San Francisco’s “woke maths” experiment
San Francisco’s school district was facing a problem. Only 19% of tenth graders had passed the state maths exam and were not required to repeat a maths course. That number decreased even further, to 1%, among black pupils. And so, in 2014 San Francisco made the decision to shift Algebra I from eighth grade (around 13 years old) to ninth grade for all students, with the hope that an additional year of math education would better prepare them.
Nearly ten years later, after much controversy, the first evaluation of the change was published in March by researchers at Stanford University. Disappointingly for both supporters, who had anticipated improved racial equality, and critics, who saw the initiative as another attack on excellence by woke educators, the program showed minimal impact.
“Our students…are definitely NOT receiving equal treatment,” stated Richard Carranza, San Francisco’s former school superintendent in 2015. “That will change!” When asked why no other district had implemented a similar approach, he responded, “San Francisco always leads the way, the others eventually catch up.”
2023-05-18 07:47:34
Article from www.economist.com
rnrn
