National Perspective on Mathematics Pathways Amy Getz, New Mexico Mathematics Summit Amy Getz, New Mexico Mathematics Summit an initiative of the Charles A. Dana Center and the Texas Association of Community Colleges

What brings each of us to this room? A commitment to supporting students to...  Achieve their goals  Be empowered as independent learners  Learn mathematical content and skills that will enrich their lives 2

What brought the field to this point? 3 Indications of a broken system... High rates of failure and attrition in developmental education Mismatch between mathematics content and mathematical needs

Problems with developmental education... High referral rates %19.9% Source: Fall 2006 cohorts of those entering a 2-year college not college ready of those entering a 4-year college not college ready Source: Fall 2006 cohorts, Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere, Complete College America, 2012

And in New Mexico... 5 Source: Fall 2006 cohorts, Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere, Complete College America, year4-year Total Population57.0%12.1% Native American59.4%13.0% Hispanic68.4%16.0% White44.8%7.6% Other47.2%9.7% Percentage of students identified as not college-ready Percentage of high school graduates not college ready in math: 67% Percentage of students completing dev and gateway math in two years: 27% 3 year graduation rate of developmental students (associate): 3% 6-year graduation rate of developmental students (bachelor): 17%

Identifying the drivers of the problem... 6 Understanding a complex problem requires dataover time... From many sources... And examining many issues.

TITLE 7 Dev ed math rarely leads to college credit

Is the impact on student success justified? 8 The traditional developmental math sequence is heavily focused on algebraic manipulation in an attempt to... Remediate middle and high school skills Prepare students for college algebra

What do leaders in mathematics say? 9 “Unfortunately, there is often a serious mismatch between the original rationale for a college algebra requirement and the actual needs of students who take the course. A critically important task for mathematics sciences departments at institutions with college algebra requirements is to clarify the rational for requirements, determine the needs of students, and ensure that department’s courses are aligned with these findings.” --Mathematics Association of America, Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics, 2004 Curriculum Guide

Misapplication of College Algebra 10 Dunbar, S Enrollment flow to and from courses below calculus. In A Fresh State for Collegiate mathematics: Rethinking the Courses below calculus, N.B. Hastings et al. (Eds.). Washington DC: MAA Notes, Mathematical Association of America.

Statistics Is Used More Than Algebra II Handel, M.J. (2007).

Conclusion: Mathematics Pathways A mathematics pathway is a mathematics course or sequence of courses that students take to meet the requirements of their program of study. Growing consensus that mathematics pathways should be:  Aligned to broad categories of programs or meta-majors  Accelerated so that most students earn college math credit in one year or less 12

A few clarifications... The role of algebra in math pathways. Math pathways versus “tracking.” Identifying pathways for students who are undecided. 13

Discussion Talk with an elbow partner or group:  What ideas does this bring up for you?  What other information do you want?  What excites or concerns you? 14

Making math pathways a reality Started with focused, specific initiatives  Established existence proofs, built consensus Led to limitations of a “ground up” movement. A case in point: Austin Community College 15

Making math pathways a reality Dana Center started systemic work at state levels  Partnership with community colleges in Texas  Established shared goals around 4 principles  Developed tools and services to support colleges and faculty  Worked to establish a positive policy environment  Math Task Forces 16

Role of Math Task Force Empower mathematics faculty to take a leadership role in defining the vision for pathways in their state. Includes  Representatives from 2- and 4-year institutions  Policy agency  Work must be truly systemic to be effective. Task Force states: Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Texas 17

Work across multiple states 18 Common elements in recommendations across states:  College Algebra should not be the default  Math pathways aligned to programs of study  Reliable transferability and applicability  Critical role of advising Other issues addressed in some states: alignment with K-12, placement, curriculum development, specific policy barriers

What happens next in New Mexico? 19 That is why we are here today!  Gather your input  Share information about resources  Create a catalyst for systemic work

Resources for getting things done The Dana Center website, has planning tools, policy briefs, and example course materials including:  NMP Implementation Guide and Scaling Toolkit to support institutional planning and implementation  Program of Study Briefs summarizing math recommendations for criminal justice, communications, nursing and social work  Modernizing Mathematics Pathways, a case study on promoting alignment between 2- and 4-year institutions  Course materials: learning outcomes, course outlines and sample materials from courses developed by the Dana Center Request information or sign up for monthly updates at

References for the geeks in the room Laying the Foundations: Early Findings from the New Mathways Project, California Acceleration Project Evaluation, Statway/Quantway (multiple reports), action/pathways-improvement-communities/ action/pathways-improvement-communities/ Changing Equations: How Community Colleges are Re-Thinking College Readiness in Math, content/uploads/2013/10/LWBrief_ChangingEquations_WEB.pdfhttp:// content/uploads/2013/10/LWBrief_ChangingEquations_WEB.pdf Degrees of Freedom: Diversifying Math Requirements for College Readiness and Graduation, diversifying-math-requirements-college-readiness-and-graduationhttp://edpolicyinca.org/publications/degrees-freedom- diversifying-math-requirements-college-readiness-and-graduation MAA National Studies of College Calculus, and-departments/curriculum-development-resources/national-studies-college- calculushttp:// and-departments/curriculum-development-resources/national-studies-college- calculus

Discussion Talk with an elbow partner or group:  What do you want to do with this information?  Identify one question you would like to ask anyone in the room. Write your question on a post-it note. 22