Evaluating the Transition to College Mathematics Course in Texas High Schools. Policy Brief

Texas Education Research Center. University of Texas at Austin, Pickle Research Campus, 10100 Burnet Road, Bldg #137 TCB, Rm 1.143A, L4500, Austin, TX 78758; Tel: 512-471-4528; Web site: https://texaserc.utexas.edu/

N

10

College Readiness; State Legislation; Graduation Requirements; Mathematics Instruction; High School Students; College School Cooperation; Community Colleges; Partnerships in Education; Program Effectiveness; High School Graduates; Graduation Rate; Mathematics Curriculum; High School Seniors; Grade 12; College Attendance; College Mathematics; Enrollment; Remedial Mathematics

To address under-preparation of students for college-level course-work, Texas House Bill 5 (HB5) introduced a number of substantive changes to the state high school curriculum and graduation requirements. Among its provisions, HB5 created a requirement that school districts offer a college preparatory mathematics course for students not meeting college readiness standards in mathematics by the end of their third year of high school. It further required that the course be offered through a partnership with an institution of higher education--typically a community college--and that successful completion of the course must satisfy the partner institution's requirements for enrollment in college-level coursework. One curriculum designed with the goals and requirements of HB5 is the Transition to College Mathematics Course (TCMC), developed by the Charles A. Dana Center. TCMC was offered at high schools in eight districts across central Texas during the 2016-17 school year and in thirty districts during the 2017-18 school year. To estimate the effects of participating in the course, the study compared twelfth-grade students who participated in TCMC to observationally similar twelfth-grade students from the same cohort, but who did not enroll in the course. This brief focuses on outcomes for the Fall semester one and two years after enrolling in the course. Across both cohorts, students who participated in TCMC graduated from high school at higher rates than students in the comparison groups. Findings from this study suggest that participating in TCMC could have shifted some students who might otherwise have enrolled in four-year institutions towards enrolling in community college instead. This impact would be consistent with the incentive structure of the college preparatory course requirements created by HB5, in that the successful completion of the course provided exemption from proficiency exams only at the partner institution.

ERIC

2021

ED612362