By Michael R Jiroutek (Campbell University)
Information
The U.S. high school math curriculum model (Algebra I/II, Geometry, Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Calculus) took shape in the early 20th century and solidified during the Cold War, driven by federal initiatives like the 1958 National Defense Education Act to boost STEM competitiveness. In the Information Age, schools are increasingly offering statistics (data science) and financial literacy courses to address data’s growing role in modern life.
This study examines perceived usefulness of traditional math, statistics, and finance skills in daily life. A survey of 1,948 working adults (ages 25–65, high school graduates for >= five years) measured perceived utility using three 9-item question sets.
The sample had an average age of 45.4 years and was 50% female with a racial/ethnic composition of 70.9% white, 16.5% Black/African American, and 6.5% Hispanic/Latino. Educational attainment was high school/some college (61%) and bachelor’s degrees or higher (39%) and geographically distributed across urban (32.2%), suburban (47%), and rural (20.8%) areas.
Using 10-point Likert scales (9 items per discipline; 1=not useful at all, 10=essential), finance course topics showed higher perceived usefulness than statistics and standard math topics:
• Finance: Mean 8.0 (95% CI: 7.95, 8.12)
• Statistics/data science: Mean 6.8 (6.68, 6.88)
• Standard math: Mean 6.0 (5.87, 6.08)
Perceived utility percentages:
• Finance: 77.8% somewhat/very useful (52.5% very)
• Statistics/data science: 72.9% somewhat/very useful (34.1% very)
• Standard math: 73.9% somewhat/very useful (30.3% very)
A high school math education model better correlated with the modern job market and professional and personal needs in today’s society is warranted.