BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 359
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Date of Hearing: July 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
359 (Mitchell) - As Amended June 24, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 40-0
SUBJECT: California Mathematics Placement Act of 2015.
SUMMARY: Requires local educational agencies and charter
schools serving students in grades 8 and 9 to adopt and
implement a fair, objective, and transparent mathematics
placement policy. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes findings and declarations regarding the problem of
students being inappropriately placed in mathematics courses
at the secondary level.
2)States that the act shall be known as the California
Mathematics Placement Act of 2015.
3)Requires governing boards of local educational agencies
serving pupils in grade 8 or 9, or both, that do not have a
mathematics placement policy as of January 1, 2016, to
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develop, adopt in a regularly scheduled public meeting, and
implement a fair, objective, and transparent mathematics
placement policy that:
a) systematically takes multiple, objective academic
measures into consideration, such as year-end 8th grade
statewide assessments, pupil grades, and coursework
b) includes at least one placement checkpoint within the
first month of the academic year to ensure accurate
placement
c) requires examination of aggregate pupil placement data
annually to ensure that there is no disproportionate impact
in the course placement of pupils by race, gender,
ethnicity, or socioeconomic background
d) requires LEAs to report the aggregate results of this
examination to the governing board of the local educational
agency and prominently post the examination results on its
website. States that this report may be included as part of
the local educational agency's accountability report of its
local control and accountability plan.
e) offers clear and timely recourse for each pupil and his
or her parent or legal guardian who questions the pupil's
placement
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1)Requires each governing board of a local educational agency
shall ensure that its mathematics placement policy is posted
prominently on its Internet Web site.
2)Defines "local educational agency" to mean a county office of
education, school district, state special school, or
direct-funded charter school.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires completion of two courses in mathematics before
graduation from high school.
2)Requires that one of those courses, or "a combination of the
two courses" required for graduation meet or exceed the rigor
of the 1997 content standards for Algebra 1.
3)Establishes the Academic Content Standards Commission and
requires it to develop standards in language arts and
mathematics, at least 85% of which must be those developed by
the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Initiative. Requires
the State Board of Education (SBE) to accept or reject these
standards by August 2, 2010.
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4)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to
recommend modifications to the adopted CCSS in mathematics to
the SBE, and authorizes the SBE to adopt modifications to the
standards.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, "Unknown, potentially significant costs for LEAs
without a mathematics placement policy to develop and implement
one in accordance with the requirements of this bill. Costs to
the state would depend on the number of LEAs that would be
required to develop a placement policy as these activities, as
well as implementing the policy, could be determined to be a
reimbursable state mandate."
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, "Math
misplacement occurs when 9th grade students are held back to
repeat their 8th grade math course despite achieving a "B" grade
or better, or testing at proficient or advanced on state
assessments, instead of being placed in the next course in the
recommended math sequence as a freshman in high school. Most
universities, including the California State University and the
University of California, require at least three years of math
for college eligibility and prefer students who have taken
high-level math courses such as Calculus or Advanced Placement
Statistics. Failing to take high level math classes in high
school can have significant ramifications on the student's
future economic success."
Study finds many students who successfully pass Algebra in 8th
grade placed in same course in 9th grade. A 2010 study by the
Noyce Foundation which examined the math placement practices of
nine school districts and their effect on 1,700 students found:
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Nearly 65% of students who were placed in Algebra in 8th grade
were placed in Algebra again in 9th grade.
46% of 8th grade Algebra students who earned a grade of B- or
better were placed in Algebra again in 9th grade, or dropped
to a less advanced course.
45% of 8th grade Algebra students who met or exceeded
standards on standardized assessments (California Standards
Test or the formative Mathematics Assessment Resource Service
assessments) were placed in Algebra again in 9th grade.
Nearly half of the students who were successful in Algebra in
the eighth grade and who were placed again in Algebra in ninth
grade were no more successful in their second experience.
Evidence suggesting (but is not generalizable because of the
methodology of this study) that Latino, African American, and
Pacific Islander students who were successful in 8th grade
Algebra were less likely than other students to be placed in
Algebra again in 9th grade.
There are a "large and confusing array of names for math
classes" in 8th and 9th grades among the districts surveyed.
Math placement in 8th and 9th grade key to future achievement
and college-readiness. Placement in 8th grade algebra, often
described as a "gatekeeper" or "gateway" course, has long term
implications, generally determining whether students to advanced
mathematics in high school.
