Thomas Bailey, Shanna Smith Jaggars & Davis Jenkins This first part of a 3-part series practitioner packet is designed to help community college leaders and staff who are considering guided pathways reforms at their college. Part one, What We Know About Guided Pathways, describes the reform model and summarizes evidence supporting its design principles.
The Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education & The University of Pennsylvania Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (PennAHEAD) A report on the 45-year trends in higher education attainment by family income. This report details the status of equity in United States higher education and identifies changes and trends over time in measures of equity. The report concludes with a section on the search for solutions, and two essays on strategies for widening the equity of participation in Higher Education in the United States.
Sandy Baum, The George Washington University and The Urban Institute; Alisa Federico Cunningham, Independent Consultant; and Courtney Tanenbaum, American Institutes for Research The information in this report provides a useful view of a subset of questions about educational attainment in the United States. The primary goal of this report and the data presented, however, is to highlight the importance of clarifying exactly what is being measured by the various data sources and bringing multiple sources of information to bear in developing a more nuanced understanding of the problems the United States faces, the progress the nation is making, and constructive strategies for achieving our educational attainment goals.
In this video faculty member Russell Self of Trinity Valley Community College describes how his students found their voices and grew to become independent learners in a course aligned with the DCMP Model. (1:15)
Charles A. Dana Center Part two of a 2-part blog post about the need for students to develop critical thinking and literacy skills as a part of mathematics with complex and realistic contexts. In this piece, the author shares helpful resources and suggested strategies to support students in developing these skills in the classroom.
Charles A. Dana Center Part one of a 2-part blog post on integrating complex contexts and/or literacy skills into your mathematics courses. This first posting makes the case that strong quantitative literacy and reasoning skills in rich, complex, and realistic contexts serves students.
Michael Lawrence Collins This brief draws on the experience of four states in Jobs for the Future’s Postsecondary State Policy Network—Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia—that are among a number of states engaged in statewide developmental education reform. These states' experiences highlight what all states can consider to ensure that changes are well-designed and effectively implemented and squarely aimed at helping students earn credentials with value in the labor market. Both what these states did well and what they might have done differently can provide insight to states now considering or embarking on statewide developmental education reform.
When the focus for entry-level mathematics shifted, over a decade ago, from access to success, it catalyzed demand for accelerated multiple mathematics pathways alongside the algebraic-intensive pathway. Subsequent successes have been exciting, showing more than three times the success rates for students in one third of the time for some programs. With these startling increases came a widespread concern about maintaining rigor within the discipline. In response to this concern, the Charles A. Dana Center engaged in a study of the meaning and intention of rigor in mathematics education. This paper first explores the meaning of rigor in mathematics education through a synthesis of interviews with leading mathematicians and educators, and presents a review of the literature in higher education and K–12. It concludes by offering recommendations for a shared definition of rigor and its implications for curriculum and instruction.
This resource can assist state- and/or institutional-level working groups to define and develop effective communication and engagement strategies while examining effective messaging related to mathematics pathways.
Policy Analysis for California Education The 3rd report of a 3-part series analyzes more specifically how college and university policies for placing students in remedial math courses creates additional barriers for students in completing a degree and/or transferring to a four-year university.