Administrators, teachers and students gathered in N-208 at lunch on Friday to discuss math options beyond Advanced Placement Calculus BC at Gunn. The discussion came on the heels of the Sept. 12 school board meeting, where Superintendent Don Austin announced that Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education Guillermo Lopez and Assistant Superintendent of Innovation and Agility Jeong Choe would work with Gunn and Paly administrators to address multivariable calculus at the site level.
Math Instructional Lead David Deggeller began the meeting with a brief overview of mathematics options after AP Calculus BC at Gunn: AP Statistics, Applied Math Honors, Advanced Authentic Research and computer science electives are offered, as well as classes such as multivariable calculus and linear algebra available through local community colleges. These community college courses, however, do not count toward students’ GPAs.
The presentation was followed by an activity in which students wrote down their “hopes and dreams” for multivariable calculus on sticky notes and pasted the sticky notes on posters labeled “Statements” and “Questions.” After students grouped similar concerns together, administrators and teachers read out sticky notes that captured larger student sentiments.
“I hope that multivariable calculus will be offered as a course at Gunn,” one sticky note read. “If offered at Gunn, I hope it’s a weighted class.”
“Why is advanced math perceived as negatively affecting student mental health?” another read. “Is there any data that admins are basing this conclusion off of?”
Some sticky notes revealed possible misconceptions about multivariable calculus offerings: One noted, “Every single district around us offers it.” Although some districts, such as the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District, offer the in-person, weighted class within a regular schedule that some students are looking for, other Santa Clara County school districts, such as the Fremont Union High School District, do not.
Students also argued against including multivariable calculus as an offering at Gunn on their sticky notes. Junior Sophie Guibas, who accelerated ahead a year in math and is currently enrolled in AP Calculus BC, is strongly opposed to the addition of the class to Gunn course lists. “If you add multivariable calculus to Gunn now, that’s going to be the ending point and now everyone’s going to be expected to skip,” she said. “I feel like it’s just totally unnecessary, and you can always take multivariable calculus outside of school.”
In many ways, the perspectives shared echoed those at the Aug. 22 school board meeting, at which 25 students spoke out about math issues. However, Principal Wendy Stratton noted that the purpose of this meeting was to bring forward more voices than those that had already been heard. “That’s why we used this (sticky-note) structure, not to stymie voice, but to actually bring forward (new voices),” she said.
The meeting closed with a reminder that students’ feedback would be solicited and their questions answered via a “Question and Answers” document sent out after the meeting. According to Deggeller, it is unlikely that a similar meeting will happen in the future. If changes are to be made to the high schools’ math offerings, they would be through the Math Steering Committee, composed of district administrators, site administrators and instructional leads. “I would guess (that) if any changes were made, it would go through that body, but there’s lots of other forces in the district,” he said.
Paly is expected to have a similar meeting on Monday, Sept. 18.