The state's Mathematics Framework, adopted by the SBE in 2013,
describes 8th grade math placement as predictive of course
taking patterns in high school. In many districts, students who
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are not on this track in 8th grade will only progress to
advanced mathematics in 12th grade by taking the extraordinary
measure of taking two math courses in one year. This has
implications for postsecondary options, as calculus or other
high level mathematics courses are preferred by many
institutions of higher education. The Mathematics Framework
also characterizes 9th grade as "a key year for students in
terms of future academic success," citing research showing that
most students who fall off track for college eligibility do so
in the 9th grade.
A new definition of "math misplacement." Prior to the
publication of the above data, "math misplacement" was typically
considered to mean the placement of students in courses for
which they were academically unprepared. The state's
Mathematics Framework states that "[math] misplacement is
common," and devotes the discussion of this problem
predominantly to the problem of students' lack of readiness for
the course.
Enrollment in 8th grade algebra has increased dramatically in
recent years, from 32 percent to 54 percent between 2003 and
2009, according to the CDE. Scores on the California Standards
Test in algebra increased for students overall during this
period, but scores have risen more dramatically for low income,
English learner, African American, and Latino students, as well
as students with disabilities.
Yet concerns persist about inappropriate placement in this
course. These concerns are based in part on proficiency scores
on the California Standards Test, but also on the observations
that many students retake Algebra in 9th grade, and that many
retake the algebra CST (which occurs each time a student takes
the course).
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Given the data presented above, coupled with research presented
below, the Committee may wish to consider if any part of
California's students' math "failure" could actually be success
in disguise.
How do schools determine math placement? Current law is silent
with regard to mathematics placement policies and practices.
The state's Mathematics Framework states:
Most districts typically rely on teacher recommendations
and course grades to determine course placement (Bitter
and O'Day 2010, p. 6), with standardized mathematics
test scores, student/parent preferences, and counselor
recommendations also factoring into the decision
(Hallinan 2003). Teacher and counselor placement
recommendations include subjective judgments about
"students' personalities, behavior and motivation" in
addition to test score performance. [emphasis added]
What causes math misplacement? There are several factors which
have been identified as leading to students' misplacement in math
courses in 9th grade. Among them are:
Over-reliance on subjective measures. Use of subjective
measures to determine placement may be a significant factor in
math misplacement. Research on math placement illustrates the
potential consequences of over-reliance on subjective
judgments in placement decisions:
A 2014 longitudinal study of placement of students in algebra
in 8th grade investigated the relationship between
standardized test scores and teacher evaluation of students'
math skills on math placement. It found that African American
students had 2/3 the chance of being placed in algebra than
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other students of the same ability. For white students, test
scores were a stronger predictor of algebra placement than
teacher evaluation, but for African American students teacher
evaluations significantly outweighed test scores. Students
who had high test scores but low teacher evaluations had only
1/10th the rate of algebra placement as students who had high
test scores and high teacher evaluations. For high-achieving
African American students, the rate of algebra placement was
40% lower than for high-achieving white students. Even for
African American students with high test scores and high
teacher evaluations, the rate of placement was no higher than
for those African American students with average scores and
evaluations.
Another study of math placement in an urban school district
found that among 8th grade students scoring in the highest
quartile on a statewide standardized assessment of
mathematics, placement in the 9th grade "gatekeeper"
mathematics courses differed dramatically by schools within
the same district. Overall, 27% of high scoring students were
not placed in appropriate courses, and low socio-economic
students were three times as likely as wealthier students to
be denied appropriate placement. The school observed to have a
culture of low expectations placed the least number of
high-achieving students in the appropriate courses.
Poor timing of data availability from some objective measures.
Data from statewide assessments has historically been
available only after placement recommendations have been made.
This should improve, however, with the state's new,
computer-based assessments, which will produce test scores for
non-performance items within weeks after test administration.
Absence of consistently-applied policies. There is no
statewide data on school districts' math policies. Some
districts, such as Capistrano Unified School District, do have
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clear placement policies posted on their websites. But
anecdotal evidence suggests that some school districts either
lack a formal, publicly-accessible placement policy, or that
their existing policies are not applied consistently.
