Launch Years Initiative

Math Pathways and the Launch Years Initiative

Every student has the capacity to succeed in mathematics. But millions of students across the nation hit walls in their math education every year: a math requirement that doesn't connect to where they're headed, inconsistent advising, misaligned admissions requirements, or access to high-level courses. When education systems don't line up with a student's actual future, math stops opening doors and starts closing them. Mathematics pathways aim to address this issue through multiple, targeted actions that open doors of opportunity.

The question today is not whether math pathways can help students succeed. It is whether the math pathways being built are coherent, supported, accepted, and visible enough to expand opportunity for students at scale. 

The Launch Years Initiative (LYI) is a nationwide effort, led by the Charles A. Dana Center at The University of Texas at Austin, to modernize high school mathematics and ensure that every student has access to a math pathway aligned to their postsecondary and career goals. With support geared toward creating lasting systemic change, the initiative brings together states and major mathematics organizations to strengthen the transition from secondary mathematics into postsecondary programs and the workforce. 

Over half of the country is a part of this initiative, with twenty-six states actively participating in activities around math pathway implementation. The states and jurisdictions that are a part of the Launch Years Initiative are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Colombia, Georgia, Hawai’I, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. 

Through these 26 states, the Launch Years Initiative has the potential to directly impact over 26 million K–16 students across the country. Our nation’s students, including those who are traditionally underserved, often experience mathematics as a barrier to finishing a postsecondary degree or even to being accepted into a postsecondary institution. The Launch Years Initiative and these states are working to change these realities for students. Explore the work happening in our State of Math Pathways 2026 report and website. 

Implementing Change in the Transition Years   

States in the Launch Years Initiative have collectively committed to the following goals.

• Developing, improving, and/or implementing multiple modern math pathways in high school that align with and feed into the higher education math pathways.
• Developing, improving, and/or implementing multiple modern math pathways in higher education that align with and follow from the high school math pathways.
• Measuring the state’s success and progress of math pathways implementation in your state.
• Providing students and their support networks with the necessary information, choices, and opportunities to empower them to enroll in high school and postsecondary math courses aligned to their interests, aspirations, and career goals.
• Providing supports that enable all students to engage with and succeed in on-grade-level high school mathematics and, if enrolling in postsecondary education, enter immediately into credit-bearing mathematics.

To achieve these goals, each state is taking a unique approach based on their specific contexts. States are focusing on different actions, including designing and implementing postsecondary and high school mathematics pathways, modern math courses and content, and advising practices.

Along with the Launch Years Initiative states, leaders from major national mathematics organizations are collaborating to strengthen and advocate for work that improves the experiences and outcomes for students transitioning from high school into postsecondary education.

The Launch Years Math Organizations Leadership Network (LY-MathLN) includes members from the Alliance of Indigenous Math Circles (AIMC), American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC), American Statistical Association (ASA), Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE), Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics (ASSM), Benjamin Banneker Association (BBA), Conference Board of Mathematical Sciences (CBMS), Just Equations, Mathematical Association of America (MAA), National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), NCSM: Leadership in Mathematics Education, and TODOS: Mathematics for ALL. 

The collective power of these 26 states and leading mathematics organizations will allow the Launch Years Initiative to drive meaningful change that becomes normative practice. Students will reap the benefits, with math options that enable their success instead of inhibiting it.

Here's How You Can Learn More and Get Involved