CONTACT Debra Marlow

Director, Community Relations

748-1433

Nov. 13, 2007

For immediate release

Chesterfield County Public Schools is the largest school division in Virginia moving quickly to provide algebra instruction to every student by eighth grade, and this fall the school system moved closer to achieving that goal by September 2008.

In the fall of 2005, five Chesterfield County middle schools began implementing a new mathematics program designed to enroll all students in algebra by the eighth grade. Currently, all eighth-grade students in Carver, Chester , Falling Creek, Providence and Swift Creek middle schools are enrolled in algebra or in a higher math course. Chesterfield County’s other middle schools began implementing the new mathematics sequence in September 2006, which means that for the 2008-2009 school year all comprehensive middle schools will enroll eighth-grade students in algebra.

Algebra for all eighth-grade students is one example of Chesterfield County Public Schools’ efforts to achieve academic excellence for all students, which is Goal 1 of the school system’s strategic plan, Design for Excellence. With more than 58,000 students, Chesterfield is the fourth-largest school system in Virginia and one of the 100 largest school systems in the United States .

The program began after a review of research, which indicates that students who take algebra in middle school are more likely to take more rigorous math classes in high school and become better prepared for college. Additional benefits include eligibility for admittance to a specialty center or a governor’s school and expanded preparation for high school courses such as statistics or discrete mathematics.

“Twenty-first-century workers in a global economy are going to need mathematical and technological knowledge to succeed in jobs that we can’t even dream of today,” said Instructional Specialist for Mathematics Michael Bolling. “Our plan to enroll all students in algebra by eighth grade will allow students to explore more and different types of mathematics courses during their high school years. By providing more time and support in the middle school, I believe that we will see students becoming more confident about mathematics. Earlier and greater exposure to higher-level mathematics content will also lead to higher achievement on national standardized assessments like the SAT, which currently includes advanced algebraic topics usually taught in Algebra II.”

To achieve its goal of algebra for all eighth-grade students, Chesterfield made several changes to its middle school curriculum and took steps to ensure the program’s success. Students in grades six and seven were enrolled in Middle School Math I and Middle School Math II. Teaching time was nearly doubled for math and course content was streamlined by overlapping and combining similar mathematic skills and concepts. In eighth grade, students will enroll in Algebra I or Algebra I Honors. Recognizing that some students may take longer to master the foundations of algebra, the school system also offers a two-year sequence of Algebra I, Part One in the eighth grade and Algebra I, Part Two in the ninth grade.

Under the guidance of the school system’s Department of Mathematics, Chesterfield math teachers developed planning and pacing guides for instruction. Teachers received comprehensive training before the program began. During the program’s initial implementation years, all teachers of the new middle school math curriculum participated in full-day professional development once each nine weeks of the school year to review and revise the curriculum and develop and share instructional strategies and resources.

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