(Mis)Measuring Developmental Math Success: Classroom Participants' Perspectives on Learning

• In Event: Student Success at Community College

Abstract

Poor completion outcomes in community colleges’ developmental math programs have spurred reforms aimed at increasing students’ chances of success. However, the measures that have highlighted the inadequacies of developmental math are, in themselves, insufficient for assessing the effectiveness of reforms to developmental math. Drawing on interview data from a classroom-level study of a community college’s pilot reform initiative, we explore the learning goals articulated by the instructors and a sample of students across four pre-algebra classrooms. Our findings regarding the extent to which students reported accomplishing those goals underscore the important distinction between course completion and learning, and in turn, highlight the need to assess the effectiveness of developmental math coursework in ways that extend beyond completion rates.

Authors

• Rebecca D. Cox, Simon Fraser University

• Meaghan Dougherty, Douglas College