When Nathan Grebil pops in at Rian Lynam’s seventh-grade math class at Del Mar Middle School in Tiburon, it’s no accident.
Grebil, hired this year by Reed Union School District trustees as a teacher on special assignment in math, is a man on a mission. His charge: monitor and encourage progress in district math classes — including a newly accelerated seventh-grade math program that will allow more interested students to take algebra I in eighth grade.
“RUSD has a large population of students who are ready for algebra I and we offer access to this option with teachers who are well-equipped to support them,” Grebil said. “Our goal is to always meet students’ academic needs, challenge them to reach their potential and support them to excel in mathematics.”
While no one discredits Reed Union and other Marin TK-8 school districts — Ross and Larkspur-Corte Madera are two others with a strong math focus — for pumping up their math programs and helping students prepare for advanced math in high school, a Marin top education official is questioning whether taking algebra I in eighth grade should be the gold standard.
The practice, the topic of many hours of debate during the preparation of California’s newly released math framework, is seen by some high-achieving families as a path to solid, four-year advanced math training in high school, including calculus in senior year.
All of this appears to have the ultimate goal of giving students a competitive edge in applying to elite universities, said John Carroll, the Marin County superintendent of schools.
“I think that the desire to accelerate to calculus at the end of high school is driven more by the desire to get into a high-end college, and not be the innate value that advanced math could provide in a student’s life,” Carroll said Friday. “It could be creating more stress than necessary.”
He said having calculus on one’s high school transcript is not necessarily a ticket to college entrance. A student going into engineering might benefit, but even then, the student would probably take calculus in college in any case, Carroll said.
Both the University of California and the California State University campuses require only algebra II for admission, Carroll said.
“I love math,” he said. “But I’d much rather see students take applied math, such as data analysis or statistics.”
He said a student would be fine to take algebra I in ninth or 10th grade, for example, if that allows for more readiness and exposure to overall math concepts.
He said the algebra I debate is part of a much larger issue that starts in elementary school with the standard memorization of multiplication tables and the like. Students who have trouble with memorization are branded as “not good in math” and sometimes set on a long path for less advanced math achievement.
They could potentially be very good in understanding math concepts, but may never get the chance because they have acquired a “not good in math” mindset and branding.
“So many people think, ‘I’m not good in math,’ but they haven’t gotten the real instruction about what math is,” Carroll said.
Laura Trahan, assistant superintendent in the Marin County Office of Education, said the county is offering workshops for teachers to help align their focus with the state’s new math framework. That includes an “emphasis on problem-solving and practical application,” she said.
“All of this flows with what districts are doing to make math reachable for all students and taught in a way that gives them opportunities and choices in life,” she said. “Math should not be a barrier for any student.”
Despite the controversies, there is no dispute that students in the Marin districts with the strongest math focus are achieving the best results in standardized tests such as the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, or CAASPP.
Test results from 2022-23 CAASPP will be publicly released later this fall, but school districts around the state have already seen preliminary scores.
“Early indicators of our CAASPP scores show that 80% of third- through eighth-graders met or exceeded expectations in math for the 2022-2023 school year,” said David Rice, the Ross School District superintendent.
“Ross School does offer algebra I in the eighth grade to students who qualify, based on a multiple-point rubric,” Rice said. “Ross School looks at who is ready, based on past test scores, teacher recommendations and parent approval to be in advanced math.”
At the Larkspur-Corte Madera School District, preliminary CAASPP data indicate growth in English language arts, math and science, said Brett Geithman, the superintendent.
“In LCMSD, we offer an accelerated math pathway that leads to algebra I in eighth grade,” Geithman said. “During the pandemic, we revised our middle school pathways to provide more equity and access.”
All students take math 6 in sixth grade, Geithman said. For an accelerated seventh grade, there are several paths for students to be recommended for a “hyper-compacted,” or pre-algebra, course, but even if not recommended by teachers, “all students have the option to accelerate,” Geithman said.
Additionally, any student who did not meet the criteria for pre-algebra “may select dual-enrollment in math 7 and math 8 in lieu of an elective,” Geithman said.
“Both pre-algebra and dual-enrollment in math 7 and math 8 are pathways to eighth-grade algebra I,” he said.
At the Reed Union School District, parents are celebrating the district’s multiyear focus on upgrading its math curriculum at the direction of Kimberly McGrath, the superintendent.
Starting in March 2021, Del Mar Middle School math teachers and the principal “requested a programmatic change to 7th grade to afford students the opportunity to participate in a combined accelerated 7th grade math class and take Algebra I in 8th Grade,” Grebil said.
“This request stemmed from several years of refinement and reflection of Del Mar’s implementation of the new state math standards adopted in the 2013-14 school year,” he said.
McGrath formed two math committees, one for staff and the other for stakeholders. The committees had a total of eight meetings from spring to fall of 2022.
The goal of the committees was “to meet students’ individual learning needs while creating excitement for mathematical learning and a readiness for high-level mathematics, including deep thinking,” McGrath said.
The committees’ plan focuses on curriculum, instruction, assessment, in-class and out-of-class opportunities and professional learning, she said. In the spring, Grebil was selected as the teacher on special assignment to help implement the changes.
In preliminary CAASPP results for 2022-23, 79% of Reed Union students met or exceeded the math standard, an increase of 5% from the prior year.
“I am excited by the opportunity to challenge our students to their highest potential with an inclusive math curriculum,” said Jacqueline Jaffee, president of the Reed Union board of trustees.
