Selected Projects

Strengthening Mathematics Skills at the Postsecondary Level: Literature Review and Analysis

Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education asked CNA and its partners to identify promising strategies within community colleges, businesses, organized labor, and the military that enable adult learners to improve their math skills and transition to higher level math courses or jobs requiring higher level mathematical abilities. For the first part of the project, researchers gathered information on existing postsecondary developmental math programs, with a particular focus on the following issues:

• What is the definition, or skill threshold, of adequate student preparation in post-secondary level math?
• What institutions provide developmental math education, and how does instruction differ across these institutions?
• What strategies appear to hold promise for helping adult learners strengthen their math skills and move to college level math courses or work assignments requiring higher level math?

Full Document