High School Mathematics Curricula, University Mathematics Placement Recommendations, and Student University Mathematics Performance

Recent "math wars" have drawn attention to how well various high school mathematics curricula prepare students for college-level mathematics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the high school mathematics curricula and students' post-secondary mathem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PRIMUS : problems, resources, and issues in mathematics undergraduate studies resources, and issues in mathematics undergraduate studies, 2011-07, Vol.21 (5), p.434-455
Main Authors: Norman, Ke Wu, Medhanie, Amanuel G., Harwell, Michael R., Anderson, Edwin, Post, Thomas R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Academic achievement
ACT Assessment
College Entrance Examinations
College Mathematics
College Preparation
College Students
Correlation
Curricula
Difficulty Level
High School Graduates
High school mathematics curricula
High Schools
Higher education
Mathematics Achievement
Mathematics Curriculum
Mathematics education
mathematics placement
post-secondary mathematics achievement
Remedial Mathematics
SAT (College Admission Test)
Secondary education
Secondary School Mathematics
Student Placement
Trigonometry
United States
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Summary:Recent "math wars" have drawn attention to how well various high school mathematics curricula prepare students for college-level mathematics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the high school mathematics curricula and students' post-secondary mathematics placement recommendation, specifically how students responded to the mathematics placement recommendations and the students' performance in the first college mathematics class. The results showed no relationship between students' participation in a particular high school mathematics curriculum and mathematics placement recommendation, or between student high school mathematics curriculum and students' responses to a university mathematics placement recommendation. However, students who took a more/less difficult class than what was recommended achieved significantly lower/higher grades than those who followed the recommendation. The findings have implications for high school mathematics curricula selection, post-secondary student placement, and future research in this area.
ISSN:1051-1970
1935-4053
DOI:10.1080/10511970903261902