Math Symposium

K-12 Math teachers and leaders from K-12 and post-secondary institutions gathered at Gateway Technical College with representatives from the Charles A Dana Center to engage in a conversation about aligning efforts surrounding math.

As a part of our Talent Hub work to reach the goal of increasing post-secondary credential attainment rates to 60% of adults in our region and close equity gaps for African American, Hispanic, and low-income populations, our partnership brought experts from the Charles A. Dana Center to facilitate a day-long Math Symposium.

The goal of this Symposium was to align efforts to prepare students for college level math from K-12 and post-secondary institutions by: understanding local and state data and its impact on equitable access to post-secondary opportunities and high-growth industries, understanding local, regional, and national work around math pathways, create a  vision - across roles and institutions - for regional success related to math, and set priorities to help our region achieve that vision. 

Math can often be a barrier to completion for students. Often, mismatched content between high school level math courses and college level courses leads to students needing to take developmental math courses. This, in turn, leads to an added cost for extra credits and increased time to a degree.

Participants organize ideas to develop key strategies for math alignment in our region.

“Unfortunately, There is often a serious mismatch between the original rationale for a college algebra requirement and the actual needs of the students who take the course” - Mathematical Association of America

Math should help prepare students to use mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills in their careers and personal lives. By aligning efforts in K-12 and post-secondary institutions through our Talent Hub work, students in our region will be better prepared to be successful in the math classes they need to earn their degree and be successful in their careers.

During the Math Symposium, math teachers and leaders from K-12 and post-secondary institutions discussed strategies to increase the number of students to enter college ready for math, take college-level math within their first year, and be set to graduate in two or four years.