{"id":2522,"date":"2024-11-17T12:32:24","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T20:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/?p=2522"},"modified":"2024-11-18T11:49:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T19:49:26","slug":"will-ab-1705-open-or-close-doors-for-our-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theothermath.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/17\/will-ab-1705-open-or-close-doors-for-our-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Will AB 1705 open or close doors for our students?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let’s start with the TL;DR in hopes that you will actually read this blog post: Moving forward CALCULUS is the lowest math course that can be offered to students entering with a STEM-related academic goal.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Do I have your attention? Read on\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

In the spirit of vertical alignment, I thought I would share some important information that directly impacts our high schools and community colleges. If you don’t work with either of these two communities, then you are welcome to skip this blog post!<\/span><\/p>\n

Up until recently, it was common for students entering community college to take some sort of mathematics placement test. Since only 11% of our 11th graders in Merced County meet or exceed the grade-level expectations on the CAASPP assessment, a great many of those students were assigned into non-transferable prerequisite math courses. Essentially\u2026remedial courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This practice was done out of compassion for the mathematically struggling students. Why, the thinking goes, place students into math courses they were not adequately prepared for? Placing students into remedial math courses, the thinking went, provides students with the prerequisite math concepts that will ultimately lead to success once they finally make it into the transfer-level courses.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Well, in the words of Winston Churchill who said, “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results”, subsequent research into the strategy of placing students into remedial courses shows that students who took remedial math and English classes often got stuck in those classes and were\u00a0virtually certain<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to NOT finish their degrees.<\/span><\/p>\n

AB 1705 to the “rescue”<\/span><\/h2>\n

In September of 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed\u00a0Assembly Bill 1705<\/a><\/span>\u00a0which went into full effect starting in 2024 and will be fully phased in by Fall, 2025. AB 1705 sets into motion changes that severely restrict the ability of community colleges to offer remedial math and English courses. The legislation creates new rules that mostly prevent colleges from offering remedial courses that can\u2019t be used toward transfer to four-year universities. A key provision of AB 1705 that seems to strike me as the most pressing challenge is that it essentially prohibits community colleges from placing students into a math course lower than Calculus for students with a STEM-related academic goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s right\u2026Calculus is the LOWEST math course that can be offered for students with a STEM-related academic goal! CALCULUS!<\/span><\/p>\n

Students entering non-STEM programs will have only College Algebra as the first math course they can take.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is\u00a0significant evidence<\/a><\/span>\u00a0that eliminating the requirement that students take numerous prerequisite remedial course prior to finally enrolling into transfer-level courses significantly improves student outcomes\u2026including the likelihood transferring to CSU\/UC.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some community colleges are\u00a0putting on a brave face<\/a><\/span>\u00a0by framing AB 1705 positively because students are required to take fewer math courses\u2026since remedial courses are no longer offered. Meanwhile colleges are\u00a0already phasing out<\/a><\/span>\u00a0their pre-calculus course offerings.<\/span><\/p>\n

What are STEM-related fields?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Truthfully, this part surprised me because “STEM-related fields” encompasses far more majors than I had originally thought. I contacted academic counselors at both Merced College and Modesto Junior College to ask which academic goals are directly impacted by AB 1705. An academic counselor from MJC sent me\u00a0this list of 13 academic goals<\/a><\/span>, in which Calculus is the initial math courses student must take at their school.<\/span><\/p>\n