Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics Proceedings of a Workshop (2019) / Chapter Skim
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3 Developmental Mathematics Students and Their Experiences
3 Developmental Mathematics Students and Their Experiences
Pages 31-54
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From page 31... ...
Additionally, workshop presenters and participants discussed pre- and postreform data on the characteristics of developmental mathematics students and their experiences, from both national and state-level datasets, as a way to better understand how reforms could enhance outcomes for all students, to assess if progress has been made, and to determine what additional research might be needed. UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENTAL MATHEMATICS STUDENT POPULATION Michelle Hodara, a manager of research and evaluation at Education Northwest, provided an overview of "Understanding the Developmental Mathematics Student Population: Findings from a Nationally Representative Sample of First-Time College Entrants,"1 a paper commissioned by the 1To read Hodara's commissioned paper, see http://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/ dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_191821.pdf.
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From page 32... ...
As Hodara explained in her research, "We may not have a complete picture of the full population of developmental mathematics students in the 2011–2012 cohort. Nevertheless, there is still much to learn from this BPS dataset about the developmental mathematics student population, despite these limitations" (Hodara, 2019)
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From page 33... ...
. Hodara observed that the developmental mathematics students in the 2011–2012 cohort were more likely to be female, from historically under represented groups, first-generation college students, and Pell Grant recipients compared to their peers in the same institution type who did not take developmental education in their first year of college (see Figure 3-1)
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From page 34... ...
• There are larger differences between developmental mathematics students and students who did not take developmental education at public 4-year institutions than at public 2-year institutions. • American Indian/Alaska Native, Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students and students who received Pell Grants at 4-year institutions are overrepresented in the developmental math ematics population.
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From page 35... ...
To delve deeper into these questions about overrepresentation, Hodara examined the proportion of students from each racial/ethnic group who took developmental mathematics and had the same level of college readiness. In her analysis, she defined college readiness in the same way that it would be defined based on new multiple measures assessment policies:
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From page 36... ...
representation in developmental mathematics for each racial/ethnic group and students who received Pell Grants at public 2-year institutions in the 2011–2012 cohort. SOURCE: Hodara (2019, slides 14 and 15)
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From page 37... ...
Developmental mathematics students were generally less likely to have attained a degree and/or still be enrolled in college after 3 years than students who did not take developmental education in the first year; however, in order to make any significant conclusions about persistence and attainment, students would need to be tracked for much longer than 3 years, she explained. Hodara concluded with three suggested areas for future research in developmental mathematics education: 1.
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From page 38... ...
She encouraged using multiple measures assessments more often at 4-year institutions as well as "thinking about how to change the mindsets of the mathematics faculty who are implementing these incredible reforms but might not have kept pace with all of the work from the pathways and the way that the field has been trying to move and shift the way they think about math." C ammie Newmyer, 2018–2019 Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow, highlighted Colorado's work to standardize community college programs so that the coursework is transferable to universities throughout the state, which, she argued, demonstrates the commitment to rigor in the community college space. Tristan Denley, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs and chief academic officer at the University System of Georgia, noted that around 2011–2012 many states declared that students in 4-year settings were not allowed to be in developmental mathematics, which could heighten misunderstandings of rigor as it relates to mathe atics placement m requirements.
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From page 39... ...
EXPERIENCES FROM FOUR DIFFERENT STATE CONTEXTS Susan Bickerstaff, senior research associate at the Community College Research Center and panel moderator, introduced the next panel, in which participants explored in greater depth the questions around student outcomes posed during Hodara's presentation, using data from particular state contexts. Bickerstaff reiterated that change in the developmental and introductory mathematics education space is happening quickly, national data are limited, and reforms have differential outcomes for students.
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From page 40... ...
or (2) basic, foundational skills taught in lower-level developmental mathematics courses could be more beneficial for student success in subsequent college courses
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From page 41... ...
FIGURE 3-4 Mathematics course pass rates prior to the era of reform in Tennessee community colleges from Fall 2007 through Summer 2009, illustrating Boatman's finding that developmental mathematics does not positively impact student outcomes (compared to students directly placed into college-level mathematics)
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From page 42... ...
