Math Placement

Math Placement - The Law

  • SB 395 (CA Math Placement Act of 2015) became law on January 1, 2016
  • Requires governing boards to adopt "a fair, objective, and transparent mathmatics placement policy"
  • ECS BP 6152.1 satisfies requirement
  • Annual review of 9th grade math palcement data to include a report to the governing board

Multiple measures for placement

Initial placement is done with 4 criteria: math placement test score, 8th grade teacher recommendation, current grade in 8th grade math course and 7th grade CAASPP score. Criteria are placed in order of importance as: (1) teacher recommendation, (2) math placement score, (3) current grade and (4) 7th grade CAASPP score.

All incoming 9th graders are given the EHS Math Department test two times, first in March and second during the first week of school in August. During the first week of school in Fall, all students in Essentials of Algebra, Alegbra 1A, and Algebra 1 were given the EHS Math Department Placement Test. The second testing of 9th graders helped us catch any students who did not test in march and get a baseline for the year.

The cutoff scores, in general, are:

  • 0-7 are placed in Essentials
  • 8-14 are placed in Algebra 1A
  • 15-24 are placed in Algebra 1
  • Scores above 24 are placed in Accelerated Math 9 (Alg 1/Geo A). The maximum score is 30.