12 years later, San Francisco USD to offer Algebra I in 8th grade again

“Dive Brief: Twelve years after discontinuing a full Algebra I offering for 8th graders, the San Francisco Unified School District is bringing back the course at all middle and K-8 schools beginning in the 2026-27 school year. At most schools, Algebra I will be part of an “Expanded Math” pathway in which students simultaneously take Math 8, doubling their math instructional time. Students who don't qualify for automatic enrollment in Algebra I can still take it as an elective, while those who meet additional eligibility criteria can opt out of Math 8. The district hopes the move will help boost the number of 8th graders meeting grade-level math standards from 42% in 2022 to 65% by 2028, according to a message from Superintendent Maria Su. The district also sees the strategy as a way to increase the number of underrepresented students in advanced math courses. Dive Insight: The shift back to offering Algebra I in 8th grade marks the end of a three-year review process. During that time, the district commissioned an independent study through Stanford University to examine enrollment and outcomes in a 2024-25 pilot, and it conducted a survey of families that found nearly all (99%) supported offering Algebra I in 8 th grade or "engaged with questions" on how to implement the offering. The district concluded that the approach to math since 2014 has not led to improved outcomes: Fewer students were taking higher-level math classes than previously, and the numbers of underrepresented students who did so hadn't meaningfully increased, according to board documents . Tom Dee, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Education who co-authored the research , said the 2014 decision had been controversial. “There was a great hue and cry among parents — many parents who didn’t like delaying access to algebra,” he said. The original hope had been twofold: that detracking by placing all students in Math 8 instead of dividing them into Math 8 and Algebra I would improve equity in math outcomes, and that it was better pedagogy, anyway. “I viewed that [latter] argument with some suspicion,” Dee said. The district's 2014 Math Course Sequence Policy placed all 9th graders in Algebra I and offered compression — enrollment in two math courses at once — or acceleration options for students wanting to reach AP Calculus by 12 th grade. Stanford’s research concluded that despite a modest increase in African American students taking Pre-Calculus, overall the racial and ethnic gaps in student enrollment in advanced math courses remained. “One could characterize the 2014 reform as something that effectively lowered the [achievement] ceiling, whereas I would argue for an approach that raises the ceiling, and raises the floor,” Dee said. Angela Torres, mathematics specialist at nonprofit district tools and training provider Student Achievement Partners and a math content specialist at SFUSD from 2012 to 2021, wrote in an email that it’s “misleading” to say the district has “brought back” Algebra I because its Common Core Math 8 course included parts of the previous Algebra I course as well as high school geometry. Stanford’s research on the pilot found “substantial learning gains” for both those who took algebra in addition to Math 8 as well as those who took it instead of Math 8, Dee said. “There’s much to celebrate here. It appears to be successful, and it will happen at scale next year,” he said. “Making sure every qualified student is given a powerful signal that they’re ready for algebra can have important equity benefits.” But Dee said he is concerned that the research also showed many students aren’t ready for algebra, “and there are clear inequities in who’s ready.” “It’s imperative for the district to also focus on reforms and innovations in earlier grades to make algebra-readiness more equitable," he added. "My second concern is that the controversial reforms of the last decade have created a legacy of distrust among some parents.” According to board documents, the district aims for the new sequencing to provide various pathways for students that cut down on tracking, “promote equitable representation of students, and mirror the demographics of the district across race, gender, language, economics and status.”

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