Coming soon to a school district near you.
(San Francisco Unified School District allows no acceleration whatsover in middle school).

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Parents: Math test doesn’t add up

BY ELAINE GOODMAN
Daily Post Correspondent
Monday, April 19, 2021

Palo Alto Unified students who
want to skip a grade of middle school
math must first
pass five hours of tests
exams that some parents say are in-
tended to hold back higher-performing
students as a way
to close the district's
"achievement gap."
The optional tests, which the Palo
Alto Unified School District will ad-
minister next month, include a
two-hour exam plus a three-hour exam
given to fifth and sixth graders.

A fifth grader who passes the SO-
called validation tests can skip ahead
to seventh-grade math when they enter
sixth grade. A sixth grader who
passes the test may take eight-grade math
when they're in seventh grade. PAUSD
allows students to skip one grade in
middle school math.
But parents who talked to the Daily
Post said five hours of testing for children
in fifth or sixth grade is exces-
sive. "Needless to say, 10 or 11 year
olds are not used to such lengthy, high-
stakes tests," said Daniel Guhr, who
has three children in the district, in-
cluding a fifth grader and sixth grader.
Guhr, who heads an international education
consulting firm, called
a five-hour skip test "unheard of." In
comparison, the SAT math subject
tests, used in college admissions, are
60 minutes, Guhr noted.
In addition, parents said it's not clear h
ow the skip tests used by PAUSD were developed.
"While math placements are available for students
entering sixth grade and seventh grade, these tests are
not standardized and results are not either published
or predictable," said Ting Yao, who has two children
in PAUSD schools, including a son in sixth grade.
PAUSD Superintendent Don Austin told the Post
that the concerns were coming from "a small group of
parents who want to super-accelerate their students."
"I don't think it's a real issue," Austin said.
Sharon Ofek, associate superintendent of educa-
tional services, described the validation test for sixth
graders as "untimed."
"However, time allotments (for scheduling purpos-
es) add up to a total of five hours," Ofek said on Fri-
day. "Students typically complete the assessments in
a shorter time frame."
Ofek didn't answer a question from the Post about
how the tests were developed.

Eliminating lanes

The validation tests, known informally as "skip
tests," are part of PAUSD's overhaul of its mid-
dle-school math program announced in Decerrber
2019. A goal of the revised program is to reduce the
"achievement gap" between disadvantaged students
and others.
A key piece of the plan is the "de-laning" of mid-
de school math students. In de-laning, students are
grouped together for math class instead of being di-
vided into different classes based on their math pro-
ficiency.
"Experts in mathematics education agree that track-
ing (or laning) students early in their education limits
both high- and low-performing students, which ulti-
mately leads to lower achievement overall," PAUSD
said in a "frequently asked questions" document on
middle school math dated Feb. 22. "Heterogeneous
classes result in a deeper understanding of mathemat-
is for the high achieving students, while simultane-
ously raising the achievement of struggling students."
But some parents disagree with the de-laning ap-
proach, saying research doesn't support it.
"PAUSD repeatedly claims that multilevel class-
rooms are good for students and reduce disparities,"
said Allyson Rosen, whose daughter is a freshman at
Palo Alto High. "I hear loads of complaints in middle
school from parents and students about these classes.
A teacher can
be wonderful, but how do you deliv-
er multiple lectures for multiple different levels in
the same classroom? Everyone suffers because they
don't get what they need."

Different approach in Los Altos

Some say they prefer the approach used in nearby
districts such as Los Altos School District. In those
districts, middle-school students generally have three
math pathways. One is a "grade level" path that cov-
ers the state's minimum requirements.
Other students take an intermediate route that leads
to algebra in eighth grade, while more advanced stu-
dents may take algebra in seventh grade and honors
geometry in eighth grade.
PAUSD's overhaul of middle-school math is tak-
ing place in stages. Changes to sixth-grade math
are the focus this school year, with revisions to sev-
enth-grade math planned for the 2021-22 school year
and changes to eight-grade math in 2022-23.
When asked whether the changes were accom-
plishing the goal of closing the achievement gap at
PAUSD, Ofek noted on Friday that the new approach
to middle school math is now in its seventh month of
implementation for sixth-graders.
"Outcomes will be monitored as the instructional
shifts are phased in over time," she said.

"Too easy and too basic'

Yao, the parent of two PAUSD students, said both
her children have been frustrated with the district's
elementary and middle-school math classes because
they are "simply too easy and too basic." Her son
passed the skip test and now, as a sixth grader, is tak-
ing Math 7A, "a less boring class but (it) still doesn't
give him enough challenge,' she said.
Yao was looking forward to eighth grade, when her
son would be in Geometry Honors, which she called
shiable
a "highly praised class." ." But now, the district has
ap-
parently eliminated Geometry H for eighth graders,
replacing it with a class called Geometry 8.
Yao said she hasn't been able to get
answers from
the district about the change.
"Aside from the technicalities of the math curric-
ulum,
am even more concerned about the lack of
transparency
and lack of communication on such a
significant change," she said.

Lawsuit

The debate over middle school math comes after
one parent took PAUSD to court over his son's math
placement. Parent Avery Wang sued the district in
Santa Clara County Superior Court last year, alleging
that PAUSD's math placement practices violated two
sections of the California Education Code.
Wang is a co-founder and inventor of Shazam, an
app that can identify songs,
movies or TV shows
from a snippet of sound.
In response to the lawsuit, PAUSD officials said
they believed they were in compliance with the edu-
cation code at all times.
The two sides settled the case in December. The
district agreed to move Wang's ninth-grade son into a
more advanced math class and paid Wang $5,000. In
exchange, Wang dropped his allegations of education
code violations.
But Wang still has concerns about middle-school
math at PAUSD, including the upcoming skip test.
"Five hours - what fifth grader could concentrate
for that long?" he said. "Because of their new de-lan-
ing philosophy, they want to make it as difficult as pos-
sible for kids to break out of the one-size-fits-all plan."