Written by T. Logan Dayne
San Francisco is being met with complicated and mixed results after implementing an “equity” based approach to teaching mathematics in the classroom. The San Francisco Unified School District, in attempting to lower the rate of failing grades for Algebra 1 for low income, Black, and Latino students, inadvertently lowered standardized testing scores.
Under the pre-2014 curriculum, Algebra 1 would be taught during the 8th grade, allowing adequate time for students to master the concepts needed to prepare them for calculus in high school which would further help them get into college. The new curriculum put off Algebra 1 until the 9th grade giving students more time to prepare to master the concepts needed. In some ways the concept was successful. After the curriculum was adopted, fewer students across all demographics failed Algebra 1. A good sign as the number of those who needed to retake Algebra 1 dropped from 50% to 7%. This is only one side of the puzzle though, as schools with a higher proportion of Black and Latino students fared far worse on standardized testing. The O’Connel High school for example, has a considerable amount of Black students enrolled. In the 2014-15 school year, only 6% of these students met state math standards. In the 2018-19 school year, it dropped to 0%. As grades can always be adjusted based on the teacher and curriculum, standardized testing remains a good model from which to draw data. This shows that the curriculum designed to help those who need it most, may have some severe negative consequences as well. The curriculum also eliminates placement tests for algebra. Parents have fought against the policy saying that it holds everyone to the same level, meaning those who have higher proclivity towards math are held back.
This may be bad news for the San Francisco school board but the results do not end there. The current model the San Francisco has put forth is also being proposed for California state wide. The proposal is still set to be finalized in July despite questionable data and vehement pushback by parents against the framers. One group pushing against the curriculum, Families for San Francisco, says that the district is misleading the public on data. The group says that the rate at which students are retaking Algebra 1 dropped from 40% to 70%, the district eliminated the placement test which would have reduced the repeat rate.
Photo Cred: Nina Riggio/ CalMatters
