Chattanooga State and Cleveland State plan to work with local high schools to implement a program this fall that will eliminate the need for students to take developmental math classes when they enter college.
Do the Math, to be offered at all Bradley County and Hamilton County schools, will replace some of the lecture-style classes with interactive math labs and mimic the successful program piloted at Cleveland State that’s now earning national buzz as a solution to help a growing number of failing students grasp the subject.
“The percent of graduates coming out of high-school math needing college remediation is very high. This can improve graduation rates at the high school and college levels,” said John Squires, head of the Chattanooga State Community College math department.
Squires started the Do the Math program at Cleveland State Community College, his previous employer.
Do the Math will influence the delivery method of students’ Bridge math course, taken in their senior year of high school and a new requirement under the Tennessee Diploma Project. What students cover in the course will be based on their ACT scores from junior year.
Under the program, more of the class will be computer based, officials said. Students will work through learning modules, repeating sections until they prove they have mastered a concept, and teachers will be on hand to work with students when they get stuck.
Until this year, students were not required to take a fourth year of math, causing more than 60 percent of students beginning at Cleveland State and Chattanooga State to spend money and time completing remedial courses.
“We are excited about the opportunity,” said Jamie Parris, director of secondary math and science for Hamilton County Schools. “It will provide a better preparation for classes they will take at the collegic level.”
Officials with Cleveland State, which started Do the Math three years ago, and Chattanooga State, which replicated the program this year, say it can produce dramatic results in students’ success in a short amount of time.
FAST FACTS* Under Do the Math, Cleveland State increased its developmental math passing rate by 29 percent.* The number of students exiting the remedial program increased by 32 percent.Source: Cleveland State Community College
The number of students passing developmental math increased 29 percent at Cleveland State since the program began, and the number of students exiting the remedial program increased by 32 percent, records show.
The program also has saved the school $50,000 a year by trimming back on adjunct instructors used to teach math, said Cleveland State President Carl Hite.
“Math is the biggest roadblock in higher education,” Hite said. “This program solves a lot of problems for a lot of people.”
During a speech at the University of Texas in Austin this week, President Barack Obama, who has been pushing a national agenda to increase the number of U.S. college graduates, called for Cleveland State’s math redesign to be duplicated by other schools.
Along with local high schools, four community colleges in California, Florida, Texas and Hawaii will be consulting with officials at Chattanooga State and Cleveland State about mirroring best practices and also spreading the methods to their local high schools.
“We are trying are darndest to find the dollars to replicate it,” said Hite. “We are trying to find grants.”