I think the goal is the integrated math curriculum.

They are making this change based on SFUSD doing it first and declaring it a win. Per this thread, either they didn't cut over to integrated in a timely manner or that wasn't ever part of the plan.



Is the idea to eliminate tracking or just punish over-achieving Asians?

It's the proggles's new education mantra: "No Child Left Ahead"

I'm not saying I'm in favor of this or truly know enough about what they're doing (in SF or across the state)...

BUT...

measuring things solely on AP enrollment is not ideal:

Are the years in question constant with enrollment overall? Declines in class sizes could dictate some big swings.

Did AP enrollment policy change?
Some schools cap the number of students in a section and sometimes schools have to limit the number of sections that can be offered. Also, sometimes students have a cap on the total number of AP classes they can take as a school rule. So potentially more students chose to take AP Government or Physics and didn't feel as strongly about taking AP Calc.

Are their anchors/benchmarks that would indicate that students were misplaced?
Sometimes year to year you get fewer students in AP classes because they're just not as strong as the previous year. The trend could potentially be seen in years leading up to 8th grade which would negate the premise of this complaint.

I'm of the mind to think it's all of this because:
SF is expensive so fewer families could afford to live there
Schools have to shift resources all the time
The trends prior to this were probably heading this way anyway

Revisiting this. So no, Integrated curriculum is not in play here.

The most charitable interpretation is that they want to promote more kids taking statisticss rather than pre-calc as its likely to be more relevant to them later. Why that requires eliminating the possibility of taking calculus in high school is unclear.

It's not eliminated, it's just less common.

And the compelling justification is?

Go away, batin’.

It's not compelling, but it's probably what you said.

The math thing is not super popular:

https://sites.google.com/view/k12mathmatters/home

Yes, but these people don't directly instruct undergrads and aren't Education Phds (lol) so their complaints have no merit, or something.

The staff shortages are brutal. A friend of mine back in Nebraska had to take an extra class last semester, giving up his plan time and leaving him with no break time from day start to day end. My stepdad, who taught in Sioux Falls for 35 years but has been retired for 8, has been getting phone calls from old colleagues who are administrators now and are desperate for staff.

Teachers trend older. In 2019 an estimated 18% of the workforce was working in spite of being of retirement age, and even then there was a 100,000 person deficit in the workforce relative to available positions. I can’t even imagine what it is like now.

It's bad. But don't worry, the district is offering raises ranging from 0.39 to 0.9% so I'm expecting an army of unemployed would-be teachers to show up any minute now.

We might have touched on this before, but IYO would an asynchronous model help or hurt in terms of retention?

In the short run? Hurt.

That teachers grabbing dollar bills in the hockey arena video...

South Dakota, babayyyy