The Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI) is a collaborative effort between the public four-year University System of Maryland institutions and the community colleges in Maryland to develop and implement multiple, high-quality mathematics pathways. The focus is on the mathematics that is relevant for students’ chosen career paths, while also ensuring that new courses have sufficient mathematical integrity and rigor to be deemed “college level.”
To address this problem and the need for more postsecondary graduates both within the State of Maryland and nationally, in December 2014, University System of Maryland (USM) Chancellor William E. “Brit” Kirwan launched the Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI). MMRI is a collaborative effort currently underway between the public four-year USM institutions and two-year community colleges in Maryland to develop and implement multiple high-quality mathematics pathways that are relevant for students’ chosen career paths, while also ensuring that the new courses have sufficient mathematical integrity and rigor to be deemed “college-level.”
In late 2015, the University System of Maryland was awarded $3 million dollars from the United States Department of Education to support the development of the pathways courses and a serious evaluation of the impact of those courses on reducing remediation. The new four-year grant gave the collaborative team structure and a shared research agenda, engaging 12 institutions as early adopters. The research question was straightforward and to the point: Do students in the new treatment courses (pathway) have better outcomes than students in traditional developmental mathematics courses?
Key Findings
Our study examined the impact of the alternative developmental treatment course on students’ rates of passing developmental math, passing college-level credit-bearing math, and continuous enrollment.
Question 1: Were there differences between treatment (statistics) and comparison (college algebra) students in the rate at which they passed developmental math?
Finding: Students in the statistics pathway passed developmental math at a higher rate that students in the college algebra pathway and students in the developmental education statistics class were more likely than students in the developmental education algebra course to enroll in a credit-bearing math.
Question 2: Were there differences between treatment and comparison students in the rate at which they passed college-level credit-bearing math?
Finding: Students in the statistics pathway passed their next college credit bearing math course at the same rate as those who enrolled in the college algebra pathway. That means that both groups of students were equally well-prepared to take rigorous college credit-bearing courses.
Question 3: Were there differences between treatment and comparison students in the rate at which they remained continuously enrolled and/or graduated?
Finding: There was no significant difference between students in the two groups related to persistence (continuous enrollment). This finding suggests that the two pathways are equally challenging and demonstrates that the quasi-experimental model fairly reflects that “life-happens events” impact students equally, regardless of what pathway they entered.
This website describes the activities leading up to the launch of the Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative, the work to date in Maryland, and plans for the future.