CSU leaders appear ready to move forward with requiring extra year of high school math despite concerns
11/20/2019OP-ED: Requiring fourth year of high school math will leave more students behind
12/05/2019
Source: Los Angeles Times
A controversial Cal State University proposal to require a fourth year of math-related coursework for admission came under robust questioning and at times harsh criticism Wednesday from top state educators and others who said it would unfairly block black and Latino students from the system with no guarantee that it would improve graduation rates.
More than 90 social justice groups, education organizations, and school district and legislative leaders from across the state have voiced their opposition to the plan, first proposed in 2016 and enthusiastically embraced by CSU Chancellor Timothy P. White as a way to raise standards and graduation rates, close achievement equity gaps and better prepare California’s future workforce.
…
Elisha Smith Arrillaga, executive director of Education Trust-West, a nonprofit research group focused on educational equity, said she wants the CSU to identify schools and districts that would be disparately affected, create a plan in collaboration with the California Department of Education to minimize those impacts, and consider alternatives before taking up this policy.
