Hi Christina,
I really feel for you and colleagues in California and other states impacted by this where laws were enacted without input from the math education community. And the fallout without consideration to students' success as a result of such policy change, for example the attached article by Ran and Lee discusses a 10 year study of how such reforms in one state both were helpful to some groups of students but also harmful to other groups of students in their academic paths in one state. One solution does not fit all.
While the community college district (in Arizona) I work at didn't implement changes to the level of California (or similar in policy states) the effects of these policies reverberated throughout the nation. I will share our experiences.
Around the end of the 2010's (after 2017) our community college district (consisting of 10 colleges) decided that our community colleges would no longer offer courses termed "developmental" designated by the 0xx prefix anymore. When that universal policy was enacted, each of the community colleges had input on how that policy was enacted but each had variations on implementing that policy.
Students could start at college level math, whether that is for non-STEM majors (College Math, Mat 14x ) or STEM majors (College Algebra, Mat 15x). That represented the systemic change at all our colleges. But nuances around this were implemented.
At our college, earlier courses in sequence that used to be in the 0xx level were repackaged and streamlined into the 1xx sequence, which students can take separately before enrolling into college level math (non college credit) and would have been termed as prerequisite courses in past. But these are not strictly mandatory. Students are strongly encouraged to take these courses if they don't think they are ready for the college level course, and interestingly, these courses always fill. We also have as part of the solution where a variation in the course number represents a course with extra time and supports built in. So the Mat 141 represents the regular version of college math (without supports), while the Mat 145 represents the same course with the extra time and supports built into it. So this, in addition to the "prerequisite" courses available stated earlier.
So if students can self select where they start and what they take, and a big portion of students bypass talking to college counselor/adviser before enrolling into math classes, how do we influence students to enroll into courses that are non college credit bearing but what they actually need to be successful, and especially in STEM?
Partnering with advising, and posted throughout the monitors/screens on campus and posted flyers on the bulletin boards (see flyer, attached), one of our colleagues leading the effort at our campus developed a branched survey with videos and sample problems to help students navigate to selecting the right math course to start with at our college.
If you or anyone reading this discussion thread would like to try it, the self guided branched survey is at the link here . It includes videos made by the same colleague at different stages of the survey that also includes links to Self-Study Math MOOCs we developed at our institution (we use a local installation of MyOpenMath for our courses and for the self-study courses).
In talking to my colleague (and getting permission before sharing this survey with the math ed community at large), she also mentioned the type of supports students are needing shifting across time, with our working hypothesis that these different types of gaps are associated with the year of high school that the student was in during the Covid lockdown when learning the original content of the math course remotely.
While the solutions we developed at our institution helps in addressing equity gaps, and in particular for students needing developmental math, it isn't perfect. The other thing we do in addition to what was shared earlier is we have the conversation with the class "Are you in the right course?" at the first class meeting, and then help students switch classes on that first week. It is true that some students insist in staying in classes they are ill prepared for. But others do take the advice, and we are able to help many find the right course they need. While not perfect, these are the myriad of solutions we had implemented in light of the policy changes.
Thank you for posting and sharing your experiences. I hope this helpful to you and the students whom we work with. I have also included some references from the IMPACT document related to this topic. I am curious about others' perspectives from the math ed community.
Frank
References:
IMPACT - Chapter 3 Proficiency - myAMATYC. (2016). Amatyc.org. https://my.amatyc.org/impactlive-home/standards-docs/impact-chapt03
IMPACT - Chapter 6 Student Success - myAMATYC. (2017). Amatyc.org. https://my.amatyc.org/impactlive-home/standards-docs/impact-chapt06
Ran, Florence Xiaotao, and Hojung Lee. (2024). Does Corequisite Remediation Work for Everyone? An Exploration of Heterogeneous Effects and Mechanisms. (EdWorkingPaper: 24 -928). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/h26j-2484
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Frank Marfai, Ph.D.
Phoenix College
MARICOPA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Mathematics Faculty | Mathematics
Past President | Arizona Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges
Chair, Research in Mathematics Education for Two-Year Colleges ANet
1202 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013
frank.marfai@phoenixcollege.edu
https://www.phoenixcollege.edu/
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-08-2025 19:10:39
From: Christina Holdiness
Subject: IMPACTful Discussions: Equity in Action: Implications for developmental mathematics and corequisite instruction
Hi Frank,
We are struggling with this question at my college. In California, the state changed the placement law, which opens the pathway to students enrolling in transfer level Math. The college no longer offers stand alone developmental classes and has recently implemented co-requisite support. My role is the Instructional Specialist for the STEM Success Center, which offers tutoring and a variety of supplemental learning activities for students.
I am pro for the change in student enrollment pathways, but I struggle with finding a way to support students who may want to self select a review of concepts and preparation for a transfer level pathway. Could we reinvent the way that we prepapre students for the professor's expectations in these Math courses while also building confidence in their Math and problem solving skills?
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Christina Holdiness
Instructional Specialist
Chaffey College
CA
Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2025 22:18:46
From: Frank Marfai
Subject: IMPACTful Discussions: Equity in Action: Implications for developmental mathematics and corequisite instruction
If we define equity as everyone getting what they need (which means not everyone gets the same support and resources, see linked illustration below) then what implications does that have for developmental mathematics and corequisite instruction? We are very interested in the research you would like to share.
Reference:
Definition of Equity versus Equality: https://interactioninstitute.org/illustrating-equality-vs-equity/
------------------------------
Frank Marfai, Ph.D.
Phoenix College
MARICOPA COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Mathematics Faculty | Mathematics
Past President | Arizona Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges
Chair, Research in Mathematics Education for Two-Year Colleges ANet
1202 W. Thomas Road, Phoenix, AZ 85013
frank.marfai@phoenixcollege.edu
https://www.phoenixcollege.edu/
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