High School to College Mathematics Pathways: Preparing Students for the Future

Conference Board Math Sciences, Chappaqua NY

Investigators

Abstract

While there are many reports and recommendations of what should be done with both high school and post-secondary mathematics instruction, much more work is needed on understanding how these improvements are taken up and implemented in practice, particularly the articulation from high school to post-secondary mathematics education. The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS), whose membership includes the major mathematics and statistics societies, will host a conference to initiate a national effort bridging the gaps between high school and college mathematics. The specific goal of this conference will be the creation of state-based teams---incorporating leaders in K-12, two-year colleges, and the state's higher education system---that will coordinate action to improve the articulation of high school through post-secondary mathematics education. The conference will be followed by an 18- month period of networking and support, leading to a second forum to report on progress, accomplishments, and obstacles encountered. The project will result in a synthesis of the states' action plans to be shared broadly and serve as a guide for other states. The formal assessment of their progress will produce information that will be extremely valuable to other states. By facilitating better communication and articulation across the high school to college divide and paying attention to the personal and social skills that often impede student progress, we should see the implementation of programs that create improved student readiness for post-secondary education and improved success. This program has the potential for broad impact across all categories of students, with particularly strong implications for students who are currently at most risk, including students from under-resourced schools, from under-represented minorities, and those who are in their family's first generation to go to college. These are the students who are most at risk and who would benefit the most from well-crafted state-based efforts to improve this articulation. This project is supported with funding from the Discovery Research PreK-12 and Improving Undergraduate STEM Education programs. This effort will build on the existing work by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas, Austin, and will draw on recent reports and recommendations of CBMS member societies. The conference will be built around 20 to 25 state-based teams, each team representing the state's department of education, the flagship university and higher education system, and the two-year college system. Teams will also draw on state leaders who have been engaged in efforts to improve mathematics education at either the high school or college level. This forum, planned for spring of 2019, will bring together teams from the participating states to learn what other states have done; to get acquainted with the recommendations, programs, and supports that are available; and to plan their own course of action. The large-scale and multi-venue effort at implementation that will be conducted as follow-up to this conference provides a unique opportunity to study these issues and learn strategies that are effective within different state contexts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.