ABSTRACT
In the mid-to-late teens, many community colleges adopted alternative math pathways for non-STEM majors. After completing or testing out of an introductory or pre-algebra course, students can enroll in either quantitative reasoning or introduction to statistics with a booster course (corequisite). Such pathways have shown positive results. Students are progressing through their math courses at a quicker rate and achieving higher success rates. Alternative math pathways have drawn some concerns. For the quantitative reasoning course, there has been a push from administrators as well as organizations such as Carnegie and the Dana Center to utilize group-based instruction as the primary teaching method. As they did in the aughts, faculty reported this method was an improper fit for students. Additionally, there has been a push from administrators to eliminate standalone developmental math and allow students to place directly into a college-level course with a corequisite. This has proven effective especially difficult for students attempting to take college algebra without standalone developmental math.
