** California District Vignettes. Not available online.
Please read all California district vignettes before the meeting if possible.
These “district vignettes” provide brief overviews of the policies and practices in place regarding algebra enrollment in each of the districts represented on the Collaborative. Each vignette is an informal summary of the district’s current practices with regard to eighth-grade algebra enrollment and a description of the ways in which those practices will (or will not) change in light of the new state requirement. The summaries include descriptions of the strategies each district is using to prepare students and staff, as well as the challenges they face in implementing their plans. Collaborative staff interviewed leaders in each of the districts to gather the information contained, and vignettes were written in collaboration with each district. These vignettes will provide a backdrop for the first session of the meeting.
Hayward Unified School District
Long Beach Unified School District
Sacramento City Unified School District
Forthcoming via email:
Fresno Unified School District
Garden Grove Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District #4
Oakland Unified School District
San Bernadino Unified School District
Non-California Districts
Paek, P. L. (2008, January). Algebra for All: Norfolk Public Schools. Case study from Practices worthy of attention: Local innovations in strengthening secondary mathematics. Austin, TX: Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Available at http://www.utdanacenter.org/pwoa/downloads/siliconvalley.pdf
This profile highlights a professional development program for middle school mathematics teachers in Norfolk Public Schools (NPS). Since the program began five years ago, the number of students enrolled in and passing Algebra I and passing the Algebra I end-of -course exam in grade eight has more than doubled. The participants attribute the success of the program in part to a data-driven system to monitor students. (This description is part of a compilation of “Practices Worthy of Attention,” a joint initiative of Achieve, Inc. and the Charles A. Dana Center.)
**This document is considered a priority reading.