A new Texas law calls for every student who performs in the top 40% on a fifth-grade math assessment to be enrolled automatically in advanced math for sixth grade.

Ninth-11th grade: students must achieve a minimum three quality points or a “D” letter grade average in yearlong courses and one quality point or a “D” letter grade in semester-long courses.

The average white male student who received a C or better grade in a STEM course went to complete his intended major 48% of the time, but for a female student from an underrepresented minority ...