skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


This content will become publicly available on March 1, 2026

Title: Math Sorting: Unintended Consequences of Developmental Education Reforms in Community Colleges
Abstract Beginning in 2019, California community colleges were required to use multiple measures to determine students’ placement into initial math courses. Community colleges also created structured BSTEM and liberal arts (SLAM) math pathways beginning in 2017. This contemporaneous implementation could reproduce racialized stratification in math course-taking. This study analyzes changes in math course-taking between Fall 2017 and Summer 2021 using multinomial logistic regression. We find that after the reforms, fewer students across racial/ethnic groups took developmental math and more students attempted SLAM and BSTEM math in the first year of enrollment. Students of color were more likely to take SLAM math and slightly less likely to take BSTEM math, even among academically prepared students. We find some evidence of racial tracking in the steeper increase in SLAM course-taking among Latina/o/x students compared to other racial/ethnic groups. We discuss implications for future policy and practice given these results.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2435104
PAR ID:
10623876
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Research in Higher Education
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Research in Higher Education
Volume:
66
Issue:
2
ISSN:
0361-0365
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, CBE—Life Sciences Education)
    McFarland, Jenny (Ed.)
    Many science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) community college students do not complete their degree, and these students are more likely to be women or in historically excluded racial or ethnic groups. In introductory courses, low grades can trigger this exodus. Implementation of high-impact study strategies could lead to increased academic performance and retention. The examination of study strategies rarely occurs at the community college level, even though community colleges educate approximately half of all STEM students in the United States who earn a bachelor’s degree. To fill this research gap, we studied students in two biology courses at a Hispanic-serving community college. Students were asked their most commonly used study strategies at the start and end of the semester. They were given a presentation on study skills toward the beginning of the semester and asked to self-assess their study strategies for each exam. We observed a significantly higher course grade for students who reported spacing their studying and creating drawings when controlling for demographic factors, and usage of these strategies increased by the end of the semester. We conclude that high-impact study strategies can be taught to students in community college biology courses and result in higher course performance. 
    more » « less
  2. (, 32nd Annual South Carolina Educators for thPractical Use of Research Conference, Columbia, SC, United States.)
    Currently, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs in community colleges and 4-year institutions are predominantly white spaces that can marginalize underrepresented, racial/ethnic minority students (Kanno & Cromley, 2015; Martin, et al., 2018; Samuelson & Litzler, 2016; Valadez, 2008; Wang, Lee, & Prevost, 2017). Latinx students make up the largest racial/ethnic minority group of college students (Martinez & Deil-Amen, 2015), and they are more likely to begin their postsecondary education paths in community colleges (Arbona & Nora, 2007; Starobin & Bivens, 2014). Many will start at community college in programs that lead to vertical transfer (Martin, et al., 2018). Transferring from a community college to a four-year institution is a difficult process to navigate, especially for racial/ethnic minority students who are likely to have experienced inequitable educational experiences. Institutions seeking to assist them in obtaining baccalaureate degrees must increase these students’ Transfer Student Capital (TSC) (Laanan, Starobin, & Eggleston, 2010). The purpose of this presentation is to show how high schools, community colleges, and four-year institutions can partner together to assist Latinx students in acquiring baccalaureate degrees in STEM fields by increasing their TSC. 
    more » « less
  3. ; (, ACM Tech. Sym. Comp. Sci. Ed. (SIGCSE’21))
    null (Ed.)
    The AP Computer Science A course and exam continually exhibit inequity among over- and under-represented populations. This paper explored three years of AP CS A data in the Chicago Public School district (CPS) from 2016-2019 (N = 561). We analyzed the impact of teacher and student-level variables to determine the extent AP CS A course taking and exam passing differences existed between over- and under-represented populations. Our analyses suggest four prominent findings: (1) CPS, in collaboration with their Research-Practice Partnership (Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science; CAFÉCS), is broadening participation for students taking the AP CS A course; (2) Over- and under- represented students took the AP CS A exam at statistically comparable rates, suggesting differential encouragement to take or not take the AP CS A exam was not prevalent among these demographics; (3) After adjusting for teacher and student-level prior experience, there were no significant differences among over- and under-represented racial categorizations in their likelihoods to pass the AP CS A exam, albeit Female students were 3.3 times less likely to pass the exam than Males overall; (4) Taking the Exploring Computer Science course before AP CS A predicted students being 3.5 times more likely to pass the AP CS A exam than students that did not take ECS before AP CS A. Implications are discussed around secondary computer science course sequencing and lines of inquiry to encourage even greater broadening of participation in the AP CS A course and passing of the AP CS A exam. 
    more » « less
  4. ; (, Population Research and Policy Review)
    Abstract Using the Household Pulse Survey and American Community Survey, this study examines employment insecurity experienced across different racial/ethnic groups of the U.S. labor force under the pandemic disruptions. It highlights significant employment security disparities based on race, ethnicity, and income during the pandemic. However, there are no significant gender and racial disparities within the lowest income group when controlling for other conditions. In contrast, gender and racial disparities in EI are much more pronounced among mid-to-high income groups. Non-White individuals were disproportionately affected by job loss due to health and COVID-related employment issues, unlike Whites who faced unemployment more due to other factors. This pattern was more evident among lower-income groups. The trends shifted in later stages, with high-income Black and Hispanic workers becoming more likely to be unemployed due to non-health and non-employment reasons. Middle-income workers across all races were least likely to stop working for reasons other than COVID-related health or employment issues. In addition, regardless race or ethnicity, women more likely to be unemployed due to health reasons and less so due to employment issues compared to men, and the gender disparities increased with higher household incomes. We propose that the apparent immediate effects of the pandemic are actually indicative of deeper, systemic issues within the U.S. labor market, specifically the occupational segregation tied to race/ethnicity, gender, and class. Recovery efforts must take a holistic approach and integrate economic development policies, workforce development strategies, and social policies targeting poverty alleviation, health disparities, and people of color. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; (, Annual meeting program American Educational Research Association)
    :Data show that science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) postsecondary training programs lack gender and racial/ethnic diversity. Recent policy efforts are aimed at creating more inclusive environments for underrepresented groups in STEM and several national reports highlight progress. We argue that prior analyses have not considered institutional contexts and changes in the demographics of students enrolled in higher education more broadly. We propose new measures of gender and racial/ethnic parity in the computing fields. Using these measures, we find that while computing fields have made progress in the number of female students and students of color receiving degrees, gender and racial/ethnic parity has changed little and, in some cases, declined. We conclude with recommendations for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.   
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email