Math Placement Policy

In response to Senate Bill No. 359, Lodi Unified School District has developed “a fair, objective, and transparent mathematics placement policy” for pupils entering 7th Grade and 9th Grade beginning with the 2016-17 school year. Lodi Unified School District has developed placement guidelines using the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) (SBA Summative Math) scores, Mathematics Inventory (MI) score, standards-aligned common assessments, and mathematics grades. For this purpose, Lodi Unified School District has updated its math pathway and its placement guidelines for the 2016-17 school year.

Background on Pathways

Benchmark Pathway

The red pathway of courses represents the on-grade-level, benchmark Integrated Math series. Students in this pathway will follow the Integrated Mathematics course sequence approved by the State and LUSD Board of Education. An entry point to the accelerated pathway is available for students in this pathway after completion of Integrated Math I, represented by the magenta pathway. Placement in PreAP Integrated Math 2+ in 10th grade is based on evidence of above grade level proficiency for Integrated Math 1 and teacher recommendation.

Accelerated Pathway

Students that demonstrate well-above grade level proficiency at the end of 6th grade can qualify for the accelerated course series, represented in the blue pathway. The purple pathway is designed for students that decided to accelerate in 7th Grade but wish to re-enter the benchmark Integrated Math series in 9th Grade.

Strategic and Intervention Pathways

Targeted intervention courses are available for students identified as needing additional support before entering the benchmark Integrated Math course series. Students can be placed in this sequence in 7th or 9th Grade, based on academic performance, and are represented by the orange and yellow pathways.

Students that successfully complete the first two years of any of the six pathway course sequences in high school will meet the LUSD Algebra Requirement for graduation. For more details on course descriptions, consult the High School Course Catalog.

Background on Placement

Placement in 9th Grade will be based on four objective measures of student performance in 8th Grade: Smarter Balanced Assessment mathematics score, Math Inventory score, average 8th Grade math benchmark score, and average 8th Grade math grade. This placement decision is solely based on student performance and is not contingent upon completion of specific courses, with the exception of placement in PreAP Integrated Math 2+ or Integrated Math 2 (placement in these classes requires completion of Integrated Math 1 by 8th Grade). This placement policy has also been adapted for use in placing students as they enter 7th Grade.

Each of the four scores used for placement has its own scale (i.e., 2250-2770 for SBA, 0-1700 for MI, F-A for grades, and 0-100 for benchmark). Therefore, regressions have been used to rescale each measure to the same 1-4 scale in order to average the four measures.

Student profiles for each course placement (Math 180, HS Math, Int Math 1, and PreAP Integrated Math 2+) have been developed for each of the four measures.

9th Grade Placement targets for 2016-17
	Math 180	HS Math	Int Math 1	PreAP Int 2+
SBA	2265	2440	2585	2710
Math Inventory (MI)	470	715	900	1060
Grade Average	D	C	B	A
Benchmarks	45	65	82	95

For SBA scores, the placement targets reflect the state designated proficiency level cut-off scores. For Math Inventory (MI) scores, the placement targets follow the average MI score used for placement for the 2015-16 school year. For grade average, the placement targets are the customary proficiency levels used when placing students in 9th Grade classes. For benchmark scores, the placement targets mirror the commonly accepted proficiency levels.

A quadratic regression is then used to model the target for the four measures used for placement (R² ≥ 0.9992). The unweighted average of the four measures is then used to calculate the placement score for 9th Grade. The following cut-off scores are used to place students:

Class	Placement Cut-off	% of Students Placed in 2016-17
PreAP Int Math 2+	3.5 ≤ Score	7.3%
Int Math 1	2.3 ≤ Score < 3.5	45%
HS Math	1.3 ≤ Score < 2.3	36.7%
Math 180	Score < 1.3	11%