Currently, multiple states have mandates or laws that affect the number of remediation colleges can offer and the placement approaches used. My state (IL) has legislation, but there's still a lot of choice for colleges within it.

When it comes to improving something, such as your health, a policy, or a math program, assessment is always an integral part of the process. As you assess, know that it's common with any substantive transformation to feel a bit of discomfort along the way.

If you're a faculty member and you'd like to address a problem, pause before approaching your administrator. Administrators are incredibly busy. They're usually scheduled to the minute the entire day with meetings and struggle to find time in the day for that work. So many will work evenings and weekends regularly. It's a grind that lasts 12 months of the year.

I can’t imagine being a college student today. Not only are there many distractions, such as personal and professional setbacks and opportunities, but there are pandemics, world events, and so forth. It’s no shock, especially with everything happening around them, that enrollment is down, and colleges are struggling to fill seats.

If you worked on a math redesign of any kind last year and you didn't reach your goal, that's not unusual. Change with such considerable elements takes a lot of people, resources, and time. The secret is to just keep going. Redesign is an evolution, not a revolution.

A few years ago, it was common practice for entering first-year college students to submit to an assessment exam for placement purposes in math and English courses. Students who scored high on these exams were placed in a college-level course, while others were led on the developmental education (DE) route. While this is a not-too-distant reality, it still occurs in institutions today.

Higher education is typically in a state of reform. With the pandemic, that has only accelerated. When initiatives for change are enacted, having stakeholders at the forefront is critical to the amount of the time needed for the initiative and its success. Which stakeholders have the most influence on success or failure of higher ed initiatives? Faculty.

It’s no secret that higher education has an equity gap problem. But this isn’t a new issue or one caused by COVID-19. This has been an ongoing concern for far too long. Let’s take a look at what educational equity is, how it’s affecting our education system, and how implementing effective developmental math redesigns can aid in eliminating equity gaps.

Since I think everyone has passed the finish line (cue the song “School's Out”), I hope you have already had some time for rest and relaxation, or you, at least, have something planned. While our students are making the most out of their summer, we're wired a little bit differently. Yes, we need a break and a chance to exhale, but we also know what we should do to make our lives easier in the fall.