Adding up the successes

By AACC 21st Century Center Staff

An innovative math initiative at a Massachusetts college is a success for students and the college.

Bristol Community College in Massachusetts is saving students time and money while increasing success rates with its Corequisite Models of Developmental Math Education initiative.

Bristol began a developmental math corequisite study in Spring 2014 by offering two sections of fundamental statistics, each paired with a section of introductory algebra. In 2016, the college offered a corequisite with liberal arts math. Also, instead of pairing college level courses with introductory algebra, the math department implemented a support course, containing only the subsection of material from introductory algebra that was relevant and necessary for the college-level course.

From 2014 through 2019, the college offered 96 corequisite pairs, serving a total of 1,365 students, equating to a total success rate of 75.5 percent. This means students who would have previously placed into developmental math were able to save up to three semesters time and the cost of up to two developmental math courses.

In Fall 2019, the math department added three additional corequisites at Bristol Community College: math for elementary school teachers, elements of college math and college algebra. With this change, all students are able to take a credit bearing course in their first semester, putting them further along on their academic journey and making degree attainment more likely.

The initiative – and the success it’s had – landed the college a 2019-2020 Innovation of the Year Award, presented by the League for Innovation in the Community College. Honored with the award are Bristol’s Professors of Mathematics Autumn Alden and Dan Avedikian as well as Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Sarmad Saman for their innovative achievements in higher education.

 

AACC 21st Century Center Staff

is a contributor to the 21st-Century Center.