San Francisco hoped to close achievement gaps by adopting a new, detracked math curriculum that delays algebra till 9th grade, writes Joe Hong on CalMatters. Results are mixed, at best.
California’s proposed new math frameworkrecommends all districts follow San Francisco’s policies, citing the reforms as a success story, writes Hong. It’s complicated.
Fewer students are failing algebra — but the district dropped an end-of-course exam, making it easier to pass.
More students are taking AP statistics in 12th grade, but fewer qualify for AP calculus.
Joselyn Marroquin, a freshman at Lincoln High, is taking algebra and geometry in the same year, so she can take calculus in 12th grade. Her grandfather, who wants her to go to UCLA, paid $850 for her to take algebra in summer school, so she could handle the double load. Many families can’t afford that.
“It has led to even worse inequities and driven them underground,” said Elizabeth Statmore, a math teacher at the district’s Lowell High, the city’s top performing public high school. “People with means started finding other ways to get ahead.”
“Some schools offer a summer geometry course for which low-income students get priority enrollment,” writes Hong. “At other schools, students can take a one-year class that combines Algebra 2 and Precalculus.”