Printer-friendly versionWhat is the problem?
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is working to help community college students succeed in developmental mathematics. This is because currently up to 60 percent of community college students who take the placement exam learn they must take at least one remedial course (also called developmental education) to build their basic academic skills. The vast majority of community college students referred to developmental mathematics do not successfully complete the current sequence of required courses and many leave college for good.
What is Carnegie attempting to do?
Carnegie aims to double the number of students who in a one-year course sequence are mathematically prepared to succeed in further academic study. The $13 million initiative, funded now by six foundations, is building a networked community working on the development of two newly designed mathematics pathways.
The Pathways
In the Carnegie Statway™Networked Improvement Community, students will enroll in a year-long sequence which results in credit for a college-level statistics class. At the conclusion of this sequence, Statway™ students will have proficiency in developmental math concepts and can move on through an academic program for credit. The Quantway™ pathway includes the development of curricula and is a new one semester course, replacing elementary and intermediate algebra, followed by completion of a college-level mathematics course. Students completing the Quantway™ pathway will have different options. For example, students will be prepared to take a Quantitative Reasoning or non-STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) college-level course already available at the college, or to enter a vocational specific program requiring mastery of developmental math concepts.
Both the Statway™ and Quantway™ pathways include an intensive student engagement component within the classroom environment focused on increasing student motivation and tenacity. These supports include the information and the skills needed for academic success as well as tools that will help students to navigate college. We are currently working with 30 colleges and universities.
- Learn more about the Carnegie Statway NIC »
- Learn more about the Carnegie Quantway NIC »
Helping Students Navigate College
Many students who place into developmental mathematics are first generation college attendees who can find themselves in a complex and confusing maze, in many cases discouraged by placement in developmental mathematics. To address navigating college along with the mathematics, Quantway and Statway will integrate content commonly referred to as “college knowledge” as well as productive persistence. Both pathway designs will build on effective current student support practices, increase communication between students and their mathematics faculty, and make access to college support services more visible and user-friendly. While the initial focus will be on retaining students for the entire academic year, what students learn in their Quantway and Statway classes will transfer to overall ability to navigate college, self-efficacy, motivation and persistence. Over the longer term, learning college-success skills will contribute towards increasing the students’ low transfer or graduation rate.
The Network
Carnegie is catalyzing and supporting the growth of a Networked Improvement Community (NIC) to develop these two pathways. We are engaging practitioners, researchers, design/developers, institutional leaders, students and policymakers in ways that will fundamentally challenge and change the character of developmental mathematics.
