Just as the perceived health of the population could decline overnight if health officials were to change the definition of “high cholesterol,” changes in definitions and measures of proficiency at the postsecondary school level can radically alter the perceived quantitative reasoning levels of students.
Decisions about math requirements and expectations will have a major impact on the academic opportunities of millions of students nationally.
“Increasingly community college leaders are wondering whether all students assigned to remedial courses really need to take them in the first place. As colleges in California and nationally re-think their placement policies and practices, these concerns are gaining more urgency.”
“As key transit points for students … community colleges face an array of expectations that are often confusing, ambiguous, or altogether conflicting.”
The emerging movement is toward differentiated “math pathways” with distinct trajectories tied to students’ goals.
The high proportion of community college students requiring math remediation, and the relatively low proportion who succeed in required remedial sequences, make placement in developmental math one of the single greatest barriers to college completion.
Placement into a developmental course can affect a student’s entire educational trajectory, putting additional barriers in the way of a college education.