Strengthening the STEM Pipeline through an Intensive Review Program for Math Placement Testing

Although many California Community College students from underrepresented groups enter college with high levels of interest in science and engineering, their levels of preparation for college-level work, especially in math and engineering, are so low on average that the majority of them drop out or change majors even before taking transfer-level courses. To facilitate the transition of these students into transfer-level math, science, and engineering courses, Cañada College, a federally designated Hispanic-serving institution in the San Francisco Bay Area, developed an intensive math placement test review program. The Summer Math Jam is a twoweek intensive mathematics program designed to improve students’ preparation for collegelevel math courses. Implementation of the program over the last two years shows success in improving student performance in the math placement test, and success in creating a sense of community among program participants. An analysis of student academic performance in subsequent semesters show significantly higher success and retention rates among Math Jam participants compared to nonparticipants. Since the implementation of Math Jam, enrollments in STEM courses have increased significantly, with a higher rate of increase among minority students. The success of Math Jam in improving the participation, retention, and success of minority STEM students has led to the development of the Mini-Math Jam – a shorter, oneweek version of Math Jam that is offered a week prior to the beginning of the fall semester, and during the winter break. The Mini-Math Jam has also been successful in helping students improve their placement scores, and preparing them for subsequent math courses they take.