The Austin Community College District announces its participation in an innovative effort to help more students make a successful transition from developmental math to classes that count for college credit.
ACC is among 19 community colleges in five states to take part in the “Statway” initiative. Funded in part by the Carnegie Foundation, Statway – short for the Statistics Pathway – aims to move developmental math students to and through transferable college statistics in one year.
“Statistics is math for everyday life, so it’s extremely important to give students tools to succeed in this area,” says Mike Midgley, vice president of workforce education and business development at ACC. “Statway focuses on statistics, data analysis, and quantitative reasoning. Those skills are required from a growing number of careers – and they’re also essential for understanding the world around us.”
Up to 60 percent of students enrolling in U.S. community colleges need at least one remedial course, known as developmental education, to build their basic academic skill set. Many community college students referred to developmental math do not complete the required courses and leave college for good.
“Developmental mathematics courses become a roadblock to success for our nation’s community college students,” says Anthony S. Bryk, Carnegie president. “We are wasting precious human potential. The high cost of denied dreams and unfulfilled aspirations is unacceptable. Rather than a gateway to a college education and a better life, mathematics has become an unyielding gatekeeper.”
During the next two years, ACC staff members will work with other Statway participants to develop a base of freely available tools and materials for use by other colleges. The process begins late this month when a five-member ACC team travels to Stanford University to meet with the Carnegie Foundation and other participating schools.
Statway will concentrate on statistical content, with arithmetic and algebraic concepts taught and applied in the context of statistics. The program will include an intensive student engagement component designed to keep students committed to completing their courses and achieving their educational goals.
Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Lumina Foundation are joining in partnership with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to invest $14 million in this work for the first two years. For more information, visit www.carnegiefoundation.org/statway.
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By Marco Montoya July 14, 2010 - 12:06 am
Congratulations on the grant. My question is: What portion of the grant (effort and budget) is to be devoted to reducing future demand for developmental math courses?
Thank you,
Dr. Montoya
By Dorothy David July 15, 2010 - 11:43 pm
There is no telling how many people could not attain their dreams due to “math anxiety” and end up choosing whatever major required the least amount of math. I was one of them. I started freezing up when told to go to the board and work problems back in elementary school; when I couldn’t readily see the answer, the teacher and entire class would laugh at me. I still would like to give it another chance even in my 50s, since good careers such as nursing and physician’s assistant require a certain level of math. I actually enjoy statistics at my own pace. Good luck with this endeavor.
By Pamela Tajmajer July 16, 2010 - 12:30 pm
The developmental math classes I’ve taken have been really helpful for me. Equally helpful for me was learning how I learn. I think students need to see that not everyone learns the same way. While my college math classes haven’t been easy for me, I am getting through them. It’s opening up possibilities for me that I wouldn’t otherwise have.
By Mary Parker July 18, 2010 - 10:13 pm
All of the efforts of the grant are directed toward developing,
implementing, and assessing a two-semester experience for students in
which they learn the developmental math material needed along with
learning the material in our MATH 1342, Elementary Statistics course.
Students will be able to enter this when they have demonstrated
knowledge of our MATD 0330, Basic Math Skills.
Students who take our regular developmental math sequence take MATD
0330, MATD 0370, and then MATD 0390 in order to complete our
developmental math sequence. So students in this program will be
learning the essential material needed in two developmental math
courses along with the MATH 1342. Thus, these students will spend
one semester less than our usual sequence in math courses.
By Linda Barnett July 27, 2010 - 10:45 am
The College Math class I took at ACC was far easier and taught at a more reasonable pace than the developmental math classes I had taken previously.
The ACC developmental classes were taught at a rapid pace and I found them to be very stressful. This is not conducive to learning, although I did make an A in all classes, so I am not surprised that a large number of students don’t complete the courses.
If this program helps reduce the stress and anxiety, and instructs at a more reasonable pace, then I welcome it. Although it appears it will now take one semester less to complete so that seems counter-productive to the issue I raised.
By Danielle July 30, 2010 - 9:49 am
I think that’s a great idea because it has taken me a year and a half just to finish all three of my developmental math classes and thats not counting the one I actually need for my degree which is college algebra (math1314). But I do think a strong base is needed in the developmental courses so that the college level mathematics courses aren’t so much of a shock to everyone taking the course.
By Dorothy David August 2, 2010 - 8:46 pm
Linda, you raise some great points. I get stressed just because it’s math, and then I’m dealing with adult ADD as well (which I wasn’t aware of last time I took/dropped a developmental math class in the late 1990’s). I recall there being a lively toddler in the hallway during one of my exams (Northridge campus?) and nothing was done about the source of the noise. The Pinnacle campus is also very ADD-unfriendly (stairwell doors slamming, people outside the door yappin’ on cell phones). Congratulations on your A’s, and I do agree with you that it sounds more stressful to crunch more math in less time. Thanks!