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The brief explains a 2014 policy shifting all middle school students into common heterogeneously grouped Common Core Math 6, 7, and 8, describes the rationale for the new pathway, and reports promising early outcomes.",{"@graph":14,"@context":72},[15,34,55],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & 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Placement in San Francisco  \nAPRIL 2019  \nAuthor  \nJoel Knudson  \nAmerican Institutes for Research  \nAbout the California Collaborative on District Reform  \nThe California Collaborative on District Reform, an initiative of American Institutes for Research, was formed in 2006 to join researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and funders in ongoing, evidence-based dialogue to improve instruction and student learning for all students in California’s urban school systems.  \nIntroduction  \nCalifornia school districts have long struggled to help their students reach high levels of skill and understanding in mathematics. Yet outcomes on both state and national assessments continue to reveal a combination of low overall performance, slow growth overtime, and persistently large achievement gaps among student groups. A push for improved achievement and greater equity has prompted districts to enact a variety of changes in policy and practice to counteract historical obstacles to access. These approaches have yielded varying levels of success, and educators continue to seek solutions with the potential to produce dramatic improvements in student outcomes.  \nOn the heels of an Algebra for All model that failed to generate desired results for students, and as the Common Core State Standards came into effect, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) adopted a policy in 2014 that significantly changed its sequence of mathematics courses at the secondary level. The district completely de-tracked its middle school classes, enrolling all students in the same heterogeneously grouped courses for Grades 6, 7, and 8. SFUSD’s approach represents a significant departure from traditional approaches to organizing mathematics courses, but early outcomes appear to validate the step in a new direction. This brief describes the rationale behind the district’s decision, the nature of the new policy, and the promising results the district has experienced so far.  \nThe Pursuit of Equity Stalls  \nSFUSD has long seen the importance of course sequencing and placement in achieving equity in mathematics, but the district has taken two distinct approaches over the last decade. Driven by a commitment to promote success for all students, the district had previously chosen to enroll all eighth-grade students in Algebra I in keeping with California’s Algebra for All recommendations. Ensuring access to high-level mathematics at an early age, instructional leaders reasoned, could combat historically inequitable practicesand give all students exposure to the coursework they would need for  \nsuccess in high school and access to a range of postsecondary options.  \nStudent results, however, revealed that the strategy did not achieve its desired outcomes. By the end of eighth grade, fewer than half of SFUSD students in the class of 2014 achieved proficiency on the Algebra I California Standards Test. By their sophomore year, only one third of students enrolled in Algebra II and took the Algebra II California Standards Test, and by the end of that year, fewer than one fourth of those students tested proficient. These troubling results were even more pronounced for the district’s African American and Latinx students (see Figure 1) .  \nFaced with these disturbing trends, district leaders consulted with experts, reviewed research, and explored the Common Core State Standards in mathematics to consider an alternative approach.1 Referring to conversations with the SFUSD school board, one district leader recalled making the argument,“This is what we’re doing now and it’snot serving our students,” and reflected, “I firmly believe our board came along with this policy because they saw these data.”  \nA New Policy Creates a Path Forward  \nTo respond to the shortcomings of the prior policy and take advantage of the state’s transition to the Common Core State Standards, SFUSD designed an","cbCaimGqOC0xWPXL","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimGqOC0xWPXL","pdf",506180,"English","# Introduction\n# The Pursuit of Equity Stalls\n# A New Policy Creates a Path Forward\n# Notes and Early Results","[{\"question\":\"What problems did SFUSD’s earlier Algebra for All strategy reveal?\",\"answer\":\"Results showed fewer than half of students in the 2014 class achieved proficiency on the Algebra I CST by end of eighth grade, and later proficiency on Algebra II remained low, with larger effects for African American and Latinx students.\"},{\"question\":\"What course placement policy did SFUSD adopt in 2014?\",\"answer\":\"SFUSD placed every middle school student in the same mathematics class by grade: Common Core Math 6 in sixth grade, Common Core Math 7 in seventh grade, and Common Core Math 8 in eighth grade.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the brief describe the purpose of Common Core Math 8 in the new sequence?\",\"answer\":\"It presents Common Core Math 8 as containing essential building blocks for future coursework, including concepts previously spread across Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II, so acceleration opportunities occur later after a stronger foundation is established.\"}]","Policy and Practice Brief - Pursuing Equity and Excellence in Mathematics - Course Sequencing and Placement in San Francisco - April 2019 | PDF",1792043370]