the line with y intercept = 3 and perpendicular to y = ½x + 4. Anyone still there?

At the state’s prodding, the proportion of students taking Algebra in eighth grade increased 60 percent over the past decade – a significant achievement. But there has not been a parallel success in ...