Shifting Gears: State Innovation to Advance Workers and the Economy in the Midwest

Outlines five states' policy actions to expand access to postsecondary credentials and careers and innovations implemented through Joyce's initiative, including combining basic skills content with workforce readiness, support services, and specialization

Technology Solutions for Developmental Math: An Overview of Current and Emerging Practices

Reviews current practices in and strategies for incorporating innovative technology into the teaching of remedial math at the college level. Outlines challenges, emerging trends, and ways to combine technology with new concepts of instructional strategy

Community College Completion: The Predictive Relationship between Placement Scores and Graduation

This predictive correlative study was designed to investigate the relationship between the entry placement-test scores of community college students as measured by the ACT® COMPASS® placement exams and the students’ successful completion of a degree or certificate program at a technical (community) college in South Carolina. The study was of importance, for it was designed to determine if ACT® COMPASS® placement test scores can predict graduation from a degree or certificate program in the subject college’s programs of study. The study will utilize archival data available in the college’s retention-management system. The selected college is a mid-sized institution that enrolls approximately 5,000 students each fall. A diverse population of approximately 600 students participated in the study. The major theory guiding this study was Tinto’s persistence theory with its emphasis on the importance of understanding what causes students to not persist academically. The statistic used to determine the relationship between the criterion variable (graduation) and the combination of predictor variables (math, reading, and writing placement-test scores) for community college students who initially enrolled in the college in one of two fall semesters (2013-2014) was binary logistic regression

Testing Our Assumptions: The Role of First Course Grade and Course Level in Mathematics and English

Methods that provide an early indicator of factors that affect student persistence are important to colleges and universities. This quantitative research focused on the role of level of entry mathematics and English and also on grades earned in those classes as they relate to persistence after one year. The research showed that by far, the variable most predictive of first-time, full-time students enrolling one year later was earning a grade of “A” in English. Compared to those who did not pass their first English course, students who earned an “A” were three times more likely to persist. The variables which at least doubled the likelihood of persistence included earning an “A” or a “B” in mathematics, a “B” in English, and taking an English course beyond freshman English. While course level taken was significant, the course level effect paled compared with grades earned as a predictor. This effect – of grade earned being more important than course level – included remedial coursework in mathematics and English. In addition, obtaining a high grade in English was equally important for both STEM and non-STEM majors. Finally, students who took both mathematics and English courses their first year were more likely to persist than students who did not take both subjects

STEM degree completion and first-generation college students. A cumulative disadvantage approach to the outcomes gap

STEM majors offer pathways to lucrative careers but are often inac-cessible to first-generation students. Using data from the Education Longitudinal Study, we conducted descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and group comparisons to examine differences between first-generation students and continuing-generation students across STEM degree, non-STEM degree, dropout, and no degree completion. Findings illuminate that generation status is related to STEM completion, but other factors are driving this association; for example, pre-college STEM factors have significant predictive power. Our implications suggest a need to further examine pre-college and transfer pathways to STEM and to explore the limitations of first-generation status as a categorization

Undergraduate Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee Minutes, October 17, 2012

Minutes from the Wright State University Faculty Senate Undergraduate Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee meeting held on October 17, 2012

Predicting Success of Developmental Math Students

Addressing the needs of developmental math students has been one of the most challenging problems in higher education. Administrators at a private university were concerned about poor academic performance of math-deficient students and sought to identify factors that influenced students\u27 successful progression from developmental to college-level coursework. The purpose of this retrospective prediction study was to determine which of 7 variables (enrollment in a college success course, math placement results, frequency of use of the developmental resource center, source of tuition payment, student\u27s age, gender, and race/ethnicity) would be predictive of success in developmental math as defined by a final course grade of C or higher. Astin\u27s theory of student involvement and Tinto\u27s theory of student retention formed the theoretical framework for this investigation of 557 first-year students who entered the university during Fall 2013 and Fall 2014. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed. Successful completion of the university\u27s college success course as well as enrollment in introductory/intermediate algebra or intermediate algebra were significant predictors of success in remedial math courses. In addition, the lower the level of developmental math a student was placed in and engaged with, the higher the probability of success in the course. These findings were used to create a policy recommendation for a prescriptive means of ensuring students\u27 early enrollment in developmental math courses and engagement with university resources, which may help students overcome barriers to success in developmental math and lead to positive social change for both the students and university through higher retention and graduation rates

Advanced marketing education curriculum in secondary schools in Wisconsin

Includes bibliographical references

Exploring the Relationship Between College Mathematics Remediation Status and Continued Persistence in Mathematics of Community College Students

This study analyzed the relationship between community college students’ math remediation status and their continued persistence in math. Continued persistence outcomes included college math course completion, seeking a STEM degree pathway, degree attainment (STEM or any degree), and degree completion time (STEM or any degree). Demographic variables and math-placement- level were investigated as predictors. The study used secondary data from students enrolled in math courses at a large Pacific Northwest college between Fall 2016 and Fall 2019. Exploratory data analysis, logistic regression, and chi-square were used to analyze the secondary data. The analysis found a statistically significant impact of age on continued persistence for the entire student population but not the math-remediation subpopulation. Older students were more likely to complete a college-level math course, and younger students were more likely to seek and attain a STEM degree and have faster STEM degree completion times. Pell Grant recipients from both the entire student population and math-remediation subpopulation were more likely to attain a STEM degree than non-Pell Grant recipients. Females were more likely to persist in math than males. Non-Resident Alien (NRA) and Asian (AS) students were found to outperform White (WHI) students in multiple continued persistence outcomes, while Black/African American (BAA) and Hispanic (HIS) students were commonly found to underperform. Regarding math- placement-level, students placed in upper-level remediation and college-level courses were significantly more likely to attain a STEM degree than those placed in lower-level remediation. This study may be used to further evaluate remedial math policies and practices including, but not limited to, the length of the remedial math sequence and placement tests