In September of 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1705 which would have fully phased in by Fall, 2025. AB 1705 would have created rules that mostly prevent colleges from offering remedial courses such as Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus. Essentially, AB 1705 would have made Calculus the lowest possible course for students with a STEM-related academic goal.
Are you noticing the would haves? Well, that is because on December 10, 2024 community colleges received a memo called Updated Guidance for Placement and Enrollment for Students in STEM Programs which allows community colleges to continue enrolling students in a two-semester sequence at transfer-level prior to Calculus, such as Trigonometry and Pre-Calculus.
So this means students with a STEM-related academic goal may take math courses lower than Calculus. At least for now…because the memo states community colleges should continue working towards a goal of making Calculus the entry-level course for students with a STEM-related academic goal.
In the meantime, how might schools in Merced County support students for the eventual possibility of AB 1705 finally becoming reality? Let’s acknowledge two things:
- We have room to grow
- We have the capability and the capacity to improve.
Room to Grow
As a county, we are making slow-but-steady progress in the years since COVID. We have room to grow, however, because we see that many of our students are leaving our K-12 system needing to take remedial math and English classes at the community college. Those students often get stuck in those classes and are virtually certain to NOT finish their degrees.
We have the capability and capacity to improve
There are several things within our sphere of influence that we can do to improve student outcomes. In no particular order
- Increase the percentage of students taking more than the state minimum two years of mathematics in grades 9 to 12.
- Adopt high-quality instructional materials.
- Support strong instruction through curriculum-based professional learning.
- Fully implement the suggestions found in the revised 2023 California Mathematics Framework. I’m thinking especially implementing suggestions found in chapters 2, 3, 4, 8, and 9.
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- Chapter 2: Teaching for Equity and Engagement(DOCX)
- Chapter 3: Number Sense(DOCX)
- Chapter 4: Exploring, Discovering, and Reasoning With and About Mathematics(DOCX)
- Chapter 8: Mathematics: Investigating and Connecting, High School(DOCX)
- Chapter 9: Structuring School Experiences for Equity and Engagement(DOCX)
- Support teachers through this massive change by providing ongoing and sustained in-class demonstrations and coaching.
I encourage you to contract with your local County Office of Education for support in implementing any of the five suggestions listed above. If you are in Merced County, you have easy access to one of the BEST math teams in all 58 counties. The Merced County Math Team has eleven math coordinators specifically trained to deliver transformative adult learning that is curriculum-based and math-specific. Your teachers will love it.
Do not hesitate to contact Duane Habecker for more information: dhabecker@mcoe.org
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