Lack of coordination between middle and high schools. A
report by WestEd, "College Bound in Middle School and High
School? How Math Course Sequences Matter," found poor
coordination between middle and high schools in math
placement, reporting that of the districts studies, "none had
focused on the relationship between students' math performance
in early middle school and later course taking and
achievement," reflecting a "disjuncture, or lack of
communication, between middle- and high-school staff." It
noted that "middle-school staff never learned how their
students fared in high school; high-school teachers do not
systematically seem to know how their students had performed
in middle school before transitioning to high school."
Wide variation in course names. As noted above, there are
many names for mathematics courses used by school districts,
and this variation may result in improper course placement in
the transition between schools and districts.
Parental involvement. Research has demonstrated that more
educated parents are more likely to intervene in mathematics
course placement decisions affecting their children.
Concern in high schools about quality of 8th grade algebra
courses. A 2009 EdSource report notes a concern, expressed by
the CDE, that "some students who pass Algebra I in grade 8
might be placed in the course again by high schools that
criticize the quality of 8th grade courses."
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Non-unified districts. For non-unified school districts, math
placement policies may not consistently align between
elementary feeder districts and high school districts.
Lack of sufficient counselors. Likely contributing to the
problem of math misplacement is California's poor
counselor-to-student ratio. In 2010-2011, the state ranked
last in the nation, with one counselor for every 1,016
students.
What happens when districts implement a math placement policy
based on objective measures? According to the Silicon Valley
Community Foundation, twenty-two school districts are actively
working to improve their math placement practices. One school
district, the Jefferson Union High School District worked with
its four feeder elementary district to adopt a common math
placement protocol.
Another district, the Sequoia Union High School District,
reviewed its math placement practices and found that math
misplacement was occurring almost exclusively among students of
color coming from a lower income area. They examined the
reasons why teachers were recommending that students who had
succeeded in algebra were being placed in algebra again, and
found a variety of reasons, from concerns that students didn't
pay enough attention in class, to poor homework completion, to a
general perception that students weren't ready to face academic
challenges.
Sequoia Union High School District began placing students in
math courses based on test scores, and within a year had
achieved "accurate placement" aligned to ability between 96% and
99% of the time.
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Math misplacement may begin even earlier than 8th grade. While
there is no statewide data on math placement practices in the
transition between elementary and middle school, limited
evidence suggests that math misplacement may occur at this
juncture as well. For example, the Fremont Unified School
district website states that 6th grade students must take a math
placement test, and that "no changes may be made to a student's
math course pathway until after 9th grade." It also states that
absent students must take the placement test on the day they
return to school or they will "will lose the opportunity to
accelerate and will automatically be placed in the
non-accelerated course." The Committee may wish to consider
that while the 8th to 9th grade transition is a critical one,
math misplacement may occur long before. This bill, as proposed
to be amended (see Recommended Amendments below), includes a
permissive statement on the inclusion of the elementary to
middle school transition in math placement policies.
What math placement tests are districts using? Some school
districts use placement tests in 8th grade (and earlier) to
determine math placement, but there is no statewide information
on what kinds of assessments are being used - whether they are
aligned to state content standards, whether they are valid and
reliable for placement purposes, or how they are developed.
According to their websites, the Los Angeles Unified School
District and the San Diego Unified School District, and
developed their own math placement examinations for use with
their students. This bill, as proposed to be amended (see
Recommended Amendments below), lists placement tests that are
aligned to state-adopted content standards as one possible
objective measure that districts could use in their placement
policies.
Model math placement policy allows subjective measures to
advance students, but not hold them back. The Lawyers'
Committee on Civil Rights has created a model math placement
policy which relies on objective measures of achievement. It
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permits subjective measures such as staff recommendations only
to advance students, but does not allow them to hold students
back. This policy would allow a school to advance a student in
spite of poor test scores if, for example, the teacher knows
that the student is proficient in the content but has poor test
taking skills.
Two-year Algebra 1 policy. Current law requires that students
complete two years of mathematics in order to graduate from high
school, and that one of those courses be Algebra 1. This is
currently interpreted to mean that a student may take Algebra 1
over the course of two years and satisfy the two-year
mathematics graduation requirement. Enrollment in 2 year
algebra has declined from a peak enrollment of 760,000 in
2010-11 to 49,000 students in 2012-13, perhaps reflecting the
transition to integrated mathematics. AB 220 (Holden) of this
Session allows students to enroll in a 2 year version of
Mathematics 1 (integrated mathematics). The Committee may wish
to consider if students who successfully complete Algebra 1 in
8th grade are ever subsequently enrolled in a two-year Algebra
course, further degrading their chances of meeting college
entrance requirements.
