The Minneapolis Math Pathway Story

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A successful math education reform requires the willingness and the ability to meet students where they are. It should be done with curriculum innovation, and not by shifting more responsibility to the students or the student support services. Technology, tutoring and advising, no matter how good or abundant, would have marginal or no effect if the teachers are unwilling to change.

From 2018 to 2021, the math department at Minneapolis College created three pathways for students to complete their gen ed math in a year. They are College Algebra and Statistics with one developmental course MATH 75, and Math for Liberal Arts with no developmental math. This is our story.

When I started as the STEM dean at Minneapolis College in 2018, mathematics was facing multiple challenges. The enrollment had been slipping for years. The math sequences were long, intertwined and as complicated as the Minnesota Vikings' playbook. Hundreds of students each year would take logic to avoid math. It was time to change.

In 2018/19, our top priorities were:

• Detaching College Algebra from the Calculus sequence. Normally College Algebra classes focus on skills and techniques to prepare the students for (and to keep the gate of) the Calculus sequence. The math department has a Precalculus 1 parallel to College Algebra, and we began enforcing strictly that Calculus-bound students take Precalculus 1 instead of College Algebra. This essentially made College Algebra a terminal course and freed up the space to re-envision College Algebra and its prep course.
• Creating a Math for Liberal Arts course with no prerequisites. To do so, the faculty received training and mentoring from Dr. Cindy Kaus of Metropolitan State University. This project was funded by Minn State's Developmental Education Strategic Roadmap (DESR) grant.
• Lowering the prerequisites of Statistics. I supported the department's request to discontinue the unpopular Statway on the condition that we replace it with something equally student-friendly. In response, the department lowered the prerequisites from MATH 80 (Intermediate Algebra) to "A or B in MATH 70" (Introductory Algebra).

In 2019/20, we launched Math for Liberal Arts, which quickly became a student favorite. We also revised Statistics by adding more advanced content for transferring purposes and more basic material to engage a slightly less prepared class. Then we raised it from 3 to 4 credits.

Our team moved to finalize the College Algebra and Statistics pathways in 2020/21.

• The College Algebra Pathway. A new developmental course, MATH 75 Preparing for College Algebra, was created to serve as the only prerequisites of College Algebra. The department revised College Algebra to ensure a seamless transition from MATH 75.
• The Statistics Pathway. The switch to 4 credits was made official. The department also added MATH 75 as one of its prerequisites, practically making MATH 75 the only developmental course needed to enter either College Algebra or Statistics.

Going into the 2021/22 academic year, we will be focusing on:

• Working with MPS. We collaborate with Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) so that they would teach MATH 75 to their students, and we would admit them to our College Algebra or Statistics without requiring any other placement criteria such as Accuplacer, GPA or ACT scores.
• Going after the math prerequisites in non math courses. There are a few non math courses in our college that require some level of math as the prerequisites. Our team will work with their departments to build customized just-in-time math learning materials to replace the prerequisites and make these courses more accessible to students.
• Training more faculty experts. Dear Minnesota, we are preparing to lend you a hand if you want to do something similar!

I mentioned in the beginning that a successful math reform requires curriculum innovation and a willingness to meet students where they are. That's exactly what the math department did, with Scott Storla's curriculum genius, Chhaya Patel and Jane Gringauz's relentlessly work on the Statistics course, Donna Spikes's coordination, and the entire department's teamwork and support of each other.

Those who follow national math movements closely would notice that our pathways have reached two milestones. Minimizing or eliminating developmental math is the goal of Dana Center of Texas, and the seamless curriculum transition from high schools is what Tennessee SAILS Program sets out to do. Few institutions in the nation have accomplished these goals, but our team did it with a small funding and a big heart.

​Someone asked me lately about updating the flowchart of our math pathways. "What flowchart?" I joked, "Why would I need a chart for three short straight lines?"

​Yes, three short straight lines. That's what math pathways look like, here at the Minneapolis College.