Introduction

In 1992, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) and Culver City Unified School District (CCUSD) formed a partnership to improve the mathematics achievement of under- represented students in CCUSD. With input from the school district staff, university mathematics faculty wrote a grant to receive funding from the California Academic Partnership Program (see page 17 for information about "CAPP" programs). As a result, CSUDH and CCUSD, in conjunction with Hughes Electronics, received a three year CAPP grant beginning in Fall, 1993. The purpose of the funded project was to improve the mathematics achievement of students from under-represented groups in CCUSD in grades 6-12. More specifically, the goal was to eliminate defacto tracking in all math courses so that the ethnic distribution of enrollment in upper level classes would be representative of the overall ethnic distribution of the school.

Culver City Unified School District, a district of about 4000 students, is composed of five elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. According to the California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS), the Culver City population in 1991-1992 included 36% White students, 33% Hispanic, 13% African American, 13% Asian students, and I% other students. While African Americans and Hispanics represented nearly 50% of the entire population, they represented only 22% of the students in advanced mathematics courses (Algebra 2 and beyond). Similarly, African American and Hispanic students represented 41% of the graduating class, but only 20% of those students met the University of California or the California State University academic entrance requirements. In comparison, 70% of all Asian students and 41% of all White students were eligible for the two higher education systems.

Since the major goal of the project was to increase the college eligibility of under-represented students, a one year planning grant (awarded in 1992) targeted the high school program. However, after discussions and analysis of course enrollment patterns, it was discovered that a disproportionate number of students from under-represented groups were "tracked" into the lower levels of mathematics in the 6th grade and rarely advanced into the college preparatory courses. Thus it became evident that both the middle school and high school needed to be involved in the change process.

The Fall, 1993, 6th grade class became the targeted student group for this project. All 6th grade students that year were untracked and exposed to an enriched curriculum, which included non- traditional curricular units (for example,

Factors and Multiples, Addison-Wesley. Menlo Park CA, 1986) and a problem solving component. At the same time, two high school teachers piloted a new algebra program, the College Preparatory Mathematics (CPM) program (currently published by CPM Educational Program, Sacramento California 1997).

In 1994-1995, students in both the 6th and 7th grades were untracked and provided an enriched mathematics curriculum. The University of Wisconsin invited Culver City Middle School teachers to field test Mathematics in Context (MIC) materials (currently published by Encyclopedia Britannica, Apex NC, 1997) a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project, and the teachers decided to use these curricular materials. Enthused by pilot results, the teachers at the high school decided to implement CPM curricular materials in all Algebra I and Geometry classes.

With two years of an enriched curricular experience behind them, the entire 8th grade class enrolled in Algebra I in Fall, 1995 using CPM curricular materials. At the same time, the high school implemented the CPM program for all students in Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2.

Figure I highlights major features of the original Culver City Unified School District CAPP plan for 1993-1996 along with changes and revisions.

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