USM gets $3M million for new remedial math courses

The University System of Maryland wants to let liberal arts and social sciences students who need to take developmental math courses pursue a new curriculum that will be more in line with their majors than the traditional, calculus-track program.

Now, a $3 million federal grant will allow five USM schools and five community colleges to research whether such a curriculum – focused on statistics – will help boost retention and student achievement, officials said.

Math can be a barrier to student progress in college, and some students need to take developmental courses before they can take the college-level math they need to graduate. University system officials have sought a way to address that need without lowering academic standards, said Nancy Shapiro, the system’s vice chancellor of academic affairs.

Traditionally, remedial math coursework has focused on preparing students for college algebra, which Shapiro says is a specific type of course that leads into calculus. But a statistics-focused path will be more applicable to liberal-arts and social-science subjects and therefore a better fit for students pursuing those majors, Shapiro said.

University system officials believe that the modified curriculum – known as the Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative, or MMRI – will particularly help underrepresented minorities, who often face the biggest economic and academic challenges when they come to college.

Forty-two percent of black students and 41 percent of Hispanic students entering both four-year and two-year colleges require remedial math support, compared to 31 percent of white students, according to the university system.

The grant, awarded through the U.S. Department of Educations “First in the World” program, will fund the development the statistics-based curriculum and will also allow officials to study a randomized control group of students, some of whom will take the new math track, for four years to evaluate the curriculum’s effectiveness, Shapiro said.

Some pilot classes could begin in the Spring 2016 semester, and officials hope for full implementation next fall, Shapiro said.

Schools participating in the research study are Coppin State University, Towson University, the University of Baltimore, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the University of Maryland, College Park, Anne Arundel Community College, Garrett College, Harford Community College, Howard Community College and Montgomery College.

“USM and our partners took a serious look at one of the biggest barriers to college completion, developmental mathematics, and asked ourselves: ‘How can we make math a meaningful part of students’ college education by connecting it more directly to students’ majors?’” university system Chancellor Robert L. Caret said in a statement. “This new statistics pathway will be much more applicable to what students need for their majors and will, we are sure, lead to more student success going forward.”