Announcement Details
Announcement Message
Dear SFUSD Families:
Over the past two years, the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) tried out different ways to offer Algebra I to students in 8th grade.
Now, we are considering permanent ways to offer Algebra I to students in 8th grade beginning in the 2026-27 school year. We invite you to take a brief survey by 5:00 pm on Monday, March 9 to share your perspectives and questions. Access the survey in:
If you're having trouble opening the survey, try using a private/incognito browser window in your browser of choice (Chrome, Safari) on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet.
Zoom Webinar for Families: SFUSD staff will hold a virtual Zoom webinar from 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm on Thursday, March 5 for SFUSD parents and guardians who have questions about the survey and Algebra I considerations. Spanish and Cantonese interpretation will be provided. If you plan to attend and would like interpretation in another language, please submit your language request to newsline@sfusd.edu by 4:00 pm Wednesday, March 4.
Please keep reading to learn more about how we arrived at the options presented in this survey.
Community Input: The different options were created with input from families, teachers, and principals. We gathered feedback in a variety of ways, including conversations with parent advisory groups, discussions at staff meetings, focus groups, and town hall meetings.
Pilot Models for Schools: Based on this community input, the following Algebra I models were finalized for middle and K-8 schools to choose from for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years:
- Algebra I as one of their Electives (in addition to Math 8)
- Math 8/Algebra I Compression
- Algebra for All: (all 8th graders enrolled in Algebra I and skipped Math 8)
- Online Algebra I
In the end, most schools choose one of two approaches:
- Algebra I as an Elective: Students took both Math 8 and Algebra I during 8th grade.
- Algebra for All: All 8th graders at a school took Algebra I and skipped Math 8.
Stanford Research: During the pilot, researchers from Stanford University also followed students’ enrollment and academic progress across all of the models and studied the results.
Here is an overview of what we learned from the Stanford research for the 2024-25 8th grade pilot students:
Algebra I as Elective Students took both Math 8 and Algebra I | Algebra for All Students took Algebra I instead of Math 8 | |
Impact at the end of 8th grade last year | These students made large gains in math proficiency on the state assessment at the end of the 8th grade year. | These students did not have any notable positive or negative differences in math proficiency on the state assessment at the end of the 8th grade year. |
Impact on students who were less well-prepared for Algebra I | Students who opted in to Algebra I without meeting the minimum criteria still made meaningful progress/gains on the state assessment. | Students who may have been less well-prepared for Algebra I did not decrease notably on the state assessment. |
Impact during 9th grade thus far | These students continue to excel in high school math, showing high performance on the district assessment in the fall. | The students do not show any notable differences in performance on the district assessment in the fall. |
Overall, our analysis shows that offering Algebra I as an elective gave schools more choices, helped more students take the class, and worked well with different school schedules.
Next Steps: We expect to bring a recommendation on SFUSD’s Math Placement Policy to the Board of Education for approval on March 24, 2026. Your feedback and input are valuable as we consider these options. We are also engaging with middle grades students, teachers, and principals to understand their thoughts, experiences, and questions as well.
We appreciate your partnership.
Sincerely,
Dr. Maria Su
SFUSD Superintendent