Board reviews eighth-grade math pilot data; staff recommends phased rollout and supports

SFUSD staff updated the Board of Education on progress toward the district—s eighth-grade math goals and presented evidence from a broad pilot of Amplify Desmos Math.

The presentation showed that student outcomes for pilot classrooms exceeded matched comparisons of non-pilot classrooms by a statistically significant margin. Staff also reported that —exemplary— pilot teachers— classrooms— those with high professional development attendance and strong rubric ratings— produced larger gains, particularly for Hispanic/Latino students in the exemplary pilot subset.

Staff recommended a phased, districtwide adoption with a professional learning plan that balances curriculum-dependent and curriculum-agnostic supports, expands instructional coaching and narrows the number of supplemental tools to those with the strongest alignment and usage data.

Board members asked whether the mid-cycle curricular change reduces the probability of meeting 2027 proficiency targets and pressed staff for evidence tying recent supplemental grants or tutoring funds to improved outcomes. Staff said curriculum adoption is necessary to address prior audit findings about instructional materials and that gains should compound over time as cohorts experience successive years of aligned instruction.

Questions from the board and public raised budget concerns: licensing and consumable costs, ongoing annual fees, and how the district will preserve coaching and intervention positions amid budget pressures. Staff said the adoption recommendation includes estimated multi-year costs and that purchase timing reflected earlier one-time pilot commitments.

The board approved the associated adoption item later in the meeting (see separate item). Staff said they will return with quarterly implementation monitoring covering fidelity, student growth and budget impact.