What is the DEMI?

San Diego Unified School District's innovative DEMI (District Essential Mathematics Indicators) assessment captures growth in our mathematics program across the areas of knowledge, application, and communication for all grades 3-12. 

The DEMI:

DEMI Reporting Platforms

To access your student/site/district data, access the Math ANEX. 

For resources and supports on how to use this platform, visit our DEMI Illuminate Tile.

Professional Learning for Educators & Adminstrators

Getting Started with the DEMI (Educators)

New professional learning opportunities coming soon!

Multi-Dimensional Mathematics

The DEMI assesses Essential Mathematics across grade spans, content domains, and Critical Concepts, painting a portrait of student growth across their K-12 experience in San Diego Enhanced Mathematics. 

The DEMI collects evidence of the mathematics students know, how they apply the mathematics that they know, and how they communicate their mathematical ideas and understanding.

In this item given to grades 2-5, students show their mathematical knowledge by either repeat adding or multiplying to reach a solution. 

Sample Student Responses (Spring 2021 DEMI): 

8, 52% of students gave this answer

6, 24% of students gave this answer

4, 5% of students gave this answer

How do you think students thought about this question to get 8, 6, or 4? Are there multiple ways to get these answers?

Next, students apply their mathematical knowledge to determine if Maddie can make 18, using only the number 4. 

Lastly, students write an explanation to support their reasoning. Students reasoned about this item using a variety of ways of thinking.

Sample Student Responses (Spring 2021 DEMI):

"It's not possible because when I skip counted by four the were no eighteen take a look,4,8,12,16,20 I can't do anymore because it already passed eighteen. so you see that is why i know its not possible." (Way of thinking: skip counting, additive reasoning)

"18 is not a multiple of 4, you can't make 18 with only fours, the two closest multiples of 4 would be 16 and 20." (Way of thinking: multiplicative reasoning)

"If she only used Dinosuars with 4 legs, and if she made 8 footprints she put it in 2 times, like 4x2=8, if she puts the dinosuars in 2 more times, she would have 16, like 4x4=16, so now she cant put the feet in and get 18, if she wants to get 18, she will have to use a 2 footed dinosuar. 16+4=20,16+2=18" (Way of thinking: need for at least one 2-legged dinosaur)

What connections do you see between these ways of thinking?

Asset-Based Assessment

The DEMI provides an opportunity for students to showcase their mathematical understanding in a way that makes sense to them. As student submissions are analyzed, we are looking for evidence of their understanding, which is represented in many beautiful ways, whether or not they arrive at the correct answer. We identify students' ways of thinking to identify assets and better understand their mathematical strengths and areas of growth. 

In this item given to students in grades 9-12, we can see that students apply and communicate what they understand about linear models in a variety of ways.

Educators can build on these assets to inform instruction, clarify student thinking, and connect mathematical ideas.

Sample Student Responses (Spring 2021 DEMI): 

"This linear model is not reasonable to predict the temperature if Jill makes $10,000 in sales in a day due to the temperature being incapable of being higher than 103 degrees Fahrenheit which is the maximum value that Jill can serve. The maximum amount of money that is shown with Jill's line is $1260 in this line drawn." (Way of thinking: reasoning using the constraints of Seattle's temperature)

"With the way that it is increasing at 20 Dollars per degree, we can say that if you were to get 10,000 dollars in one day off of sales the temperature would be 500 degrees outside. Nowwhere in the world geographically can it get that hot." (Way of thinking: reasoning using real-life constraints)

"Jill would not make $10,000 sales in one day because the graph shows that the ice cream sales ($per day) is only up to $800." (Way of thinking: the graph's window is too small)

How can you honor this student's thinking while guiding them towards a more comprehensive understanding? What follow up question might you ask this student? What strengths do you see?

Student Agency

The DEMI is designed to highlight student voice and agency. Items are purposefully designated as Open Response so that students have the flexibility and independence to submit an answer in the way that makes sense to them. This helps provide additional support to our students with special needs and students who feel most comfortable writing in a language that is not English. Open Response items also align to the mathematical ideas of equivalence and connecting multiple representations.

In this item given to students in grades 4-8, we can see that there are infinitely many solutions. As long as students submit an answer that is equivalent to 1/4, it is considered correct.

How many different ways would you anticipate students writing 1/4?

Sample Student Responses (Spring 2021 DEMI):  All of these answers were marked correct.

1/4 2/8 or 1/4 2/8 25/100

0.25 1\4 a quarter of the line

1/4 i think one quarter 1/4 or 2/8

one fourth 2/8 two eighths 1 fourth 0.25/1

1/4=2/8 2 over 8 1/4, or 0.25

The fractional value of A is 2/8 2/8 which equals 1/4

A is equal to 1/4 2/8 and 1/4

In this item given to students in grades 6-12, it became clear as student responses were analyzed that there was a possibility to interpret the question in a different way.

The intended solution was 11 minutes, as the question asks how many total minutes? Many students answered 5 minutes and supported their answer with an explanation that this represented the additional minutes Paula would need to to drain the remaining water.

Sample Student Responses (Spring 2021 DEMI):

  11 minutes, 32% of students gave this answer

"Every min it loses 3 cm of water, 15 / 3= 5 5 mins, 5+6=11 11 min in total"

  5 minutes, 11% of students gave this answer

"In 6 minutes, the height of the water in the fish tank dropped to 15 from 33, which is a 18 cm decrease. That means it takes 6 minutes to drain 18 cm or 1 minute to drain 3 cm. There are 15 cm left, so 15/3 = 5."

Timely & Actionable Formative Data

The DEMI collects interesting evidence of student thinking across a variety of prioritized content (Elementary and Secondary)and Critical Concepts. The way in which student responses are shared and reported uses an innovative tool called Math ANEX.  

What students are saying about the DEMI:

" To be honest, I think that the DEMI assessment for grades 4-5 is a perfect opportunity for students to share their opinions about math class and review certain math lessons that they may need help with. Thank you DEMI!" - Elementary student

"I liked demi because it brought a challenge and I love challenges. The thing I'm most proud at is that I went into this test knowing I'm going to do my best," - Middle School student

"I liked how it made me realize what I already know how to do. Also how it can SAY the question to you." - High School student

DEMI Design Features

Who designed the DEMI?

What does the DEMI assess?

Below is a mapping of the Knowledge (K) items that mapped across the grade levels in 2020-21. For example, the yellow "Base Ten Operations" item was given to students from grades 2-8.

By collecting data across multiple grades, we can measure student growth over time.

DEMI Reporting Platforms

To access your student/site/district data, click on the Math ANEX icon to the left.