Mary Perry / commentary
September 8, 2011

Math in the classroom ~ Photo by Charles Pieters

Photo by Charles Pieters

During years of focusing on how many 8th graders take Algebra I, Californians have frequently overlooked a measure of student operation that is crucial to students' long-term success in math and scientific discipline—their mastery of the land'south 7th grade math standards.

A new EdSource result cursory, California's Math Pipeline: The Class seven Pivot Bespeak, documents the many ways that students' agreement of 7th form math concepts is "both a benchmark indicator of the quality of students' educational experiences in math thus far and a meaningful predictor of their hereafter success in the field of study."

Students who successfully master these concepts—whether in 7th grade or earlier—are best positioned to take on the rigors of California's full Algebra I, college-preparatory math course.

Just as EdSource's February 2022 study of Algebra I placement in California revealed, 7th graders who don't score at the highest levels on the California Standards Test in math are less likely to practise well in Algebra I the adjacent year. In particular, 7th graders who scored at the very everyman levels in math very often have non mastered similar content past the stop of 8th class.

Further, a 2009 report by HumRRO shows that low-performing 7th graders are less likely to pass the math department of the California High School Exit Test past the end of loftier school, even though it largely tests the same seventh grade math concepts.

EdSource's new cursory is part of a series on California's math pipeline that looks at key benchmarks of how students are doing in math today and in the by, and how the movie compares for students from unlike ethnic backgrounds. And the data repeatedly come back to the importance of a strong foundation in math by the end of 7th course—an accomplishment that begins in the simple grades and even earlier. (EdSource adult the serial in conjunction with CSLNet, with funding from the S.D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation.)

The issue of middle grades math is getting attention throughout the country as educators begin the job of implementing the Mutual Cadre Country Standards, and EdSource is participating in two seminars on the subject. The showtime is at the Riverside County Part of Education on Monday, September 12. The 2d is a webinar hosted by SchoolsMovingUp on September 14.

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