by Jerome Dancis
This summer, I obtained the college remediation data for my state of Maryland. Well just 2014, the latest available. So BCC i.e. before Common Core became the state tests in Maryland.
Does anyone know of similar data for other states?
Fewer Students Learning Arithmetic and Algebra
Analysis based on data by Maryland Higher Education Commission’s (MHEC) Student Outcome and Achievement Report (SOAR).
The data for my state of Maryland (MD) is: (This data may be typical for many of the 45 states, which adapted the NCTM Standards.)
Decline in Percent of Freshmen Entering Colleges in Maryland, Who Knew Arithmetic and Real High School Algebra I.
1998 2005 2006 2014
Whites 67% 60% 58% 64%
African-Americans 44% 33% 36% 37%
Hispanics 56% 42% 43% 44%
See my [Univ. of Maryland] Faculty Voice article,
“More Remedial Math [at MD Colleges]? [YES]”
scroll down to bottom of Page 1
Caveat. This data describes only those graduates of Maryland high schools in 1998, 2005, 2006 and 2014, who entered a college in Maryland the same year.
Related Data. From 1998 to 2005, the number of white graduates increased by 11% (from 14,473 to 16,127), but the number who knew arithmetic and high school algebra I decreased (from 9703 to 9619) (as determined by college placement tests).
Similarly, from 1998 to 2005, the number of African-American graduates who were minimally ready for college Math went down in spite of increased college enrollments of females by 21% and males by 31%.
One of the likely causes for the downturn: High school Algebra I used to be the Algebra course colleges expected. Under the specter of the MD School Assessments (MSAs) and High School Assessments (HSAs), school administrators have been bending the instructional programs out of shape in order to teach to the state tests. The MSAs on math and the MD Voluntary Math Curriculum marginalizes Arithmetic, thereby not allocating sufficient time for too many students to learn Arithmetic. Arithmetic lessons were largely Arithmetic with calculator. The MD HSA on Algebra was Algebra with graphing calculator. The MD HSA on Algebra avoided the arithmetic and arithmetic-based Algebra students would need in college, such as knowing that 3x + 2x = 5x and knowing 9×8 = 72. I nick-named it The MD HSA on “Pretend Algebra” .
