South SFV Today

A new initiative in San Mateo County, California, aims to improve ninth graders' success in Algebra 1 by integrating students below grade level with those at grade level. This approach was piloted by the Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) and has shown promising results according to a study conducted through a randomized controlled trial.

The study found that students who were initially below grade level performed significantly better on 11th-grade math tests compared to their peers placed in remedial courses. Additionally, these students had higher attendance rates and were more likely to remain in the district for all four years of high school. There was no negative impact observed on students who were already at grade level.

Thomas Dee, Barnett Family Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE), commented on the findings: “We’ve had highly contentious debates about math pathways that simply accelerate or decelerate students, but much less attention on supporting teacher practice in ways that might broaden our sense of what’s possible.” Dee conducted the evaluation with Elizabeth Huffaker, PhD ’24.

Victoria Dye, executive director of curriculum at SUHSD, emphasized the district's goals: “We wanted to create problem-solving classrooms where you can walk in and see students grappling with big ideas... And crucially, we wanted to remove the racial and socioeconomic predictability of ninth-grade math placements.”

The research was part of a collaboration between GSE and nine San Mateo County school districts under the Stanford-Sequoia K-12 Research Collaborative. Guillermo Solano-Flores led a project studying English learners' paths through math courses. His team recommended improving communication with families about course paths using visual tools.

Solano-Flores noted issues with national assessments used for ninth-grade placement decisions: “A lot can change in nine or ten months,” he said. He suggested using tests based on the district's curriculum closer to ninth-grade entry.

The Algebra 1 initiative began in 2019-20 and included intensive teacher training and support throughout the year. The district also developed a new math readiness assessment after eliminating remedial algebra courses.

Preliminary data indicated positive outcomes for struggling students without negatively affecting others, leading SUHSD to implement the initiative district-wide after one year. Diana Wilmot, director of research at SUHSD, stated they aim to identify students needing extra support without requiring placement tests.

Dee concluded that this research highlights potential beyond traditional debates over tracking: “This research suggests that also being attentive to instructional core can be really impactful.”