WASHINGTON — Advanced or intermediate algebra? Honors or basic geometry?

When it comes to high school math, the labels may not really matter — or necessarily predict what’s in the textbook.

Those revelations are part of the Education Department’s new study of high school math courses, released Tuesday. During their review of almost 18,000 high school students’ records and textbooks, the investigators found as many as a third of the textbooks weren’t about the subject printed on the cover. And within the subjects, the course titles were subjective and didn’t really reflect the courses’ difficulty.

“We have heard about grade inflation. Now we have course title inflation,” said Linda Rosen, chief executive officer of Change the Equation, a coalition of business leaders pushing higher math and science standards. “Learning the course titles don’t have much meaning in terms of high expectations and rigor is quite problematic. It’s counterproductive if we provide impressive names but rather meaningless transcripts.”

The findings have consequences for college-bound students. Admissions counselors look not just at grades but also at coursework on transcripts.

The findings also suggest that many elementary teachers are not preparing students for high school-level math and that many students who complete Algebra I and Geometry courses are not prepared for future classes, either during later high school years or in college. Educators at all levels are being forced to leave students behind or spend time on remedial material.

Parents and school administrators alike also should read the findings carefully. Simply enrolling students in the most difficult-sounding course is no guarantee they are receiving the most rigorous instruction or even using a textbook appropriate for their level. And schools, which spend millions on textbooks each year, might not be making the best investments during a time of limited resources.

The report graded textbooks on three different levels: beginner, intermediate and rigorous. But those labels didn’t always match up with how schools labeled their classes.

The study found that 73 percent of students who took an Algebra I course labeled “honors” were actually using a curriculum that would be appropriate for one called “intermediate” course. And students who signed up for a “regular” course were more likely to receive a rigorous curriculum than those who enrolled in one called “honors” by an almost 2-to-1 margin.