1. The Shifting Landscape: Mathematics Pathways in Higher Education
Nikki Edgecombe, Senior Research Scientist Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University

2. Community College Research Center
A leading independent authority on two-year colleges based at Teachers College, Columbia University. Founded in 1996, CCRC conducts research on the issues affecting community colleges and works with colleges and states to improve student success and institutional performance.
Areas of research include:
High school to college transitions
Developmental education and adult basic education
Student services and financial aid
Online learning and instructional technology
College completion and transfer
College to career and workforce education

3. What is “math pathways”?

4. A higher education mathematics reform approach designed to …
… align students’ math coursetaking to their programs of study.
… streamline math coursetaking, particularly at the developmental (i.e., pre-collegiate) level.

5. This slide summarizes some early research CCRC conducted on developmental mathematics, which has shaped our subsequent work in this area. This slide shows what happened to a national sample of students referred to a three-course developmental math sequence. So you can see, as represented by the arrows pointing down, at each level there are students who do not pass or complete the course. But what stood out to us were the large numbers of student exiting the sequence, even after passing a course in the sequence. These findings have inspired a lot of research work to understand alternative configurations of developmental mathematics which can streamline students’ progress to college-level, and minimize the number of students lost in the pipeline.
Source: Bailey, Jeong & Cho, 2010

6. What does a math pathway look like in practice?

7. Dana Center Mathematics Pathways
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3

8. Carnegie Math Pathways
Semester 1
Semester 2
Developmental quantitative reasoning course
College-level quantitative reasoning course
Quantway
Year-long introductory statistics course for students who are placed two course levels below college-level mathematics
Statway

9. What are the academic outcomes of students enrolled in math pathways?

10. Carnegie Math Pathways
Student Outcome Data
DCMP
Carnegie Math Pathways
Within 1 year:
8% of students enrolled in a traditional developmental math sequence passed a college-level math course
30% of students enrolled in a statistical reasoning pathway completed a college-level math course
Quantway
56% of Quantway students completed the course in 1 term compared to 21% of students nationally completing their remedial math requirements in 1 year
Statway
Nationally, 15% of students complete the traditional sequence by the end of 2 years, while 49% of Statway students complete the course in 1 year
Source: Rutchow & Diamond, 2015
Source: Sowers & Yamada, 2015

11. What are the considerations of math pathways for K12?

12. Standards
If the “college ready” standard for math varies by student intent, what standard should apply – for measures of proficiency and accountability?

13. Alignment
To what extent do higher ed math pathways align with existing secondary math offerings and, if better alignment is a priority, what would have to change?

14. Student Intent
How can higher ed and secondary systems work together to help students make well-informed choices about career options and academic programs?

15. Unintended Consequences
How do we ensure historically disadvantaged students are not steered away from STEM or other pathways with higher labor market value?

16. For more information Contact Nikki Edgecombe – edgecombe@tc.edu
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Community College Research Center Institute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University 525 West 120th Street, Box 174, New York, NY Telephone: