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California schools will test all kindergartners, first- and second-graders in basic math skills and provide them tutoring if they need it, under a bill on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a Democrat from San Diego, is expected to boost California’s math scores, which are significantly below the national average. Last year, only 37% of students in California met grade-level math standards, an increase from the previous year but still well below the pre-pandemic level.
“This bill will help more kids so they don’t get stuck at the starting line in math,” said Marshall Tuck, chief executive officer of EdVoice, a nonprofit advocacy group that’s among the bill’s sponsors. “There’s still a lot more to do, but this is an important step.”
Under Senate Bill 1067, schools will be required to test students for basic math skills and provide individual or small-group tutoring or other support for those who need help catching up to their peers. The tests are expected to be fairly straightforward. Kindergartners, for example, might be asked what order numbers go in, which numbers are bigger or smaller, and what quantities numbers represent.
Because math is sequential, students who start school not knowing their 1-2-3s sometimes lag behind for years. If they don’t understand addition, for example, they’ll struggle with multiplication and fractions. If they struggle with fractions, they’ll have a hard time with algebra. By high school, only 30% of students currently meet the state’s math standards, with low-income, Black and Latino students faring much worse.
Many districts in California already use early math assessments. Los Angeles Unified and Compton Unified both assess younger students in basic math skills, and both have seen significant increases in math scores in recent years.
If Newsom signs the bill, schools would give the first assessments in 2028. He has until the end of September to take action.
Teachers union’s waning influence?
The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and 71-0 in the Assembly with eight abstentions, despite persistent opposition from the powerful California Teachers Association — the state’s largest teachers union — and a handful of other influential education groups. They argued that mandated assessments make students stressed and fatigued, and would do little to improve students’ math performance. Instead, the state should invest in training teachers to improve the way they teach math, they said.
The CTA also opposed a dyslexia screener in 2023 as well as a bill that calls for a more streamlined education governance system in California. Both bills passed with bipartisan support, suggesting that legislators may be increasingly willing to vote against the powerful union.
“I think legislators recognize the issue is urgent,” Tuck said. “The state needs to do more to help students, particularly low-income students, in math.”
CTA president David Goldberg said the union takes positions on hundreds of bills every year, and it’s not unusual for some it opposes to pass. Although power dynamics in Sacramento constantly evolve, the union’s influence hasn’t changed, he said.
He pointed to the state’s recent investments in special education and community schools — both union priorities — as well as the union’s support for the relatively unknown Richard Barrera for state superintendent. Barrera defeated several better-known Legislature veterans in the June primary election. In addition, he noted that numerous local teacher unions represented by the CTA succesfully went on strike this year, resulting in higher pay and improved benefits for thousands of teachers.
“That said, sometimes things pass that we oppose, and we have to deal with that,” Goldberg said.
Like ‘a well-baby check-up’
In part because of the opposition, the math bill’s authors added a few amendments since the bill was introduced in February. One allows school districts that are already using assessments to continue using them, as long as they meet certain criteria. Another lets parents know how their children did on the test, something that Yolie Flores, president of the nonprofit Families in Schools, was especially happy to see.
“I tell parents, think of this as a well-baby check-up,” said Flores, whose organization advocates for improving school relationships with marginalized families, mostly in Los Angeles. “You want to know how your kid is doing, so you can get them help if they need it. Sometimes the report card doesn’t tell the whole story.”
Next: improved teacher training?
The math assessment joins a few other recent initiatives aimed at improving Califortnia’s dismal math scores, which have stagnated as the state focused on boosting students’ literacy skills in the wake of the pandemic. In recent years, the state adopted a new math framework and textbooks, expanded transitional kindergarten to all 4-year-olds, and greatly increased investments in community schools, which offer an array of social services intended to boost attendance and ultimately, academic achievement.
Next, Tuck would like the state to invest in improving math training for current teachers as well as those still earning their credentials.
Vince Stewart, vice president of policy and programs for the nonprofit Children Now, said his organization would like the state to take a more comprehensive approach to improving math outcomes, not tackling it bill-by-bill. A broader initiative should also include teacher preparation, professional development, addressing the math teacher shortage and other topics.
The organization did not take a position on SB 1067, but “absolutely believes there’s an issue with math performance in California,” Stewart said.
