Course Sequence
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Read the SFUSD FAQ about the new course sequence:
Read our Course Sequence Recommendation to the Board, adopted on February 25, 2014.
Read the position paper outlining the course sequence and the evidence that supports it. We are excited to see evidence that high school students are taking more math and science classes, as shown in this course taking data for juniors and seniors (updated May 2018).
Options in High SchoolFind out more about the variety of options available to SFUSD High School students.
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Support for our Course SequenceHistoric shifts in Math show promise - Students significantly more likely to pass Algebra the first time
PRESS RELEASE: New SFUSD data show that students who took Common Core Algebra 1 in ninth grade were 83 percent less likely to have to repeat the course than students who took Algebra 1 in eighth grade. The comparison between current juniors and seniors marks SFUSD’s transition to its current approach to secondary math instruction. |
Course Sequence
This course sequence ensures a solid middle-grades foundation that not only supports all students to successfully meet the UC “c” requirement, but also prepares them for college mathematics. One core sequence provides focus and coherence as schools and teachers implement the CCSS-M and supports equity by creating a path for all students to experience rigorous mathematics.
Implementation of the CCSS-M requires each student to have a focused, coherent, and rigorous learning experience in mathematics that makes sense to students as they move from course to course, and that ensures students are college-ready by the end of high school. . Focusing deeply on fewer concepts allows students to gain strong foundational conceptual understanding, and developing coherence across grades allows students to build upon deep conceptual understanding from earlier years so that each standard is not a new event, but an extension of previous learning.
Analyses of current student course-taking patterns show students are progressing through a wide variety of course sequences, with a significant population of students repeating courses, especially underserved students, while other students skip courses. In California, the move to have all 8th graders take Algebra has increased the number of students who fail and repeat Algebra, and this adversely affects underserved students.
As we move into a time of dramatically increased rigor and alignment in the K–12 math sequence, we need to make the necessary adjustments to ensure every student has access to an aligned course sequence in which high-quality teaching and learning are the norm. Historically, rigor has meant doing higher grade-level material at earlier grades, and equity has meant providing all students equal access. The CCSS-M require a shift to seeing rigor as depth of understanding and the ability to communicate this understanding, and to seeing equity as providing all students equal success.
Implementation of the CCSS-M requires each student to have a focused, coherent, and rigorous learning experience in mathematics that makes sense to students as they move from course to course, and that ensures students are college-ready by the end of high school. . Focusing deeply on fewer concepts allows students to gain strong foundational conceptual understanding, and developing coherence across grades allows students to build upon deep conceptual understanding from earlier years so that each standard is not a new event, but an extension of previous learning.
Analyses of current student course-taking patterns show students are progressing through a wide variety of course sequences, with a significant population of students repeating courses, especially underserved students, while other students skip courses. In California, the move to have all 8th graders take Algebra has increased the number of students who fail and repeat Algebra, and this adversely affects underserved students.
As we move into a time of dramatically increased rigor and alignment in the K–12 math sequence, we need to make the necessary adjustments to ensure every student has access to an aligned course sequence in which high-quality teaching and learning are the norm. Historically, rigor has meant doing higher grade-level material at earlier grades, and equity has meant providing all students equal access. The CCSS-M require a shift to seeing rigor as depth of understanding and the ability to communicate this understanding, and to seeing equity as providing all students equal success.
Superintendent Carranza's comments to the School Board at the March 10, 2015, meeting address concerns about the Course Sequence.
