This report examines the effects of taking math in 12th grade on several academic outcomes, including high school grade point average, A-G course completion, college enrollment, and college persistence. We also investigate whether particular types of math courses (for example, Calculus or Statistics) are especially beneficial for students'…

This report examines the impact of taking a math course in twelfth grade on L.A. Unified students' science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) college course taking and academic achievement. We also investigate whether particular types of math courses (for example, Calculus or Statistics) are especially beneficial for students' postsecondary…

Background: The Mathematics Department at Saddleback College created a 3-units intermediate algebra course as an alternative to the traditional 5-units intermediate algebra course. Forty percent of the material in the traditional course was composed of review topics from beginning algebra. The 3-units course did not contain that rehash of…

In a diverse classroom, there are students who are in need of both mathematics and English as a second language instruction. One of the challenges faced at Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWIT) was the development of a pathway for English language learners into core academic courses at the college. In addition, English language learners…

This study reports findings regarding the application of a survey of achievement goal orientations to a sample of mathematics 777 students enrolled in remedial and college mathematics courses at a community college. The survey was based on the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales [PALS] and it included questions from the Views About Mathematics…

The purpose of this study was to explore the ways instructors' subject matter beliefs regarding mathematics shape their courses in a community college environment. Data were collected and analysed from instructors' philosophical definitions of mathematics and observations of teaching episodes using a constructivist grounded theory research design.…

An experimental two-track intermediate algebra course was offered at Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA, between the Fall, 2002 and Fall, 2005 semesters. One track was modeled after the existing traditional California community college intermediate algebra course and the other track was a less rigorous intermediate algebra course in which the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of a typical California community college Intermediate Algebra course in preparing students for success in the transfer level mathematics courses for which Intermediate Algebra was the prerequisite. The subsequent mathematics course taken by each of the 986 students who received a grade…

A major goal of this paper is to document changes that occurred in developmental mathematics classrooms in the community college setting when the graphing calculator (GC) Texas Instruments (TI)-83 was introduced to students. The six-week intervention was conducted during the section of Intermediate Algebra in the Community College Baltimore County…