The purpose of this quantitative study was to measure the change in mathematics self-efficacy of students enrolled in a college mathematics course at a community college in Missouri. The change was measured over a single semester as a pre-test and post-test. The timing of this study is significant, given that it follows statewide changes in…

Assembly Bill (AB) 1705 seeks to improve California community college students' progress in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs. The law ensures that students begin math in the course that best positions them to complete their calculus requirement. A college has this obligation to all STEM students, regardless of their…

Community college mathematics faculty have instituted changes to address inadequate preparation of incoming students to learn college-level mathematics. However, they could do more to develop student cognitive capabilities to enable underprepared students to successfully learn college mathematics. This basic qualitative study examined the…

This research centers on implementing Quantitative Reasoning (QR) within a differential equations course at an urban public community college. As a participant in the Numeracy Infusion for College Educators (NICE) faculty development program, I sought to integrate QR skills into my curriculum. Students in the course were introduced to QR goals…

This article illuminates how faculty translate professional development around contextualized math instruction into teaching practice, and offers practical recommendations for those embarking upon similar curricular reform efforts at community colleges.

Throughout the 21st century, the discipline of developmental education has come under fire for low success rates and has created a great deal of controversy. This has especially been the case for developmental math. Over the years, there have been many initiatives to improve student success and completion in developmental math. Some have succeeded…

This quantitative study investigated the academic outcomes of high school students from one community college district in Illinois who took a high school transitional math course designed to give them direct placement into a college-level math course. The goal of successful completion of a transitional math course is to allow students direct…

Students determined to be underprepared for college-level mathematics would be enrolled in a sequence of developmental mathematics courses before taking their college-level mathematics course. Students who started in the lowest level of developmental mathematics had a twenty percent chance of completing their college-level mathematics credits…

Objective/Research Question: Community college graduation rates are typically quite low, and developmental mathematics enrollment and coursetaking patterns may constrain academic outcomes. To identify ways in which community college graduation rates may be improved, decision trees were utilized to examine the STEM coursetaking patterns of N =…

Research on developmental education reform has given surprisingly limited attention to what happens inside the classroom between faculty and students. Our qualitative study used interview data from 20 faculty and 20 students in corequisite math and English courses at one of the nation's largest and most racially diverse community college systems.…

Two-year college mathematics teaching has interesting challenges, and it helps to have a national organization representing the profession that provides professional development, issues position statements on relevant topics, and cultivates leaders. This chapter illustrates how the AMATYC organization provides these services.

Many students worry about taking and succeeding in the gateway math courses needed to enter most community college degree and certificate programs. Their concern is not surprising given that these courses have traditionally had some of the highest failure and withdrawal rates at community colleges, in many cases disproportionally affecting…

As online education gains popularity among both learners and postsecondary institutions, there is a movement toward identifying ways to promote student success. Over half of all higher education institutions offer online classes, due in part to the ease of offering and scheduling (Hoffman, 2006); educators seek ways to identify any demographic or…

With the implementation of AB 705 in fall 2019, California Community Colleges began to transition to a majority of students' first English and math enrollment starting at transfer level. Research has shown that with the vast increase in access to transfer-level courses, the one-year completion rate of a transfer-level course (i.e., throughput)…

This quantitative comparative study examined whether there was a significant difference in success rates between African American and White students at community colleges that have embraced guided pathways. Two Midwest American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Pathways Project colleges participated in this study. AACC Pathways Project is a…