During a School Committee meeting Tuesday, Superintendent Dave Murphy denied a report that 60% of rising ninth graders at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School would have to retake algebra. He called that figure false, though he did not provide an updated number, saying the district “will be putting additional data out there in the coming weeks to help clarify this.”
Murphy did give some numbers that call into question the 60% figure. Half of ninth graders at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School are scheduled as of July to take a more advanced math class than Algebra 1 in the 2026-27 school year, and about 45% are scheduled to take Algebra 1, according to Murphy’s presentation.
The district did not immediately reply to an inquiry regarding the accurate percentage.
Cambridge has spent decades debating whether to require eighth-graders to take Algebra 1, which accelerates a student’s readiness to take more advanced math courses in high school. The district removed Algebra 1 at the middle school level after post-pandemic outcome data reached a low in 2022, and reintroduced it at the start of the 2025-26 school year.
Students who take algebra in middle school are in position to complete a calculus course before graduation. Murphy said in the upcoming school year, 108 CRLS students, representing about a fifth of a typical grade cohort, are scheduled to take Multivariable Calculus, an advanced elective course that follows Single-variable Calculus.
Murphy also spoke to the goal of the initiative at the meeting.
While the “number of students in ninth grade taking a more advanced class than Algebra One” had “doubled” in the last two years, Murphy said it is not a long-term goal of the district to ensure all ninth graders have completed algebra before they start high school.
The August 4 meeting was the committee’s first regular meeting since June. Other updates to come out of the meeting include:
- Murphy gave updates on a May audit on screen-usage within the district, and noted variability in take-home screen data across the district’s upper schools. The findings will inform strategies that will be discussed at an August 10-14 leadership retreat with the district’s principals. Committee Member Elizabeth Hudson suggested that Murphy present to families what screen usage looks like throughout a child’s day at school.
- The committee adopted a motion setting a mid-October deadline for a recommendation from Murphy regarding the future of the building vacancy at 158 Spring Street.
- Murphy noted “very encouraging data” regarding elementary literacy rates, which he attributed in part to the new aligned ELA curriculum adopted by the previous administration. Committee members emphasized the urgency of the issue. Member Arjun Jaikumar raised concerns about persistent gaps in literacy rates at the middle and high school levels.
- Representatives from Attuned Education Partners, an external firm hired to help the district develop a strategic plan that will inform the next four school years, presented on the plan’s progress. Recently released teacher survey results along with observations from 104 classroom visits are among the data that will inform the plan. The plan will be finalized by the end of the year.
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Imagine how much more the half of ninth graders who are taking a more advanced class would have learned in eighth grade if their teachers hadn’t been spending a lot of time teaching to the students who didn’t pass.
It doesn’t matter whether that number is 60% or 45%. The point is that teachers can’t teach advanced and remedial concepts at the same time.
If a district has more than one math class per grade, the fairest thing for all students is to provide differentiated classes that meet them where they are. Anything else is causing some students to wither on the vine and others to struggle and get discouraged.