A new Integrated math pathway promises to give AUSD high school students more opportunities to develop foundational math skills and take higher-level math courses in their junior and senior years. 

 

The result of three years of staff work, the new integrated pathway will include the same content as the “Traditional” High School math pathway, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2.  The content in the new Integrated pathway will just be presented in a different order. 

 

The Common Core State Standards allow either pathway to be used.

 

The change in AUSD’s secondary math program is a result of several factors, including the fact that even before the COVID pandemic, AUSD’s math materials were dated, and teachers were working on the delivery of math instruction through a set of instructional best practices that were not supported by those materials.  

 

In the summer of 2021-22 Allison Krasnow, assistant principal at Alameda High, organized a two-day “Summer Math Institute” focused on best math instructional practices, math modeling software, and refining the articulation of our math curriculum with the state math standards. In the 2021-22 school year, Middle School teachers piloted three leading curricula including Carnegie learning, which was adopted as the Middle School math Curriculum in 2022-23.  

 

In 2022-23, a committee began reviewing new curricula for high school math, as well, and AUSD and SVMI (Silicon Valley Mathematics Initiative) presented a 3-day Summer Math Institute, during which 16 teachers explored transformative teaching practices to support student success, such as collaborative group learning and academic discourse.  

 

The move toward the integrated pathway came at the behest of high school math teachers piloting new math curricula. In a subsequent survey of secondary math teachers, 13 of the 16 teachers who responded (out of the 19 surveyed) said they support the shift to an integrated pathway. The other three who responded cited concerns about implementing a new pathway, all of which have been addressed.

 

The move to an Integrated Math pathway aligns with the District’s four goals for math instruction, developed in 2022:  

AUSD currently offers the Traditional Math Pathway:

 

 

 

The Integrated Math Pathway presents the same content in a different order, with different course names.  The resulting sequence is called Integrated Math 1, Integrated Math 2, and Integrated Math 3, and each course includes a “spiraling” of the algebra, geometry, data, probability, and statistics content.  This “spiraling” helps students consolidate and deepen their understanding of these areas over the course of several years. It also eliminates the gap year between Algebra I and Algebra II, during which many students have forgotten the Algebra I material. In Integrated 1 students spend more time connecting linear functions with real world applications and develop stronger conceptual foundations and problem-solving skills.  

 

 

Again, this Integrated Math Pathway has the same content as the traditional pathway, but provides options for accessing the content, including options for getting into higher level math classes. These courses also satisfy the “A-G” requirements for University of California, as well as the admission requirements for other colleges. 

 

A survey of more than 1000 secondary math students (587 in middle school and 466 in high school) found that the new instructional practices and the proposed curriculum found an increase in the number of students who are enjoying math, feel they’re doing well on tests, and believe their teacher cares about their learning. The survey also found a sharp increase in the number of students who say best practice instructional strategies – such as collaborative group work and academic discourse routines – are happening in their math classrooms. 

 

Opportunities to learn more 

The new pathways and courses will be introduced next year. This will not affect students’ placement in their courses for next year.  

The public is invited to learn about and make comments on the proposed new curriculum at: