President Barack Obama recently called upon U.S. employers and educational institutions to collaborate on developing a high-technology workforce, part of Obama’s plan for increasing the number of workers trained in science, technology, engineering and math occupations. The STEM College and Career Readiness project, developed by the Office of Community College Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, is part of a statewide effort to better prepare Illinois high school students for the rigors of college. Education professor Lorenzo Baber, an affiliate of OCCRL and a co-author of a new brief about the project, spoke recently with education editor Sharita Forrest about the initiative.
How did the STEM College and Career Readiness program come about? And why are programs such as this needed in Illinois?
In Illinois, students need to score 22 or better on the math portion of the ACT to be considered college-ready in math. Students who achieve that score have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a grade of B or better, and a 75 percent chance of getting a C or higher, in a college math course.
Over half of Illinois students are coming out of high school not ready for college math. About 41 percent score 22 or better on the math portion of the ACT. However, students’ scores are highly differentiated by factors such as race/ethnicity and income.
In 2007, the Illinois General Assembly passed the College and Career Readiness Act, which called for creation of a three-year pilot program focused on preparing students for college.
The current STEM CCR project, which was implemented in 2013 by the Illinois Community College Board, is the second iteration of that pilot project. Funded by Illinois’ Race to the Top grant, it focuses on reducing the need for remedial courses in math when students enter college.
Seven Illinois community colleges in urban and rural Illinois are partnered with local high schools to develop interventions for students.
How do the interventions better prepare students for college?
During the pilot project, OCCRL created a model that targets the individual-level and structural factors that contribute to remediation. Community colleges and high schools then used this model to diagnose students who were not college-ready and to develop sets of college-preparatory math courses for them.
Some of the sites targeted low-need students, who scored 19-21 on the ACT, while others recruited medium-need students, who scored 16-19.
Faculty members also aligned the high school and community college curricula, and developed special support services and workshops for students.
We asked community colleges to review their remediation policies and consider aligning them with the ACT’s predictions of success. Although the state’s ACT cutoff score is 22, each community college has its own cutoff score as determined by their math faculty.
What have been the most important findings of the STEM CCR project?
We’ve found that using the Compass® test, which community colleges use as a placement tool, has positive results when used with high school juniors.
Many juniors will take advanced algebra or calculus and get a good grade, but test at a pre-college level on Compass®. Students’ performance on the test has been highly successful at encouraging them to take math as seniors, even though it’s not a graduation requirement.
Another critical element has been balancing the academic component of the intervention with support services. College readiness is not just scoring 22 on the ACT; it’s also having knowledge about college, such as how to obtain financial aid and counseling, and developing time-management and other skills.
The thing that we think is going to be most sustainable is the collaboration between high school and college faculty on aligning their math curricula. Some of the sites used the funding to get both sets of faculty together, compare their syllabi and teaching practices, and have honest conversations about the challenges they face.
Community college faculty members have told us that this is the most beneficial piece of the intervention for them.
Are there other factors that contribute to remediation that need to be addressed at a societal level?
We learned that urban and rural high schools have many of the same challenges. Many schools do not have enough math faculty to offer advanced courses. Students who want to take advanced math have to travel to the community colleges, which may be 30 minutes away by car, train or two buses. It’s important to think about the macro-level factors such as this that affect remediation rates, and how these factors are consistent across contexts.
How have high school students responded to the intervention?
We surveyed students about their perceptions of the intervention and what was most useful for them. We are currently wrapping up that analysis.
We’re also tracking outcome data to determine how many students reduced their need for remediation.
Editor’s note: The brief, “Illinois STEM College and Career Readiness: Forging a Pathway to Postsecondary Education by Curbing Math Remediation,” is available on the OCCRL website.
