Updated in 2019 with national data, new research, and refreshed analyses, this program-of-study brief discusses what constitutes relevant mathematics for social work majors by examining institutional requirements and recommendations from professional organizations.

Texas 2-year and 4-year transfer inventory guide for 2019-20. This year's version of the Texas Transfer Inventory only includes updated information on the core curriculum and transferability of mathematics courses.

To fully realize the promise of math pathways, the Dana Center recommends that math departments engage in a deliberate and thoughtful process of continuous improvement throughout the initial structural changes and beyond.

Putting into place new, aligned math pathways is a significant step, but that step must be followed by questioning and confirming that students are being placed in the appropriate pathways—and that each pathway covers relevant content that will be useful to the student’s future progress.

This brief provides guidance for such efforts by presenting examples of effective continuous improvement processes at the departmental level. These examples are intended for use with professional learning experiences designed to foster cultures of continuous improvement in DCMP implementation.

While mathematics pathways are not new, there is still a long way to go towards wide-scale adoption and normative practice. The premise of this monograph is that there is expertise to be shared and issues still to be addressed. The monograph comprises chapters organized along topics that are aligned with the DCMP theory of change. The DCMP believes that systemic and sustainable change is best achieved through a process that is faculty-driven, administrator-supported, policy-enabled, and culturally reinforced. We hope that each chapter will provide the guidance and inspiration for improving student success in mathematics education through the widespread adoption, implementation, and continuous improvement of mathematics pathways.

A new law, California Assembly Bill 705, is driving dramatic changes in how California Community Colleges place students into English and math courses. Beginning in Fall 2019, AB 705 requires the colleges to use students’ high school grades as the primary means of placement; restricts colleges from denying students access to transferable, college-level courses; and gives students the right to begin in courses where they have the best chance of completing the English and math requirements for a bachelor’s degree.

This report—a collaboration of the Campaign for College Opportunity and the California Acceleration Project—analyzes early AB 705 implementation efforts at 47 community colleges in the Central Valley, the Inland Empire, and greater Los Angeles. We examine fall course schedules and websites to identify bright spots and problems in implementation, with particular focus on the extent to which college course offerings are aligned with the AB 705 standard of “maximizing” student completion of transfer-level math and English courses.

As the baby boom generation ages, the current shortage of registered nurses in the United States is expected to worsen due to a rising need for nursing services and the retirement of significant numbers of nurses. Hence, nursing professional associations and other experts are increasingly analyzing the real or perceived barriers to entry into and successful completion of nursing programs and examining how to expand access to a wider field of students. While a shortage of nursing faculty continues to be a hindrance on the supply side of nursing education, a consideration on the demand side is whether any program prerequisites or curricular requirements serve as unnecessary obstacles to nursing degree program entry, progression, or completion. This brief examines the mathematics content and requirements for nursing degrees, as compared with the mathematics used by nurses in the field; considers whether they pose a barrier to access; and offers some emerging solutions suggested or implemented by a variety of agencies, institutions, and states.

Recognizing that student proficiency and success rates in mathematics are much lower than desired in Central Texas, as is commonly the case elsewhere, the region’s education leaders decided in 2018 to address the problem directly and established the Central Texas Math Alignment Taskforce (CTXMAT). Less than two years later, changes are underway in K-12, community colleges, and universities that all expect will lead to greater achievement in mathematics for all of their students. Further, this effort serves as an example for the nation in creating a cohesive regional alignment platform to address equity goals and student success.

This brief shares how CTXMAT used collective impact to work towards improving student outcomes. It describes the task force’s goals, process, and initial results, illustrating the value and success of this approach.

Professionals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) help drive our nation’s innovation and competitiveness in a variety of fields and industries. According to the Department of Commerce, STEM occupations are expected to grow at a rate of 1.4 times faster than non-STEM occupations, and the United States will need approximately one million more STEM professionals between 2014 and 2024 (Noonan, 2017).

However, the decreasing number of students deemed eligible for college-level mathematics, coupled with poor outcomes in developmental mathematics sequences, is negatively impacting the number of STEM degrees awarded. The insufficient number of students prepared to succeed in a college-level calculus course in their freshman year significantly reduces the pool of students likely to graduate with a STEM degree in four years (Kreysa, 2006). Ultimately, mathematics departments are left to grapple not only with how to address the poor success rates of their developmental STEM students, but also how to increase enrollments in calculus and the number of STEM graduates.

This resource describes processes that math departments can utilize to modernize their own pathway to calculus.

In recent years, two reform movements—guided pathways and mathematics pathways—have attempted to ease the burden placed on students across the higher education pipeline. Both pathways movements seek to simplify and clarify the educational pipeline for college students by aligning program-level requirements and learning outcomes with students’ academic and career interests.

Yet up until now, each reform had acted in isolation. Until these two movements are fully integrated, students will continue to suffer unacceptable levels of credential attainment, dashing dreams of upward social and economic mobility.

This brief is intended for policymakers, practitioners, and other education stakeholders who are interested in education reform and want to improve the postsecondary experience for students by predictably aligning students’ academic needs with their career goals. Fully integrating the guided pathways and mathematics pathways movements has the potential to remove barriers to student success and create lasting structural change.

President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology

A report and letter from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) detailing recommendations and urging improvements in STEM education to produce over 1 million more college graduates in STEM fields than expected under current assumptions. A similar report is also available from PCAST on K-12-level recommendations recommendations.