Dive Brief:
- Three community colleges in Washington State are offering more statistics-focused classes for students in need of remedial math, instead of pushing them toward intermediate algebra and calculus.
- The Seattle Times reports that early results show much higher completion rates as students test out of the remedial courses and earn college credit that lets them get on with the rest of their degree requirements.
- Some critics don’t think the Carnegie Foundation-developed Statway should count as a math class because it limits students’ career options by leaving them unprepared for calculus, but the University of Washington is accepting the transfer credits on a three-year trial basis.
Dive Insight:
According to The Seattle Times, 19 colleges across the country use Statway to teach developmental math. Other innovations in Washington that aim to address poor outcomes include learn-at-your-own-pace math classes that don’t force students to stick to a strict progress schedule and combined courses that give students a chance to take college and remedial math at the same time. While colleges consider how to get more students through remedial coursework, there is an additional push to revise the assessment system that places so many students in remedial math in the first place.