Selected eighth graders and North freshmen were offered the opportunity to take skip tests in March to determine their readiness for more difficult math classes.

The skip tests were offered in order to phase in an accelerated math program called Math Pathways for middle school students. The Newton Public Schools (NPS) math department will begin to implement Math Pathways in fall 2028, compacting most of middle school math into sixth and seventh grade.

However, while math department head Jennifer Letourneau said that the skip tests are helpful, she added, “I don’t anticipate that we’re going to have to keep doing these kinds of tests because the whole idea is that we’re changing the system and the pathways overall to alleviate the need for it.”

Letourneau added, “A big goal here is making sure that every single student is able to access mathematics in a way that is appropriate for them based on their skills and readiness.”

According to multiple students and teachers, students who were doing well in their math classes received an email inviting them to take a test to determine their readiness to skip a level in math last year. A similar process was offered to freshmen this year.

Assistant math department head Kanchan Kant said, “We have the kids take the test. Once the grades come out, then we decide who has enough content and math skills, including critical thinking, showing your work, and being able to justify your thinking.”

“From the minute I got the email, I basically wanted to take the test because I thought it would be a great way to get ahead in my education,” said sophomore Sam Martin, who took the skip test last year and is currently taking Math 3.

According to sophomore Elif Uygun, who currently takes Math 3, about 40 freshmen took the test last year.

“Math was really easy for me in freshman year when I took it. I kind of just used it as a study hall for history, and to be honest it felt like a waste,” Uygun said.

Sophomore Liam Hagan, who skipped Math 2, added, “I really didn’t want to spend another year just learning nothing.”

According to math teacher Madeline Jacob, who teaches all sophomores who skipped a year in math, seven students were able to skip Math 2 last year.

Jacob added that all of the sophomores have been able to keep up in her class.

“They’re all very social which helps because sometimes being in a class with older students can be scary, but they’ve made a lot of new friends and I think they’re fitting into the classes in a good way,” she said.

Martin added, “On my first day, it was kind of daunting being in a class with a bunch of juniors, but I think over the course of this year I’ve really gotten a lot more comfortable in the class.”

Furthermore, Math Pathways will allow eighth graders to take Math 1 at a standard or accelerated level. It will also include more integrated material by forming connections between topics such as algebra and geometry.

NPS Director of Mathematics Jennifer Shore said, “Not all students are ready for algebra at the same time. Not all students are ready to think abstractly about concepts at the same time. So you have to have pathways that allow students to enter or exit as they’re ready to take in the content.”

According to Shore, eventually all students will take Math 1. However, some students who require more time to process the material will also have the opportunity to take a version of Math 1 as a freshman.

According to Letourneau, “There has been an evolution of practices here. Many, many years ago there was a long history of appeals and practices related to skipping math classes and we had a lot of evidence at that time that students were not having a lot of success when they skipped classes.”

However, according to Letourneau, newer data provided showed that students were mostly working above the grade level.

“Teachers had worked really hard at their differentiation and extensions and stretching students, and there were still some students where no matter what we did, they seemed like they could just keep going,” she added.

According to Letourneau, this data, including Star Math diagnostic assessments and conversations between the math department, students, and teachers, means that the math department “could be doing more in terms of advancing the coursework sooner for students.”