Whereas, The California State University (CSU), through CSU Executive Order 1100, no longer requires that a course included in CSU General Education Breadth Area B4, Quantitative Reasoning, have an explicit prerequisite of intermediate algebra;
Whereas, AB 705 (Irwin, 2017) requires that “a community college district or college shall maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in… mathematics within a one-year timeframe” and “for students who seek a goal other than transfer, and who are in certificate or degree programs with specific requirements that are not met with transfer-level coursework, a community college district or college maximizes the probability that a student will enter and complete the required college-level coursework in…mathematics within a one-year timeframe” and mathematics is a required component of all quantitative reasoning courses;
Whereas, Curriculum, including establishing prerequisites, degree and certificate requirements, educational program development, and standards or policies regarding student preparation and success fall under the purview of local academic senates as academic and professional matters as per the “10+1” in Title 5 §53200, and, as such, administrators should defer to the expertise of the academic senate to develop curricular pathways and placement models that serve the needs of students while complying with all legal requirements; and
Whereas, In fall 2017, the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges, the California Mathematics Council of Community Colleges, and the California Mathematics Council of Community Colleges-South joined together and formed a task force to address math and quantitative reasoning education in California community colleges and has provided the California Community Colleges Math and Quantitative Reasoning Task Force Recommendations – Part I [1] as options for colleges to consider in moving toward compliance with AB 705 (Irwin, 2017);
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recognize multiple pathways for students to achieve transfer-level competency in mathematics and quantitative reasoning;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges endorse the California Community Colleges Math and Quantitative Reasoning Task Force Recommendations – Part I as one option that colleges may consider as they implement changes related to AB 705 (Irwin, 2017); and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges recommend that the Math and Quantitative Reasoning Task Force create an additional C-ID descriptor for a pre-statistics course that focuses on mathematical topics relevant for statistics, including algebra.
MSC
1. https://asccc.org/events/2018-04-12-150000-2018-04-14-230000/2018-sprin… (click on Resolutions) or https://asccc.org/directory/math-and-quantitative-reasoning-task-force.