Mathematics Proficiency
By setting admissions standards in mathematics in 2003, the Montana University System hoped to increase the number of students who entered college with the skills they need to be successful in college. Effective 2010, the Board of Regents policy sets the threshold score for FULL admissions to match the threshold score for entry into college-level coursework.
For Fall 2010, students who enter the four-year programs of the Montana University System must earn minimum scores of 22 on the math portion of the ACT, 520 on the math section of the SAT, or 3 on an Advanced Placement calculus exam. This policy:
- aligns the threshold for full admission with placement into college level work;
- provides provisional admission status for students who place into remedial courses in a four-year program; and
- aligns thresholds for full admission with thresholds for demonstrating proficiency when students transfer from two-year to four-year programs.
If students complete a Rigorous High School Core, including four years of mathematics with grades of C or better, their test scores are waived. This Rigorous Core will be required of all students awarded the MUS Honors Scholarships in 2010.
Research shows higher ACT scores and completion of recommended core coursework are closely associated with higher college graduation/persistence rates. ACT recommends that students take four years of mathematics in high school for a solid college-preparatory core. ACT-tested college freshmen who report better academic preparation in high school earn higher ACT scores, earn better grades in college, and tend to complete degrees at higher rates than those who had less than core course work. Data also indicate that students with higher ACT scores have higher college freshman GPAs (Maxey, J, 2001, Selected Trends on ACT-Tested Students).
Teachers and students may also find it useful to compare typical high school math course titles with college-level course titles and study an illustration of the levels of difficulty, through a sample of one type of mathematics problem. See Transitioning through Algebra.
Other useful resources, mailed to high schools in 2002, are available to download: Looking Ahead to College Mathematics and Proficiency Admissions, posters, and Student Mathematics Proficiency Manual. The manual features a page describing freshman mathematics course offerings for each of the Montana University System campuses, the colleges of technology, and the tribal colleges; proficiency descriptors tied to the ACT test; and a set of math problems that college-ready students should be able to solve. A limited number of paper copies are available by request. Just email Jan Clinard.
The Commissioner of Higher Education supports teachers and professors as they explore ways to improve students' transition from high school to higher education and to facilitate transfers among campuses.
This office has funded several Title II projects focused on mathematics: BITL, Terrace, Probability and Statistics, Sharing Projects via the Internet, Professional Development Academy, Middle School Geometry, Pro-Math, Stats on the Lake. BITL, Before It's Too Late, is currently managed from The University of Montana. To apply for a Title II: Improving Teacher Quality Grant, download the RFP from the Title II Website.
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The Threshold between Developmental and College-Level Mathematics
When the Montana University System designates a test score as the threshold marker for placement into college-level mathematics courses and full admission to the four-year programs of the MUS, it is using a form of shorthand that easily understood by high school students. “You must earn a math score of at least 22 on the ACT or 520 on the SAT.” Students, teachers, parents, and counselors who don’t know what those scores mean can find descriptors from ACT, SAT, or in the Student Mathematics Proficiency Manual.
In addition, the Faculty Learning Outcomes Councils of the Transfer Initiative develop outcomes for commonly-numbered courses. Their description of the outcomes for the “threshold course” in mathematics targets the discrete skills that students must have learned in order to move from developmental to college-level coursework. The following is most relevant:
After completing Intermediate Algebra 095, the developmental course in mathematics that prepares students for the college-level course, students will be able to:
- Solve linear, absolute value, quadratic, rational, and radical equations;
- Simplify polynomial, radical, and rational expressions;
- Solve linear and absolute value inequalities;
- Graph linear and quadratic equations;
- Recognize and determine equations of lines;
- Recognize, evaluate, and perform operations on functions;
- Recognize logarithmic and exponential expressions and equations.
ACT describes the skills at this level in more detail for students who earn ACT Mathematics scores in that “threshold range” of 20-23:
- In arithmetic, students can solve routine two-step and three-step arithmetic problems, such as rate and proportion problems, multi-step percent problems (e.g., tax added and percentage off), and average problems (e.g., computing with negative integers or using a given average); and exhibit knowledge of elementary number concepts including the ordering of decimals, pattern identification, absolute value, primes, and greatest common factor.
- In probability, statistics, and data analysis, these students can translate from one representation of data to another (e.g., a bar graph to a circle graph); can determine the probability of a simple event; and exhibit knowledge of simple counting techniques.
- In algebra, they can manipulate basic algebraic expressions (e.g., substitute integers for unknown quantities, add and subtract simple algebraic expressions, multiply two binomials, and perform straightforward word-to-symbol translations); and solve most first-degree equations.
- In coordinate geometry, they comprehend the concept of length on the number line; can locate points in the coordinate plane; exhibit knowledge of vertical and horizontal lines and of their point of intersection; and exhibit knowledge of slope.
- In geometry, they exhibit knowledge of basic angle properties and special sums of angle measures (e.g., 180º and 360º); can compute the area and perimeter of triangles and rectangles when the problems are simple; and can use geometric formulas when all necessary information is given.
The Montana Council for Teachers
of Mathematics has launched
a professional development center on
Canyon Ferry Lake.
The Montana Learning Center at Canyon Ferry
Already, several math workshops have been held in this facility. Watch for more at: http://montanalearning.org/
