A large-scale math reform aimed at helping more students graduate increased course pass rates and decreased the use of developmental math during its first semester of implementation at ƹƵ (RCBC).
"Two years ago, we identified that math was a stumbling block that prevented many students from completing their goals,” said RCBC President Dr. Michael A. Cioce. “We will make math a stepping stone for student success.”
Dr. Cioce and Dr. Karen Archambault, vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success, participated in separate Aspen Institute fellowships in summer 2023 that required them to study various student success data. Their research showed that significant numbers of students did not pass or simply avoided taking math during their first year.
“Students who complete college-level math in their first year are more likely to graduate,” Cioce said. “So we completely overhauled our math curriculum to ensure that students took the correct math, with the support they needed to start their degree on solid ground.
“Dozens of faculty members and administrators worked tirelessly with the single goal of helping more students graduate. I cannot thank them enough for the impact it will have on generations of ƹƵ students,” Cioce added.
In fall 2024, the first year that math reform was fully implemented, 14% of incoming students required developmental math, down from 26% two years ago. The reform created separate pathways for students depending on the type of math their major requires. Each of these pathways, and developmental math, achieved an increase in the percentage of pass rates.
- Modern College Math (for most non-STEM majors) - 10 percentage points
- Business Calculus (Business majors) - 7 percentage points
- Thinking Algebraically (developmental) - 6 percent points
- Structures of Math I (Education majors) - 6 percentage points
- Accelerated Precalculus. Precalculus A, and Calculus (STEM majors) - 5 percentage points.
The reform included:
- Redesigning four 100-level courses and four accompanying clinic courses.
- Creating four brand-new program-based 100-level math courses, paired with a support clinic course.
- Proposing and approving more than 120 program and curriculum changes in spring 2024, which were implemented in fall 2024.
Dr. Cioce, Dr. Taziah Kenney, RCBC associate dean of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and Dr. Kathleen Almy, of Almy Education, a consultant who worked with the college on the project, presented “From Barriers to Bridges: Transforming Math for Success at the American Association of Community Colleges’ (AACC) annual conference in April. Learn more about RCBC’s math reform at .
