Missouri

Missouri

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2019 – Dana Center Expands Support to Kansas City Area Scaling Math Pathways to Normative Practice

Building on the work of the Missouri Mathematics Pathways Task Force and the Dana Center to establish mathematics pathways among Missouri’s institutions of higher education, nine universities and community colleges in the Kansas City area will be supported to move mathematics pathways to normative practice to better prepare students for their future careers. Through a $1.1 million two-year grant from the philanthropic foundation Carnegie Corporation of New York, participating institutions will support a combined population of more than 45,000 students, representing 20–25% of Missouri’s total college and university enrollment.

Goals of the Kansas City region-level work include:

  1. Deepen implementation and scale of co-requisite mathematics courses.
  2. Align the region’s math pathways to programs of study across secondary and postsecondary institutions.
  3. Support leadership, faculty, and staff to transform institutional structures and processes to remove barriers so each and every student has opportunities to succeed.
  4. Support continuous improvement of math pathways at the state, region, and institution levels

For more information about the DCMP’s role in scaling math pathways in the Kansas City area, please read this story. Visit the Missouri/Kansas City area dashboard for announcements, events, and resources.

Institutions

  • Metropolitan Community College, Kansas City
  • North Central Missouri College
  • State Fair Community College
  • Avila University
  • Central Methodist University
  • Missouri Western State University
  • Northwest Missouri State University
  • University of Central Missouri
  • University of Missouri, Kansas City

Coordinator

Paula Glover portrait.

Paula Glover, Ph.D.

paulag@macc.edu

 

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Early Dana Center Work with Missouri

In 2012, House Bill 1042, also known as Principles of Best Practice in Remedial Education, was signed into law, requiring all Missouri public institutions of higher education to “replicate best practices in remedial education.” Pursuant to this mandate, one best practice identified by the Missouri Department of Education (MDHE) and the Task Force on College and Career Readiness (TCCR) was the alignment of gateway mathematics courses to programs of study. In October 2014, the Missouri Math Pathways Task Force was organized, after Missouri was selected as one of six states to engage with Complete College America and the Charles A. Dana Center for the Building Math Pathways to Programs of Study (BMPPS) initiative.

The state was also selected to continue its math pathways work as part of the Dana Center's Mathematics Pathways to Completion project, which launched in late 2015. Through this project, Missouri continues to work towards full implementation of its task force recommendations.

Math Task Force Facilitator

  • Erik Anderson, Director of Academic Research, Missouri Department of Higher Education

AY2019-20 Math Task Force Co-Chairs

  • Dustin Belt, Instructor and Undergraduate Mathematics Advisor, University of Missouri
  • Trisha White, Mathematics Instructor, Ozarks Technical Community College
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Missouri Math Pathways Task Force

Name Title Institution
Nakhle Asmar Department Chair and Professor of Mathematics University of Missouri - Columbia
Trish White Lead Mathematics Instructor Ozarks Technical Community College
Briehan Barron Mathematics Faculty State Technical College of Missouri

Click Expand button to view all Math Pathways Task Force members.

Name Title Institution
JD Herdlick Mathematics Instructor East Central College
William O. Bray Chair of Mathematics Department Missouri State University
Rich Christianson Professor of Mathematics St. Charles Community College
Shahla Peterman Teaching Professor University of Missouri–St. Louis
Jonathan Corbett Associate Professor of Mathematics Harris-Stowe State University
Mark Eriksson Mathematics Faculty Three Rivers Community College
David Garth Professor of Mathematics Truman State University
Kim Granger Professor of Mathematics St. Louis Community College
Jennifer Hegeman Associate Professor of Mathematics Missouri Western State University
Kevin Hopkins Mathematics Chair Southwest Baptist University
Cheryl Ingram Chair of Mathematics and Physical Sciences Division Crowder College
Kerry Johnson Chair of Mathematics Department Missouri Southern State University
Stephanie Van Rhein Lecturer University of Missouri–Kansas City
Lauren Kieschnick Mathematics Faculty Mineral Area College
Phoebe McLaughlin Professor of Statistics and Mathematics University of Central Missouri
Kimberly Miller Chair of Mathematics Division State Fair Community College
Bill Morgan Mathematics Faculty Metropolitan Community College
Michael Orf Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs Missouri State University West Plains
Jerry Priddy Professor of Mathematics Central Methodist University
Skyler Ross Associate Professor of Mathematics Jefferson College
V.A. Samaranayake Curator’s Teaching Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, and Director of Graduate Studies Missouri University of Science and Technology
Kaitlyn Schwartze Instructor of Mathematics Lincoln University
Suzanne Tourville Professor of Computer and Math Sciences Columbia College
Chip Sharp Director of Mathematics Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Csilla Tasi Mathematics Instructot Northwest Missouri State University
Tracy Welch Mathematics Faculty North Central Missouri College
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Listen as Missouri Mathematics Pathways Task Force Facilitator Erik Anderson presents outcomes of the work with the MPC project.
Formal Charge

