A comparative study of Applied Math II and Algebra I on mathematical achievement of high school students in South Carolina

he purpose of this study was to determine if there was a significant difference between mathematics achievement of Applied Math II students in Tech Prep math courses and those of Algebra I students in College Prep courses.;The data was extracted from students' Stanford Achievement Test-Series 8. The Stanford Achievement Test was divided into three subscales: Math Computation, Math Application, and the Total Score.;The study tested two null hypotheses: Ho:1. There is no significant difference in mathematics achievement of high school students who were taught in Applied Math II math courses and students who were taught in Algebra I College Prep courses. Ho:2. There is no significant main and interaction effects of race and sex on the mathematics achievement of high school students who were taught in Applied Math II math courses and students who were taught in Algebra I College Prep courses.;The t test, the Analysis of Variance procedures, and the Student-Newman-Keuls Multiple Range Test were used to analyze the data.;Hypothesis 1, which predicted no significant difference in mathematics achievement of high school students who were taught in Applied Math II math courses and students who were taught in Algebra I College Prep Courses, was accepted. The aggregate mean for the Applied Math II students (1405.25) and the Algebra I students (1405.54) indicated that the mathematics achievement for the two groups was the same. Hypothesis 2, which predicted no significant main and interaction effects of race and sex on the mathematics achievement of high school students who were taught in Applied Math II Tech Prep courses and students who were taught in Algebra I College Prep courses, was rejected. The ANOVA procedures revealed a statistically significant interaction effect for race and math status (p =.002) for Math Computation Subscale. Similar findings were revealed for the Math Application Subscale (race = p...