High School to College Mathematics Pathways: Supporting State Efforts

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The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS)---working in collaboration with the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas, Austin, and Achieve---will hold two Forums on High School to College Mathematics Pathways, one virtual in October 2020 and one in person in October 2021. The forums will bring together the leadership teams already established from 23 states that are working across their state's K-12, two-year college, and university systems. In the forum, the state teams will continue to identify problems with and then to formulate and implement solutions for the transition from high school to post-secondary mathematics. This is part of an ongoing project that began in Fall 2018 funded by NSF #1840722. These state teams will gather to share their experiences and knowledge gained over the past two years. The Dana Center will provide technical assistance to help state teams advocate for their proposals and plan for their implementation.The specific goal of the forums will be the continuation of work with state-based teams, incorporating leaders in K-12, two-year colleges, and the state's higher education system, that are coordinating action to improve the articulation of high school through post-secondary mathematics education. By facilitating better communication and articulation across the high school to college transition and paying attention to the personal and social skills that often impede student progress, the outcomes of the forum should see the implementation of programs that create improved student readiness for post-secondary education and improved success. This program has the potential for broad impact across all categories of students, with particularly strong implications for students who are currently at most risk, including students from under-resourced schools, from members of groups underrepresented in their participation in STEM, and those who are in their family's first generation to go to college. These are the students who are most at risk and who would benefit the most from well-crafted state-based efforts to improve this articulation. This project is supported with funding from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education program. This effort will continue to build on the existing work by the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas, Austin, and will draw on recent reports and recommendations of CBMS member societies. The conference will be built around 20 to 25 state-based teams, each team representing the state's department of education, the flagship university and higher education system, and the two-year college system. Teams will also draw on state leaders who have been engaged in efforts to improve mathematics education at either the high school or college level. This proposal is funded by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program in the Division of Undergraduate Education.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.