Cost-Effectiveness of a Statistics-Based Approach to Developmental Mathematics Education

Due to the low success of traditional, postsecondary remediation mathematics, The Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative First in the World Grant (MMRI–FITW) sought to develop and implement a statistics pathway in 2- and 4-year institutions as an alternative to traditional algebra-based math, to accelerate developmental mathematics students’ progress into credit-bearing postsecondary mathematics courses. In this study, we use cost to students and cost to institutions to estimate the cost per student and assess the cost-effectiveness of MMRI–FITW statistics-based vs. traditional algebra-based approach to developmental mathematics education for increasing student enrollment in college credit-bearing mathematics. The results indicate participating in the MMRI–FITW statistics-based vs. traditional algebra-based approach reduces education costs by approximately 7 percent and is 36 percent more cost-effective for increasing student enrollment in college-credit mathematics. The article concludes with the implications of the cost-effectiveness results for scaling the MMRI–FITW statistics-based approach

A Switch in Time: The Academic Effects of Shifting Math Remediation from College to High School

One explanation for negative or null findings in prior research on postsecondary remediation is that college may be too late to address issues of academic under-preparedness. This study evaluates the impact on student outcomes when college math remediation is offered in the senior year of high school. The Seamless Alignment and Integrated Learning Support (SAILS) program in Tennessee targets students with low 11th grade ACT math scores. Students who pass SAILS in 12th grade can enroll directly in college-level math courses at any Tennessee community college. Using a triple-difference design, we exploit variation in students' treatment status based on ACT math scores (remediation-eligible vs. remediation-ineligible), high school adoption of SAILS (first cohort vs. later cohort), and senior year (before vs. during first SAILS year). We find that SAILSeligible students in the first cohort were significantly less likely to enroll in remedial math courses in college, and more likely to enroll in and pass college-level math overall. These students also earn 2.8 additional credits by their second year. We detect no significant differences in high school graduation rates, college enrollment, or postsecondary credential attainment within two years. The program advanced progress towards several, but not all, of the potential goals examined.

Reducing the Need for Postsecondary Remediation Using Self-efficacy to Identify Underprepared African-American and Hispanic Adolescents

Introducción. La educación postsecundaria de remediación es un problema importante para la educación superior que afectan a las tasas de retención, las tasas de finalización de grado y costo de inscripción. La identificación de los estudiantes que están armonizados para la gestión de los rigores del colegio y que se beneficiarían de la intervención temprana es necesario reducir la necesidad de corrección secundaria posterior. Este estudio examina las percepciones de estudiantes de la autoeficacia y uso de conductas de autorregulación como un posible indicador de necesidad de corrección.Método. 63 10th y 11th grado los estudiantes de Texas (52,5% afroamericanos, 44,3% hispanos, 3.2% otros) participaron en el estudio. Se administraron dos inventarios de autorregulación, el SRI-HS y LASSI-HS, para determinar la autoeficacia del estudiante y su uso de conductas de autorregulación. Se utilizó un análisis discriminante predictivo para clasificar correctamente el nivel de autoeficacia de un grupo de adolescentes afroamericanos e hispanos en 3 grupos mutuamente excluyentes, [alta (81%), moderada (65%) o bajo (72%)] basado en los resultados de los dos inventarios de autorregulación.Resultados. Un análisis Kruskal-Wallis análisis reveló áreas de los inventarios de SRI-HS y LASSI-HS donde estudiantes de afroamericanos e hispanos de la autoeficacia bajos significativamente más bajo que sus homólogos de la autoeficacia altas anotaron autoinformado uso de habilidades de autorregulación y comportamientos. Ambos inventarios revelan problemas en la gestión de las distracciones, actitud, concentración, para buscar ayuda, estrategias de estudio, estableciendo metas, atención, seleccionar la idea principal y prueba de estrategias; importantes habilidades necesarias por studentsand armonizado sería útil en la intervención. Actitud fue el percentil menor puntuación (15th) para grupos de alta y baja autoeficacia. Los alumnos de modelo correctamente identificado PDA (72,9% de los casos agrupados) haciendo un modelo útil para predecir los estudiantes con baja autoeficacia académica (72%) para identificar a los estudiantes armonizados; los estudiantes que podrían beneficiarse de la intervención de la autoeficacia y la autorregulación.Discusión. Los resultados apoyan la hipótesis de que los estudiantes que tienen alta autoeficacia tienden a usar más actitudes y comportamientos de autorregulación que los estudiantes con menor autoeficacia. Este hallazgo sugiere que una alta autoeficacia se asocia a un mayor logro y, por lo tanto, es menos probable que sea necesario un refuerzo en la post-secundaria. Se ofrecen sugerencias para mejorar la autorregulación y las actitudes de la autoeficacia para los estudiantes tanto de alta como de baja autoeficacia. Para todos los estudiantes se ofrece la posibilidad de disminuir la necesidad de refuerzo en post-secundaria.

Mathematics Bridging Education Using an Online, Adaptive E-Tutorial

This contribution describes and evaluates a postsecondary remediation program in mathematics, aiming to ease the transition from high school to university and to improve the success rates in the first year of bachelor studies. The remediation program consists of the administration of an entry test and the organisation of voluntary bridging education in the format of an online summer course, using the adaptive e-tutorial ALEKS. Participants are prospective students of the university programs business and economics of Maastricht University, and are mostly students with an international background. Effect analysis suggests a strong treatment effect of successful participation in the summer course. However, given the quasi-experimental setup of this study, with non-equivalent groups, selection effects may be responsible for part of that effect. Correction of the treatment effect by applying the propensity score method indicates that indeed a selection effect is present, but that a substantial treatment effect remains, of about 50% the size of the effect of being educated in advanced math versus basic math, in high school.