Accelerating Developmental Mathematics: Three-Year Findings From the AMP-UP Program

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: Math Pathways and Student Success in Higher Education

Abstract

Developmental coursework in mathematics constitutes a significant hurdle to student persistence and degree attainment in US Community Colleges. Institutions and States have begun responding by altering developmental sequences or by scrapping developmental education altogether. Not all colleges are ready for such changes, and rigorous research is needed to inform such policy changes. This paper presents three years of findings from an ongoing Randomized Controlled Trial studying the acceleration of developmental mathematics coursework at a community college in the Northeastern US. Results so far suggest that students in the treatment group – who took an accelerated path through their developmental mathematics course sequence – outperformed their peers in the comparison group. We discuss those findings in the context of developmental education policy initiatives.

Author

• Daniel Douglas, Trinity College