Mathematics Developmental Education in Texas Public Institutions of Higher Education Performance Assessment.

N

77

Basic Skills; Community Colleges; Costs; Labor Force Development; Labor Needs; Mathematics; Mathematics Skills; Remedial Instruction; Remedial Programs; Skill Development; Technology; Tutoring; Two Year College Students; Two Year Colleges

This report aims to address concerns regarding the need for developmental education in mathematics in the higher education institutions in Texas. Fifty-three million dollars of the $93 million appropriated for developmental education in Texas in 2002 went to mathematics. About 40% of new students in two-year colleges and 20% of new students in universities require developmental education in mathematics. While developmental education is often considered a program mainly benefiting minority students, the requirement for developmental education in mathematics cuts across racial and ethnic lines. Forty-six percent of students requiring developmental education in mathematics in Texas are white. This report finds gender differences to be a minor issue. The report also suggests that older students are not driving the need for developmental education, contrary to popular opinion. In fact, after age 24, the percentages of students requiring developmental education decrease with age. Eighty-three percent of students requiring developmental education in mathematics are 21 or younger. This report offers brief summaries of four external studies of developmental education and makes recommendations for future studies. Appended are the following two tables for Fall/Prior Summer 1999 First-Time-in-College Students Tracked Through Fall 2001: (1) Institutional Profiles of Students Requiring Developmental Mathematics Education; and (2) Math Developmental Education by Characteristics of Institution, Program, and Student. Also included are: (1) Addendum 1: A Comparison of the Performance of Full-Time and Part-Time Mathematics Developmental Education Students (Agenda Item IX-D(1), January 2003); and (2) Addendum 2: The Relationship between Initial TASP Test Scores and Performance of Mathematics Developmental Education Students (Agenda Item IX-D(1), January 2003). (NB)

2004

ED480191