Reform for Developmental Mathematics Requirements in Florida Toby Park-Gaghan, associate professor of economics of education and education policy and associate director of the Center for Post econdary Suc s cess at Florida State University,4 shared his research on student outcomes pre- and postreform of developmental education enrollment requirements in Florida. Park-Gaghan discussed the path to eliminating develop ental m mathematics requirements in the state of Florida through a statewide 4The Center for Postsecondary Success (CPS)
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From page 43... ...
Using a comparative interrupted time series and data on cohorts of first-time-in-college students from the Florida Department of Education's longitudinal record system, Park-Gaghan and his team explored how removing the "roadblock" of developmental education, especially for students of traditionally underrepresented races and ethnicities, would impact student success (Hu et al., 2019)
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From page 44... ...
In light of this new policy and given the fact that so many students are repeating courses that they already successfully completed in high school, educational leaders have been inspired to identify a new method for placing students into courses. The Multiple Measures Assessment Project7 is an ongoing, collaborative effort of the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office, Common Assessment Initiative, Cal-Partnership for Achieving Student Success Plus, the RP Group, and more than 90 pilot community colleges in California to assess and place students more accurately into mathematics and English sequences -- not only in developmental education but also in courses such as calculus and Calculus 2.
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From page 45... ...
However, historically, only 15 percent of students in the California community colleges were placed directly into a college-level mathematics course. Using these new standards for multiple measures assessments, he estimated that 40 percent of students could be placed directly into collegelevel courses and thus given a better opportunity to succeed.
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From page 46... ...
Pell Grant eligibility, he continued. Initial data from a selection of California community colleges on student success rates in an open-access co-requisite statistics course by GPA band show that high school GPA is indeed highly predictive of performance.
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From page 47... ...
Schudde's discussion focused on the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways (DCMP) model,8 a model that combines the structural reform of developmental mathematics education with curricular and advising reform into pathways that offer students field-specific college mathematics.
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From page 48... ...
However, Hispanic students were highly underrepresented in DCMP compared to traditional developmental education, which is of great concern given the high population overall of Hispanic students enrolled in Texas postsecondary institutions. DCMP students were also more likely to FIGURE 3-7 Profile of students served by the DCMP model versus the traditional developmental education sequence.
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From page 49... ...
Thus, Schudde commented that more research is needed, including a close examination of selection procedures to better understand the messages faculty and advisers are giving students about developmental mathematics and reform options, the role of implicit bias, and how students view mathematics placement in light of their beliefs about their mathematical abilities. Additionally, she emphasized the need to change current procedures and cultures that create inequitable opportunities for students: the goal is to ensure that students, advisers, and faculty are all informed about the negative effects of prolonged developmental education on student success and, as a result, to shift student course enrollment toward alternative pathways.
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From page 50... ...
Furthermore, a survey of a randomized group of students revealed that the mathematics pathways approach led to a 40 to 50 percent increase in students' positive experiences of how they learned mathematics, in their comprehension of how mathematics applies to their life experiences, and in their work with other students in small groups, as well as a decrease in the amount of traditional classroom lecture that they received. Schudde hypothesized that even more substantial positive effects might be observed if it were possible to control for students enrolled in other developmental mathematics education reforms (e.g., co-requisite model)
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From page 51... ...
Mark Green echoed Treisman's suggestion to consider why those students are not being well served and added that for the two-thirds of students who are already succeeding, additional support could be implemented to help them graduate and start successful careers. Zachry Rutschow agreed that instead of focusing only on methods to get students through college mathematics, educators should focus on how to get students interested in mathematics courses and careers.
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From page 52... ...
She thanked the Board on Science Education, the planning committee members, and the workshop speakers for their work to organize the workshop and to help create a set of important research questions to move reform efforts in the field forward. She reiterated the need to focus further research and reform initiatives on the three cohorts of students who are not being well served in the era of developmental mathematics education reform: (1)
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From page 53... ...
She emphasized that the mathematics education community has an opportunity to create a research agenda that "sends a clear signal to policy makers, to college and university leaders, to faculty, and ultimately to others in philanthropy that we really and truly do believe that math is for everyone." She lauded the many ideas about future areas of research that emerged from the panel discussions and presentations and shared her commitment to thinking collaboratively about the next steps following the workshop.
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