Four critical areas of instruction in Algebra 1 are:

1. Deepening and extending students’ understanding of linear and exponential relationships by comparing and contrasting those relationships and by applying linear models to data that exhibit a linear trend

2. Engage in methods for analyzing, solving, and using exponential and quadratic functions

3. Explore the notion of function, solving equations, rates of change and growth patterns, graphs as representations of functions, and modeling

4. Summarize, represent, and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables 

(California Mathematics Framework, 2013, p. 409)