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Secondary
Piloted
Oct. 30, 2023
Lake Stevens School District is piloting a grade nine intervention Algebra curriculum titled Intensified Algebra. The curriculum will be piloted during the 2023-24 school year at Cavelero Mid High School. The intervention algebra model at Cavelero’s intervention model this year has two options (based on student needs).
- Students are enrolled in a two period block (one period focusing on math intervention and one period focusing on building math skills and building a math related growth mindset of our students utilizing Academic Youth Development).
- Students are utilizing the piloted curriculum utilizing a one period model.
Rationale for Initiating Pilot
- Big Ideas, the District’s core math curriculum, was adopted in 2015 and has been used in all secondary math classes since that date.
- Each year approximately 10% of ninth graders have needed additional support outside the regular classroom in Algebra 1 at Cavelero Mid High School.
- Various attempts at providing math support have shown some success in helping students to complete the Algebra 1 course, but that success seems to be short term.
- Intermediate Algebra, an algebra course that follows Geometry at LSHS and repeats much of the content from Algebra 1, typically has 3-5 sections due to the fact that students are not likely to be successful in Algebra 2.
- The problem has been exacerbated by the impact of the pandemic. There are currently 7 sections of Intermediate Algebra at LSHS.
- It seems apparent that a new fundamental approach may be necessary.
Pilot Goals
- Address the content area needs of students who are one or more grade levels behind in mathematics when they enter Algebra 1 as a ninth grader.
- Utilize social emotional instructional strategies through the Academic Youth Development portion of the course.
- Promote a growth mindset, student engagement, collaboration, perseverance and a sense of belonging.
- Provide teachers with diagnostic and CCSS-aligned growth measure assessments and data outputs to track student progress.
Why was Intensified Algebra selected for the pilot?
Intensified Algebra aims to transform thinking about how to teach algebra to underprepared students. The program presents a unique, coherent program that incorporates algebra instruction ideas from social psychology and other areas that historically reside outside of the domain of typical algebra classes but are fundamentally important to students’ success.
Intensified Algebra was developed by the Dana Center at the University of Texas, a nationally respected research institution dedicated for the past 30 years to provide equitable access to quality education in the areas of math and science.
Program Design
“Central to the design of the Intensified Algebra I program is the understanding that students who struggle in mathematics need more than simply more instructional time to be successful. Thus, in addition to a rigorous mathematics core, our program addresses the social, affective, linguistic and strategic cognitive and metacognitive dimensional learning of mathematics.”
Pilot Timeline
- Spring 2023: Submit Policy 6008F, Form A. Identify instructor(s) and potential students
- Summer 2023: Curriculum onboarding and instructor training provided virtually by publisher.
- Throughout 2023-24: Direct support from Intensified Algebra personnel
- 6/30/24: Pilot ends
The teacher adoption committee and Lake Stevens School District Curriculum Commission, which includes members from our teachers, administrators, school board and families, will consider the feedback collected from impacted parties to make a decision about the instructional materials at the completion of the pilot.
If families have any questions regarding the curriculum, please reach out to your student’s teacher. If you have any questions about the piloting process, please feel free to contact Mike Snow, Executive Director of Curriculum & Instruction at (425) 335-1500 or mike_snow@lkstevens.wednet.edu.