The Role of Math Misalignment in the Community College STEM Pathway (original) (raw)
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Mathematics as a factor in community college STEM performance, persistence, and degree attainment
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2019
Community colleges serve a vital role in the education of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors in the United States, however, most research to date on STEM pipeline persistence from academia to the workforce has focused on four-year colleges, which limits understanding of the potential of two-year pathways in diversifying STEM participation. One chronic issue is the vertical alignment of community college STEM education with workforce demands and advancement to baccalaureate institutions. This research builds upon prior work by exploring the initial mathematics enrollment and performance of STEM majors, and how this relates to demographic and socioeconomic variables and the likelihood of degree change from STEM to non-STEM disciplines, graduation and transfer rates, attrition from college, science performance, and credit production. This explanatory observational study employed multiple regression techniques to examine transcript data from four cohorts of community college STEM majors (n = 1,511) over 3 years of enrollment in an institution in the Northeast U.S. Results indicated that students who first enrolled in remedial mathematics courses experienced a higher likelihood of changing to non-STEM majors, greater attrition,
2020
Professor of Education and Engineering Introduction. About 40 percent of students begin their college careers at a community college. 1 As open-access, affordable institutions, community colleges are especially important entry points to higher education for low-income, first-generation and/or racially minoritized students. 2 For example, Black students and Latina/o/x students are more likely to enroll in a two-year college than a four-year college. 3 Many students attend their local community college, with the median distance from home to campus for community college students being just eight miles. 4
Society For Research on Educational Effectiveness, 2011
Body Background / Context: A large proportion of the high school graduates who attend a postsecondary institution take at least one basic skills/developmental/remedial course in either mathematics or English (Parsad & Lewis, 2003). A report from the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (2000), which surveyed almost half of the community colleges in the state, found that, on average, 49 percent of students are directed to these basic skills courses. There is considerable debate on the effects and benefits of remediation in community colleges. Proponents argue that it enables poorly prepared high school students to attain the necessary preparation to succeed in college (Boylan, Bliss, & Bonham, 1994; 1997; Lazarick, 1997). On the other hand critics argue that the benefits of remediation are not clear given there is no evidence that remediated students passed college-level courses or attained degrees at higher rates than non-remediated students (Calcagno, 2007; Calcagno & Long, 2008; Martorell & McFarlin, 2007). In addition, there is evidence that students who were placed in remediation but who took college credit courses passed these courses (Armstrong, 1999). Finally, a major criticism is that, relative to its potential benefits, remediation is too costly for the students and for the state (James, Morrow & Perry, 2002). Every year more than 50 percent of the students from the LACCD are placed into basic skills mathematics. This is costly for the individuals and for the state. At the individual level, students need to take these courses before they can enroll in degree or transfer level courses, and this substantially increase the time that they remain in the system. The state in turn has to pay for courses that the students were supposed to take in high school. As described below, the effects of assignment of entering students to different levels of math on the academic preparation, persistence and educational outcomes are unclear at best. This study is an ambitious attempt to enhance the available research on this critical policy issue for the State of California and the nation. This evaluation will provide insights to the district and the state about the effect of placement on successful course sequences that have the potential to promote persistence and save millions of dollars to the state.
