Students who take the accelerated math classes outperform students in regular math classes, regardless of academic standing.
In an attempt to focus on acceleration over remediation to support students post-pandemic, the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) on Wednesday looked over data encouraging the enrollment of all middle school students into Math 6 accelerated courses.
As per data presented by Assistant Superintendent of Research Chris Brown, in the 2021-2022 school year, students who took Math 6 Accelerated, regardless of academic standing, showed a greater growth in iReady standardized test scores from the fall to winter terms than those who did not.
Math 6 Accelerated covers a full year of Math 6—the standard math class for sixth graders—and an additional half year of Math 7. Successfully completing Math 6 Accelerated ensures students will learn pre-algebra in Math 7 Accelerated and will be able to take Algebra 1 in eighth grade.
Criteria on student qualifications for Math 6 Accelerated has been adjusted year-to-year but are typically based on elementary school grades and test scores.
Brown showed the comparison in growth between schools that offered only Math 6 Accelerated and those that continued to offer accelerated and regular Math 6. The former had the greatest growth among both traditional accelerated math students and non-traditional math students.
“This idea of acceleration doesn’t only enhance performance, it enhances access for students,” Brown said. “It’s true this year, it’s true historically in schools in Long Beach. Many schools have this idea that we can accelerate kids and provide support, and we have better outcomes.”
Students who took the accelerated course in both instances showcased a similar growth of 9.2 and 9.3 points respectively. However, students who did not take the accelerated course had a growth of only 4.3 points. The growth for sixth grade overall was stronger in schools that solely offer Math 6 Accelerated.
“This finding held true, not just in some schools but really all of our schools across the system, including our Title 1 schools,” Brown said.
Brown further explained that the average growth of students who are recommended for Math 6 but were placed in Math 6 Accelerated was 7.1 points, whereas Math 6 candidates that stuck to general Math 6 had a 4.3 point growth.
Traditionally advanced students also benefit from partaking in mixed classes, showing a 12% growth when they take the course with non-traditionally advanced students.
Furthermore, not only are students who take Math 6 Accelerated showing a greater growth in iReady, but they are also more likely to get a C or better in Algebra 1 once they take the course.
Brown and his team looked at 2014 to 2019 data from about 16,800 students and found that students who took Math 6 Accelerated, regardless of meeting the “ready” criteria, are more likely to pass Algebra 1 with a grade of C or higher.
Given that Algebra 1 is crucial to accessing the next two A-G required math courses–Geometry and Algebra 2– as well as higher-level math courses such as pre-calculus and statistics, students who take Math 6 Accelerated are subsequently more likely to graduate and complete their A-G requirements.
More specifically, by looking at the course history of students who completed Algebra 1 in ninth grade with a D, those students who continued to Geometry were more likely to graduate with their math A-G requirement than those who took a remedial Algebra class instead.
Brown acknowledges that despite the encouraging data, there are still gaps to be addressed. Not every student who gets a D then completes their A-G. He views the data instead as an outline that’ll inform decision-making down the line.
Assistant Superintendent of Middle/K-8 Schools Christopher Lund said that, though the preliminary data may be positive, transitioning schools to offer Math 6 Accelerated only is a big shift.
“It’s not just pushing students into accelerated courses, it’s how do you support them once they’re in that program,” Lund said.