Transition to Common Core mathematics means changes in rigor and
organization of math content. The transition to the state's new
Common Core aligned Mathematics standards means changes in both
rigor and organization of mathematics content.
The Mathematics Framework describes the new mathematics
standards for 8th grade as of "significantly higher rigor" than
those forming the basis of Algebra 1 in the past. In terms of
organization of content, the standards provide school districts
the option of offering either the traditional sequence of
secondary math courses, or an integrated math sequence.
Integrated Math consists of a sequence of three courses known as
Mathematics 1, Mathematics 2, and Mathematics 3 (with advanced
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topics in the fourth year). The integrated pathway presents
secondary mathematics as a connected subject, with each course
containing standards from the six conceptual categories of math
content.
A November, 2013 survey published by the Consortium for the
Implementation of the Common Core State Standards found that
more school districts had chosen an integrated sequence (32%)
than continue with the more traditional mathematics sequence
(26%), but that over 40% of school districts had not selected a
mathematics sequence.
Recommended amendments. Staff recommends the following
amendments:
1)This bill refers to districts enrolling students in grades 8
and 9, but does not specifically state that the policy must
address placement in those grades. Staff recommends that
Section 2(a) be amended to add "mathematics placement policy
for grade 9 ?"
2)Staff recommends that the section specifying examples of
objective measures which policies could include be amended to
read: "Systematically takes multiple, existing and objective
academic measures of pupil performance into consideration. For
purposes of this section, 'objective academic measures' means
measures, such as statewide mathematics assessments, including
interim and summative assessments, authorized by Section
60640, placement tests that are aligned to state-adopted
content standards in mathematics, classroom assignments and
grades, and report cards."
3)Staff recommends that the section requiring policies to
include a placement checkpoint be amended to read: "Includes
at least one placement review within the first month of the
academic year to ensure accurate placement."
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4)Staff recommends that the first sentence of the paragraph on
"disproportionate impact" be amended to read: "Requires
examination of aggregate pupil placement data annually to
ensure that pupils who are qualified to progress in
mathematics courses based on measures of pupil performance
selected for inclusion in the policy pursuant to (b)(1) are
not held back in a disproportionate manner on the basis of
race, ethnicity, gender or socio-economic background."
5)Staff recommends deleting a reference to local educational
agencies including a math placement report in their Local
Control Accountability Plans.
6)As noted above, inconsistency between elementary and high
school districts may cause math misplacement. To address
this, staff recommends and amendment to Section 2, add (b)(5)
to read: "For non-unified school districts, address the
consistency of placement policies between elementary and high
school districts."
7)Staff recommends addressing earlier math placement in the
transition between elementary and middle school in a
permissive manner, by adding: "Local educational agencies
may, at their discretion, also address in this policy
mathematics placement in the transition between elementary and
middle school or junior high school, as applicable."
8)For clarity in describing charter schools, in Section 2 (d),
staff recommends amending this section to read: direct-funded
charter school as described in Section 47651 .
9)Staff recommends amending the intent section to be consistent
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with the section on "disproportionate impact"
Related legislation. AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer) of this Session
prohibits students from being placed in courses they have
satisfactorily completed, except under specified circumstances.
This bill is now pending in the Senate.
AB 220 (Holden) of this Session allows the course Mathematics 1
(integrated mathematics) to satisfy a mathematics graduation
requirement. This bill reflects the option provided by the SBE
for LEAs to offer either integrated or traditional mathematics
courses aligned to the Common Core State Standards. This bill
is now pending in the Senate.
SR 60 (Mitchell, 2014) asks local school boards to develop,
adopt, and monitor a fair, objective, and transparent
mathematics placement policy.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Silicon Valley Community Foundation (sponsor)
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California State Conference of the NAACP (Co-sponsor)
Association of California School Administrators
Bayer Corporation
California Court Appointed Special Advocates Association
California School Boards Association
California State PTA
Education Trust - West
Public Advocates
San Francisco Unified School District
University of California
Numerous individuals
Opposition
None on file
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Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916)
319-2087