Formal Charge

The Missouri Math Pathways Task Force (MMPT) was charged to explore options and make recommendations that would significantly increase the percentage of students completing degree programs and student success rates in gateway mathematics courses without compromising the integrity of mathematics instruction. Also, the task force considered the effectiveness of college algebra and other entry-level college courses to evaluate how seamlessly existing mathematics courses transfer between institutions.

Through faculty-driven discussions from math faculty at all public institutions, MMPT issued its task force report, Report of the Missouri Mathematics Pathways Task Force on Building Math Pathways into Programs of Study, in June 2015view full resourceView Full ResourceDownloadFile.

  • Recommendation 1.1: Revise the CBHE [Coordinating Board of Higher Education] policy regarding prerequisite courses for entry-level general education mathematics courses so that the prerequisite course for each college-level course is appropriate.
  • Recommendation 1.2: Establish statewide articulation agreements (while respecting the autonomy of each institution) for the alternative pathway mathematics courses that meet the general education mathematics requirements and their prerequisite courses.
  • Recommendation 2.1: Institutions should align the process of placing students in credit-bearing courses with alternative pathway courses.
  • Recommendation 2.2: The K–12 and higher education sectors should collaborate to align high school mathematics courses with entry college-level mathematics courses.
  • Recommendation 2.3: Create college-level mathematics courses that serve as alternatives to the College Algebra course and that are aligned to targeted programs of study.
  • Recommendation 2.4: Identify prerequisites for alternative college-level mathematics courses that are aligned to targeted programs of study.
  • Recommendation 3.1: Hold a second Mathematics Summit to disseminate information and policy recommendations regarding the work of the MMPT.
  • Recommendation 3.2: Develop a process for the collection and analysis of data regarding the success of alternative courses.

In Fall 2017, 13 two-year institutions and 12 four-year institutions committed to implement mathematics pathways in Fall 2018. See  Summary of Institutional Commitments for Missouriview full resourceView Full ResourceDownloadFile for more information about who committed and institutional expectations to implement mathematics pathways.

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Featured Resources

Faculty Engagement at Metropolitan Community College-Kansas City

In the early stages of implementing mathematics pathways reforms across multiple campuses, leaders strategically and authentically engaged faculty, directly addressing their concerns and empowering the people on the front lines to work towards the institution’s vision.

Level
Institution
Process Stage
Implementing
Continuously Improving
Role
Institutional Leadership
Math Department
Partner Disciplines

Missouri Pathways Initiative

The Math Pathways Task Force, organized in October 2014 pursuant to House Bill 1042, strives to identify alternative entry-level mathematics courses most effective and beneficial to each academic m

https://dhe.mo.gov/AAU-Initiatives-MathPathways.php
State Level Organizations
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Rusty Monhollon
Pathways to Success
"We are thrilled to continue our collaborative work with the Dana Center on math pathways, and especially excited to expand our engagement with our P–12 colleagues."
Dr. Rusty Monhollon
Assistant Commissioner for Academic Affairs,
Missouri Department of Higher Education

Our Work at the State Level

Select a state to learn more about how local leaders are setting a vision for math pathways or read an analysis of math pathways work across multiple states.