If you’re facing a mandate, legislation, or just ready to make your math programs work for all students, we can help.
Led by math redesign expert Kathleen Almy, Almy Education guides community colleges and private universities through the process of modernizing their math programs to achieve math success at scale. From the classroom level to the policy level, we meet your needs where you are.
Meet The Founder of Almy Education
As a tenured math faculty for two decades, I led multiple math initiatives at my college, in my state, and nationally. During that time, I consulted with dozens of colleges to improve their math courses. My work included what they taught, the sequence of content, the instructional approach, and how content was assessed.
I’ve been redesigning math courses and policies since 2007, so I’ve seen the changes and trends over time. Admittedly, I had some skepticism on some of the approaches at first, as many faculty do. But the data changed my mind. Not just what I experienced working with other faculty but also what I saw in published research.
I also work full time outside of academia and see every day the needs of our students as they move into the workplace. That experience has increased my company’s urgency and commitment to modernizing college math programs. Between my experience and the strong rapport I have with math faculty, I’ve learned how to guide other math instructors to new ways of looking at math as well as offering it.
Kathleen Almy
What do we mean by Modern Math?
Modern math courses are equity-focused, effective, and have faculty engagement. They create positive experiences for students and faculty alike.
Modern math components include:
• relevant content and mathematical techniques
• engaging instructional approaches and learning activities
• equitable assessment practices and policies
How We Work
We have three priorities when working with a college: Empathy, Equity, and Efficacy.
That means we listen and don’t dictate. Instead, we support your faculty and staff in quickly and effectively modernizing their college math. It’s likely your college has been trying to improve math for years. We respect where you’re at and build on the good work you’ve done, without discounting it. For students, our goal is an effective program that is equitable from start to finish, in and out of the classroom. We support the ongoing efforts of other parts of the campus as well.
Ultimately, we’re here to get the job done right. That means momentum and progress. We consider everyone involved but we won’t let the work die in committee. Instead, we get and keep you moving toward quantifiable change while building the trust and buy-in necessary to get there. This isn’t another attempt at improvement that results in nothing. You will leave our professional development and intensives having enjoyed the process and knowing what to do next to continue the work and operationalize the changes that are made.
Math success at scale intensive
Are you ready to dig into the work of modernization? Kathleen Almy guides your math faculty through an intensive that moves you from talk to action. She will work with the faculty to combine proven interventions, like corequisites, emporiums, and pathways, with multiple measures placement in the unique combination that works on your campus. It’s likely that some of these approaches are in existence on your campus but not necessarily at scale. We know that no two colleges need the same proportion of these interventions. Finding the correct formula requires productive discussions, creative thinking, and extensive expertise in redesign.
This intensive is about taking action. We move from the theoretical to the practical issues of how to modernize your math curriculum now.
Who is this for?
Colleges that have been working to improve their developmental math courses and policies for years but are still not seeing significant improvements
Colleges that must meet a mandate or law that requires reducing their developmental math sequence
From one of our clients
“THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!! I am amazed at how far you have been able to help us come in such a short amount of time!” - Amanda Smith, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Rock Valley College
How it Works
Before
Kathleen will perform an audit before the intensive using a set of requested items as well as a survey of affected stakeholders including faculty.
During
Key stakeholders, including faculty and staff, can attend the intensive meetings, offered as three (3) 2-hour sessions. The meetings will delve into the specifics of objectives, curriculum, placement, and more. Kathleen will create a summary of findings and recommendations to specifically define the path to implementing the modernized approach.
After
We provide 30 days of email support and an additional accountability call 6 months after the intensive to support faculty, staff, and administrators as they implement changes.
Deliverables
Audit of existing and past interventions, issues, courses, and policies
Modernize your Curriculum strategy & professional development that has faculty buy-in and is equity-focused
Modernize your Placement approach & professional development that supports curriculum changes and goals
Playbook outlining next steps for a cross-campus team to implement
One (1) accountability call 6 months after the intensive is completed
30 days of email support after the intensive is completed
Modernize Your Math Curriculum Intensive: Starting at $12,000, depending on level of support needed
“Kathy has a great ability to listen to faculty. She brings so much to the discussions, having taught math herself, tackling many of the same issues our math faculty have experienced. She is an excellent problem-solver, helping faculty think differently and creatively about their curriculum and course delivery. I would recommend taking a look at what Almy Education can offer in the way of resources and advice. Often, Kathy has provided an objective ear when deciding on redesign decisions.”
Looking for support after the intensive?
We have an accelerator that institutions can participate in after the intensive is finished. It includes:
Accountability to move your plan forward
Support to reach scale as effectively as possible
Resources for successful implementation at a systemic & tactical level