Transitions in Math from High School to Community College before and after AB 705, Updated through Fall 2021

RP Group. 369-B Third Street Suite 397, San Rafael, CA 94901. Tel: 510-527-8500; e-mail: info@rpgroup.org; Web site: https://rpgroup.org

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9

Community Colleges; Two Year College Students; Transfer of Training; Remedial Instruction; Mathematics Instruction; Access to Education; Outcomes of Education; Alignment (Education); High Schools; Comparative Analysis; Student Placement; State Legislation; Ethnicity; Student Characteristics; College Mathematics

The California Community Colleges (CCC) began implementation of AB 705 in fall 2018, ensuring that most students started in transfer-level math rather than a developmental education sequence. The RP Group's Multiple Measures Assessment Project (MMAP) has found that for all student groups, dramatically increasing access to transfer-level math courses corresponds with significantly improved completion of these courses within one year. These outcomes exceed all rates exhibited in the past when students largely began in basic skills offerings. At the same time, course success has decreased at varying rates across colleges, resulting in a perceptual "paradox" of one key indicator increasing (throughput) as another decreases (course success rates). Further, educators, advocates, and policy makers alike have hoped that increased access to transfer-level courses would lead to greater alignment between the state's high schools and community colleges in math pathways, with students taking the next step beyond their high school learning rather than repeating courses they already completed. However, with implementation varying across the state, it is unclear to what extent colleges are intentionally placing students into math courses that build on and advance their high school learning rather than duplicating content and revisiting skills. To better understand these issues and the impact of AB 705 on how students transition from high school to community college in math pathways, MMAP compared CCC students' math placement and initial course completion in fall 2016 (pre-AB 705 implementation) to fall 2021 (post-implementation). This brief provides a summary of this comparison, updating research previously released by The RP Group showing data through fall 2019. [For "Transition in Math from High School to Community College before and after AB 705," see ED619299.]

ERIC

2023

ED627878