Sites
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High Schools
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Higher Ed
Instructors
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Teachers
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Professors
Students
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Students
Identify Problem
Develop Solution
Pilot Solution
Evaluate
Revise
Identify Problem
- Low college completion rates, specifically at CSUs and CCCs serving predominantly under-represented students.
- Low pass rates for college-level mathematics classes hindering college completion.
Develop Solution
Create an action research project on the high school campus to align their math program to their local CCC or CSU’s math program. The program consists of the following components:
- Develop a community of practice between college and high school math faculty to align their respective mathematics programs. The team implements college freshman level dual-enrollment courses with support on the high school campus for alignment. The model is based on the revision to the SLAM project. The high school teacher has the additional role of providing professional development to the math department based on the findings from the dual-enrollment course.
- Develop a community of practice within each high school’s math department. Provide professional development to the math department aligning their math program to the college courses as well as additional college metrics such as SBAC/CAASPP and AP. Professional development is provided in conjunction with the teacher(s) participating in the dual-enrollment community of practice.
- Develop a community of practice with site leadership teams. Provide data-driven professional development to the team facilitating the development of a school-wide college math readiness plan.
- Develop a community of practice with high school counselors and college advisors. Provide professional development to the team developing, implementing, and evaluating a College Transition Plan (CTP) for high school seniors. See the project page for the CTP here.
Pilot Solution
Both urban and rural models were implemented that included large, medium, and small school districts. High schools were either large comprehensive, small magnet, or charter. The roll-out proceeded as follows:
- In the 2017-18 school year the urban model launched with two CSUs (one offering Quantitative Reasoning with Statistics and the other Pre-Calculus) and five partner high schools. Each high school had one section of each CSU course.
- The rural rollout began in 2018-19 with one CCC and one high school offering a Pre-Statistics course in the fall and a transfer-level Statistics course in the spring for students who passed Pre-Stats with a C or higher.
- In the 2019-20 school year a second rural CCC and high school partnership joined with the Pre-Statistics/Statistics model. The initial rural partnership that began the previous year launched a STEM model with a College Algebra/Trigonometry sequence.
Key Findings
- Students in the CSU Pre-Calculus course showed a statistically significant improvement in SBAC/CAASPP over their peers, including those in honors programs.
- Eleventh graders in advanced math courses outperformed their peers on SBAC/CAASPP (please see this finding in conjunction with the next).
- In high schools/districts that offer acceleration through math (either in middle school or high schools), students who are not accelerated tended to decline in math while in high school whereas the trend was positive for the same group in schools that did not offer acceleration.
- The greatest gains in CAASPP (11%) and college alignment were in a rural high school where district and site leadership provided a shared vision for the school and time for math teachers and counselors to participate in professional development and decision making. In addition to the growth in CAASPP scores, the site’s college math pass rate was 97%.
Data Collection and Analysis
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed for each component of the project: (1) dual-enrollment courses, (2) alignment to college course and SBAC, and (3) College Transition Plan.
Quantitative Data
The quantitative data collected all high school math courses and grades; high school GPA; SBAC scores from grade 8 and grade 11; dual-enrollment quizzes, exams, and course grades; college applications, admits, and enrollments; college courses and grades; college GPA; MDTP assessment data; and scores from AP, SAT, and ACT exams.
Qualitative Data
Qualitative data collected and analyzed included surveys and interviews from students, teachers, counselors, professors, and administrators.
Student data is tracked over eight years through college completion.
Both urban and rural models were implemented that included large, medium, and small school districts. High schools were either large comprehensive, small magnet, or charter. The roll-out proceeded as follows:
- In the 2017-18 school year the urban model launched with two CSUs (one offering Quantitative Reasoning with Statistics and the other Pre-Calculus) and five partner high schools. Each high school had one section of each CSU course.
- The rural rollout began in 2018-19 with one CCC and one high school offering a Pre-Statistics course in the fall and a transfer-level Statistics course in the spring for students who passed Pre-Stats with a C or higher.
- In the 2019-20 school year a second rural CCC and high school partnership joined with the Pre-Statistics/Statistics model. The initial rural partnership that began the previous year launched a STEM model with a College Algebra/Trigonometry sequence.
Professional development plans were developed for site leadership, math departments, dual-enrollment math teachers, and counselors. Leadership focused on school-wide goals, math courses, and placement policies; math departments on aligning to college math and SBAC; dual-enrollment teachers on aligning college math to their department; and counselors on math placement practices and advising.
Evaluate
Key Findings
- Students in the CSU Pre-Calculus course showed a statistically significant improvement in SBAC/CAASPP over their peers, including those in honors programs.
- Eleventh graders in advanced math courses outperformed their peers on SBAC/CAASPP (please see this finding in conjunction with the next).
- In high schools/districts that offer acceleration through math (either in middle school or high schools), students who are not accelerated tended to decline in math while in high school whereas the trend was positive for the same group in schools that did not offer acceleration.
- The greatest gains in CAASPP (11%) and college alignment were in a rural high school where district and site leadership provided a shared vision for the school and time for math teachers and counselors to participate in professional development and decision making. In addition to the growth in CAASPP scores, the site’s college math pass rate was 97%.
Data Collection and Analysis
Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed for each component of the project: (1) dual-enrollment courses, (2) alignment to college course and SBAC, and (3) College Transition Plan.
Quantitative Data
The quantitative data collected all high school math courses and grades; high school GPA; SBAC scores from grade 8 and grade 11; dual-enrollment quizzes, exams, and course grades; college applications, admits, and enrollments; college courses and grades; college GPA; MDTP assessment data; and scores from AP, SAT, and ACT exams.
Qualitative Data
Qualitative data collected and analyzed included surveys and interviews from students, teachers, counselors, professors, and administrators.
Student data is tracked over eight years through college completion.
Mid-year and end-of-year site reports are completed each year for professional development purposes. A full project evaluation report is completed each year and is available for viewing or download below.
Revise
M-PReP is currently in year three. The following revisions took place over years one and two.
Year One
- CSU Pre-Calculus course showed promise for SBAC alignment. High schools were encouraged to offer program to 11th graders.
- Math departments in medium and small districts had little to no prior SBAC or Common Core training, thus supplemental grants were provided by the CSU Chancellor’s Office for additional PD for alignment to SBAC.
Year Two
- AB705* changed the rural model where courses below transfer-level were no longer offered at the college. In response, the high school adopted the Pre-Statistics course as a high school course.
- The success of the Pre-Statistics course led to the creation of a Pre-Stats/Math 2 hybrid high school course for students who earned a D or F in Math 2 as sophomores. The course is designed to (1) re-engage students in mathematics, (2) prepare students for SBAC, and (3) prepare students for Math 3 in their senior year.
- CSU Statistics revised their course based on revisions occurring on campus with EO 1110*. The new course fully utilized the CSU’s online Canvas system and included assignments through Canvas and a flipped classroom. The course revisions also included a revision of the standards and new data labs in place of previous projects.
*see blog for detailed information about AB705 and EO1110 here.
“High school math teachers have been collaborating more frequently and effectively to align CCSS and SBAC with their instruction. This has been so meaningful and effective that we will be extending the project to our Middle/Junior High School Math Departments.”
M-PReP Partner
Assistant Superintendent
“We've had great growth in mathematics achievement, improved student attitudes and perceptions about their mathematics experiences, and built the capacity of our teachers.”
M-PReP Partner
Academic Officer
How did students at a rural high school in Central California not only acquire the necessary skills to become college ready, but also to pass college-level math classes, all in the span of their senior year?