The Journal of Higher Education, 2020
Professor of Education and Engineering Introduction. About 40 percent of students begin their college careers at a community college. 1 As open-access, affordable institutions, community colleges are especially important entry points to higher education for low-income, first-generation and/or racially minoritized students. 2 For example, Black students and Latina/o/x students are more likely to enroll in a two-year college than a four-year college. 3 Many students attend their local community college, with the median distance from home to campus for community college students being just eight miles. 4
2016
Introduction 1 The Impact of STEM High Schools 2 Responding to STEM Demand in North Carolina 3 Methods 4 Results 6 Characteristics of STEM and Non-STEM Student Populations 6 Comparison of Coursetaking Between Students in STEM Schools and Those in Non-STEM Schools 6 Overall Differences Between STEM and Non-STEM Schools 7 Research Question 1: Do students who are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in STEM schools take and pass advanced science and mathematics classes at similar or higher rates than their peers in traditional schools? 7 Research Question 2: Do underrepresented minority group students in STEM schools take and pass advanced science and mathematics courses at similar or higher rates than their peers in traditional schools? 8 Research Question 3: Do STEM schools have smaller within-school gaps in advanced science and mathematics coursetaking and passing by poverty and race/ethnicity than traditional schools? 9 Discussion 11 References 12 Appendix. Classification of Advanced Science and Mathematics Courses
2014
Prior research demonstrates that students' success in rigorous middle and high school math courses is positively linked to their admission to college, earnings in later life, and career prospects, particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM; Adelman, 1999; Rose & Betts, 2004; Trusty & Niles, 2003). Compared to students in less rigorous courses, students who enroll and succeed in high-level math are more likely to obtain a postsecondary degree (Adelman, 1999). Mathematics instruction is typically designed as a linear and hierarchical academic subject where skills and concepts build on one another. Students are generally required to successfully complete one level (e.g., Precalculus) before moving on to the next level in the sequence (e.g., Calculus). This sequential nature of math course-taking can create an opportunity structure and promote certain educational advantages among students (Attewell & Domina, 2008; Schneider, Swanson, & Riegle-Crumb, 1997). For instance, those who start at a higher level in the sequence (e.g., Algebra I in the 8th grade) are likely to have more opportunities to take collegelevel math (e.g., Calculus) than those who begin lower in the sequence (e.g., general math in the 8th grade) or who fail and have to repeat a course along the way. While the share of high school students in advanced math has increased in the past few decades (Dalton, Ingels, Downing, Bozick, & Owings, 2007), lower-income, Latino, and African American students continue to take fewer rigorous math courses than their higher-income, Asian, and Caucasian counterparts
Inside the Math Trap: Chronic Math Tracking From High School to Community College
Urban Education, 2020
Examining linked academic transcripts from urban community colleges and their feeder high schools, we identify math course-taking patterns that span sectors. We highlight stifled mobility and chronic repetition of math coursework in the transition to college, and we identify “math traps” from which students do not escape. Math mobility was limited, math repetition was rampant, and nearly half of students found themselves in math traps. All else equal, being trapped in math was significantly linked to race/ethnicity, suggesting that these forms of chronic math tracking across sectors expose previously undocumented forms of inequality in educational experiences.
Hidden Disparities: How Courses and Curricula Shape Opportunities in Mathematics During High School
Equity & Excellence in Education, 2010
Efforts to promote academic achievement by increasing access to courses, especially in mathematics, may mask educational disparities if variations in curriculum are not also monitored. A multi-dimensional description of students' mathematics curricula during high school was obtained from analyses of surveys, transcripts, and textbooks collected for a nationally representative study of adolescents during the mid-1990s. Few gaps in the number of years or credits in mathematics coursework were found. However, the quantity and cognitive challenge of instructional materials in textbooks adopted for those courses differed significantly both across and within mathematics tracks. Differences in the quality of curriculum accumulating during high school were also related to parents' education level. Reducing such gaps in learning opportunities would require teachers to supplement adopted instructional materials to ensure that all students receive a high quality mathematics curriculum.
The Mathematics Enthusiast Common Core and STEM Opportunities
Abstract: There is an increasing need for educators at all levels to equip more students with problem-solving skills that better fit our changing work force. Students are largely unaware of many science-, technology-, engineering-, and math-related (STEM) careers. They often do not understand the importance of those careers or what skills are required to pursue them. Students are exposed to some of those skills if they take Career Technical Education (CTE) classes, but rarely do they see the connections in their core math classes. Math teachers have pointed to their dense curricula as making STEM integration impractical. A study of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSS-M), however, reveals open doors for integration. There are specific Algebra I CCSS-M that can be met through STEM-oriented, problem-based learning (PBL). STEM PBL has the potential for increasing students' cognitive engagement while, at the same time, introducing interesting STEM careers. These connections need to be integrated in curricula aligned to the CCSS-M. In order to further develop and implement evolving STEMPBL connections, there is a need for increased, ongoing dialog between educational leadership and representatives from the STEM working community. The end result can be that most US students will be exposed to a much broader range of STEM careers, STEM skills, and understand how the Algebra they learn is useful in the real world.