Ralston Principal’s Coffee - Math Curriculum, Pathways, and Placement

October 8, 2026

Agenda

• Curriculum & Parent Tools
• Math Pathways
• Math Placement
• Open Forum

Amplify Desmos Curriculum

• Adopted by Board in June 2026
• We have been using a similar version since the pandemic
• New teacher tools, performance tasks, language tools, personalized learning, mCLASS assessments, recommendations for a balance of paper and digital lessons, etc.
• There is now an official curriculum for 6th and 7th grade AS classes. They call it 6ACC and 7ACC.
• Updated parent tools resources

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum

• Workbooks and Caregiver Hub will help you to see and understand the curriculum
• No textbook
• Each lesson in workbook has a summary of the main skills
• Benefit of the online curriculum is it can be updated throughout each year
• Caregive Hub:
• Amplify Desmos Math 6–12 | Amplify

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum

• Caregiver Hub:
• Summaries of each lesson and practice problems
• Unit Glossary
• Vocabulary, definitions, examples
• Refresher Videos
• I will be adding the links to the math page on the Ralston website

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum

• 6CC Units

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• 6ACC Units (6AS)

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum

• 7CC Units

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• 7ACC Units (7AS)

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum

• 8CC Units

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• Algebra

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum & Ralston Math Pathways

• New challenges with curriculum and our pathways
• Here is a very simplified version of what each course covers:
• 6CC: 6A & 6B
• 6ACC (AS): 6A, 6B, 7A
• 7CC: 7A & 7B
• 7ACC (AS): 7B, 8A, 8B
• Missed curriculum:
• 6CC to 7AS: 7A
• 7CC to Alg: 8A, 8B
• 6AS to Alg: 7B, 8A, 8B

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RALSTON MATH PATHWAYS

• Why is this an issue now?
• Curriculum has shifted. For example, in Algebra we have been covering transformations. This has moved to 7ACC (7AS). It’s an 8th grade topic. There are many topics that have moved between grades/courses.
• Will we keep our current pathways?
• We would like to keep the current pathways because they promote a growth mindset. However, it means we will need to fill those gaps when we move students.

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum & Ralston Math Pathways

• How will we bridge the gaps?
• This is complicated and a work in process.
• Remember my model was very simplified with the 7A, 7B, 8A, etc. It’s not that simple/clean.
• I am having to look at lessons, standards, pacing at a very micro level to figure out what students will need to be successful if they accelerate.

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum & Ralston Math Pathways

• How will we bridge the gaps?
• Current Work in Progress:
• For 6AS to Algebra and 7CC to Algebra: Spring 2027 classes on Wednesdays from 1:15-3:15 pm and summer classes for part of summer
• For 6CC to 7AS: Summer classes for part of summer
• Exploring all digital independent options to complete coursework and opportunities to show mastery of content
• More details coming soon, but keep this in mind as you start planning for summer

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum & Ralston Math Pathways

• Will students still be able to take Algebra and Geometry concurrently next year?
• We are in year two of the pilot and it is going well. We anticipate that we will continue this next year.
• Students who were in 7AS and are recommended by their teacher may take the two courses concurrently in 8th grade. This means Geometry fills one of the elective slots for the year.
• Teacher will recommend based on strong test averages, strong work completion, ability to show work, social emotional factors, committment, etc.

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Amplify Desmos Curriculum & Ralston Math Pathways

Math Class Data - 6th Grade

Math Class Data - 7th Grade

Math Class Data - 8th Grade

*There are 84 students total in Geometry. 28 students are taking it as an elective. They are mixed into the three sections of Geometry.

Ralston Math Placement

• 4 placement measures
• First and second semester classroom assessment average
• Midterm and final exam average
• MAC - Mathematics Assessment Collaborative
• Summative Standards-Based Assessment
• Two measures are created internally and two are created externally
• Sample Letter

Ralston Math Placement

• Internal Assessments (Created by Ralston teachers)
• Quizzes and unit tests
• Average of Semester 1 and Semester 2
• Assessments are 70% of students’ grade in math
• Midterm and Final (Summative Assessments)
• Average of these
• Midterm and final scores aren’t included in students’ grades
• Midterm = January/February
• Final = May

Ralston Math Placement

• External (Norm-Referenced) Assessments
• MAC - Mathematics Assessment Collaborative
• Created by the Silicon Valley Math Initiative (SMVI)
• Around the first week of March
• Composed of 5 MARS Tasks
• Mathematics Assessment Resource Service
• Students solve multi-step problems. They show and explain their thinking.
• Problems generally have an entry point that most students can enter and then get harder.
• Students practice during the year, often part of unit test.

Ralston Math Placement

• External (Norm-Referenced) Assessments
• MAC Continued
• Scored out of 40 points
• Teachers go through training to score
• Training problems/samples, calibration, collaboration
• Scored blindly
• Different questions each year
• We calculate quartiles to determine corresponding rubric/matrix points and may adjust if cutpoints from SVMI differ or there were things we didn’t like about questions.

Ralston Math Placement

• External (Norm-Referenced) Assessments
• Standards Based Multiple Choice/Short Answer Assessment
• Given in April/May
• Typically 25-40 multiple choice/short answer questions
• Standards concepts/learned throughout the year
• We can adjust if we need to move this earlier

Ralston Math Placement Reminders

• We don’t use outside math courses to determine placement.
• You pay for outside math courses... Often they are going to tell you your student is advanced. (We hear the same thing from everyone).
• We don’t allow students to skip algebra. This is a critical foundational course for high school. A year of algebra in the school setting generally is way more rigorous than an outside course.
• We don’t use SBAC scores to determine placement.
• SBAC only tests grade level standards and post-pandemic the tests have gotten shorter and easier.
• We also don’t get those scores until the summer time.

Ralston Math Placement Reminders

• If a student is getting an “A” in a class it does not mean they are improperly placed.
• We don’t include the midterm and final in your student’s grade. Often it would be lower if we did.
• If a teacher feels a student is incorrectly placed during the year, the teacher can move a student.
• Our teachers spend a lot of time looking at the data and getting to know your students throughout the year.
• Please be kind to our math teachers. Math placement burns them out and takes away from quality teaching.
• We have years of placement data and calibrate throughout each year to make sure placements are correct.

Ralston Math Acceleration

• We may move students throughout the first semester.
• 6CC to 6AS
• 7CC to 7AS
• 8CC to Algebra
• We don’t move students from Algebra to Geometry.
• Typically there isn’t much movement from 7AS to Algebra.
• Based on data from the last 3-4 years, more students/families want their student to finish geometry before entering Carlmont.
• We caution not accelerating too quickly and many students just aren’t ready.

High School Pathways

Carlmont Math Links:

• Math Department Page
• Acceleration Policy
• Summer Course Contract
• Math Support

High School Math Placement

• How are Ralston students placed into Carlmont math classes?
• Based on 8th grade math course at Ralston
• Can choose to sign waiver to change math placement
• How are Ralston students recommended for Math Support at Carlmont?
• Teacher Recommendation
• Student/Family Selection
• SBAC/MIRA

*9th grader may not enroll in Algebra 2 at Carlmont.

Open Forum