DeKalb school board approves $20 million for new math materials

The DeKalb County School District will spend up to $20 million on new mathematics textbooks and digital resources for all grade levels.

The school board approved the purchase on Monday with the understanding that teachers will be able to begin working with the digital materials right away, said Chief Academic Officer Stacy Stepney.

DeKalb got special permission from the state to use federal pandemic aid to purchase the new materials in an effort to close learning gaps that were worsened during the pandemic, Stepney said. In 2021-2022, the last year that scores are available, less than 30% of DeKalb eighth graders were proficient in math by the end of the year, according to state testing results.

The purchase positions DeKalb to begin implementing new academic standards in math in August. Georgia changed what students are required to learn in 2021, dramatically reducing the number of standards and emphasizing real-world connections to the concepts. The 2023-2024 school year will be the first time students will work within the new standards.

Because the standards are new, the results of this year’s winter and spring state testing will not be used to determine whether students are promoted to the next grade or retained, and they will not be used to determine high school students’ grades.

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