High school course completion and mathematics remediation at the California State University

The California State University (CSU) measures freshman preparedness for college level math (math) with the Entry Level Math (ELM) requirement. Students unable to meet this benchmark are required to complete from one to two semesters of remedial math during their freshman year before they are eligible to enroll in a math course that counts toward their degree.\ud CSU freshmen come mostly from California high schools, but these students have completed different levels of high school math. The purpose of this study is to see what is happening regarding CSU incoming freshmen???s highest level math class taken, and their need for remediation. Specifically, with regard to satisfying the CSU Entry Level Math requirement, is there a significant difference between students that stopped at Algebra 2 and students that took the math class that follows Algebra 2? In this study, I called that class Advanced Math. I examined the high school transcripts of 1,755 first-time freshmen for fall 2010 at CSU, Chico. I compared these students??? highest math course taken and which years they were taken to their ???ELM Status???: whether they satis-fied the Entry Level Math requirement. Other variables such as gender, ethnicity, GPA, and SAT scores were also examined.\ud I concluded that for students that do not progress beyond algebra 2, remedia-tion is almost twice as likely as it is for students that took Advanced Math, regardless of whether or not these classes were taken in the senior year. Females and Hmong (Asian) are placed remedial at a greater rate than whites, males and non-Hmong Asians, but the huge decrease in remedial placement for post-Algebra 2 students happens for almost all subgroups. A math class in the senior year is associated with a 12.5% decrease in the need for remediation; but that is not as powerful an indicator as going beyond algebra 2. Out of 1,755 students, 58% of those that stopped at Algebra 2 could not fulfill the ELM requirement; however, of those that took the next class, Advanced Math, only 27% required remediation. Taking more classes beyond that lessens the likelihood of reme-diation yet further.CSU, Chic