1 of 35

Classroom Policies, Practices, and Microaggressions as Mediators of Math Success

Strengthening Student Success Conference

October 2024

Oleg Bespalov, Moorpark College

Dr. Darla M. Cooper, The RP Group

Rena Weiss, Moorpark College

2 of 35

Who’s in the Room?

2

3 of 35

Agenda

African American Transfer Tipping Point

Key Findings Related to Transfer-level Math

Factors That Predict Math Success
Moorpark College: Building Trust
Resources

3

4 of 35

We will focus on…

The RP Group’s African American Transfer Tipping Point initiative with a focus on the relationship between microaggressions and college-level course passing
Strategies, both in and outside the classroom, for supporting students from historically marginalized backgrounds
The contribution of different factors to students’ math course success, including faculty and their instructional practices

4

5 of 35

5

Study made possible with generous funding from:

6 of 35

6

About The RP Group

Mission: The Research and Planning Group for California Community Colleges (The RP Group) is a leader that supports equitable outcomes for minoritized and marginalized students through race-conscious, equity-minded research, planning, and professional development. We uplift student voices and empower researchers and planners to improve institutional effectiveness by dismantling systemic barriers and injustices.

Services: Research, evaluation, planning, professional development, and technical assistance—designed and conducted by CCC practitioners

Organization: 501(c)3 with roots as membership organization

7 of 35

Through the Gate

Mapped California’s transfer landscape, identifying a continuum of milestones for the student transfer journey.

When compared to White students, African American/Black students are 2.04 times more likely to transfer than remain near the gate. The problem is that they are less likely to make it “near the transfer gate.”

7

8 of 35

Research Questions

What factors contribute to students' likelihood of reaching the tipping point?

Which programs and practices are associated with greater persistence to and through the tipping point, and ultimately, the transfer gate?

8

9 of 35

Methods

Phase 1: Exploring student course-taking patterns

Phase 2: Interviews and focus groups with college practitioners and transfer-motivated students at colleges having higher success with transfer among African American students

Phase 3: A survey of African American/Black students across the CCC

9

10 of 35

Phases 1 and 2:

Factors Influencing Whether or Not an African American/Black Student Makes It Near The Transfer Gate

10

11 of 35

Phase 1 Population

Six first-time cohorts enrolled at a CCC between 2011 and 2016
Tracked for six years
Completed at least 12 transferable units with passing grades and had not yet enrolled in a university
69,242 African American/Black students and 778,977 non-African American/Black students

11

12 of 35

Phase 1 Results: Transfer-Level Completion

12

13 of 35

Phase 2 Results: Transfer-Level Completion

13

Passing Math and English: Faculty help students build their confidence as students, increase their mastery of key subjects and support their success

14 of 35

Phase 3:

Passing Transfer-Level Math and English: The Role of Microaggressions

14

15 of 35

Phase 3: Microaggressions

15

Ascription of Intelligence: Assigning a degree of intelligence to a person of color based on race

Assumption of Criminality: Assuming a person of color is dangerous, criminal, or deviant based on race

Second-Class Citizening: When a White person is given preferential treatment over a person of color

Pathologizing Culture: The notion that the values and communication styles of the dominant/White culture are ideal

16 of 35

Passing Transfer-Level Math and English

16

17 of 35

Student Voice on Impact of Microaggressions

17

There was one time (and I don't remember it happening again), but …this semester, it was my [redacted] professor, who was a White woman. [For this class], the lights are usually off, but she'll have us raise our hands for stuff and answer questions, and she'll make jokes or not (they're not really jokes because they're not funny) about how she won't call on darker complexion students because she can't see [us].

18 of 35

Discussion: Passing Transfer-Level Math and English

18

Microaggressions are negatively associated with passing transfer-level math in a timely manner.

What about this finding do you find surprising?
What do you find not surprising?
Why might we be seeing this difference between math and English completion?

19 of 35

Factors That Predict Math Success

Math faculty as levers for student success and equity

19

20 of 35

Counting on Math Faculty: Examining the Role of Faculty and Instructional Practices in Students' Gateway Math Success

20

22,827 statistics, college algebra, and precalculus enrollments

Factors explored:

Student characteristics
High school preparation
Course characteristics
Instructor characteristics

Newell & Sabawi – study examined statistics courses over five years, student characteristics included ethnicity, gender, low income, first gen, foster youth, veteran, etc.

High school GPA, instructor included full or part time and times taught the course over the five-year period

Dadgar - Study examined the role math instructors and instructional practices play in determining student success in transfer-level math courses

Partnered with four colleges with track record of student success for Black and Latino students

22,827 students, enrolled in 704 math courses, taught by 159 faculty at four California community colleges between winter 2020 and spring 2022

Student age, gender, race, veteran, high school GPA, high school attended, Course length, class size, Include the faculty age, gender and ethnicity.

21 of 35

21

Studies Exploring Factors that Predict Math Course Success

22 of 35

Teaching and Learning Strategies Found to Narrow Equity Gaps

22

Using a faculty survey, syllabi review and a syllabi rubric. Linked the classroom-based practices with outcomes data. Created four domains and regressed the outcome on each domain while controlling for student demographics, academic preparation, course characteristics. They found that groups with the lowest pass rates benefitted the most from these practices, thus have the potential to reduce equity gaps.

Implementing growth-oriented and transparent assessment and grading practices: providing feedback to students on how to improve their performance; offering opportunities to practice before exams and projects. Clear and transparent course expectations and grading criteria.

Encouraging students to seek help and communicating support: Front-loading supportive messaging and destigmatizing the need for assistance. Emphasizing that asking for help or attending office hours is not a burden. Letting students know when they should be asking for help.

Offering accommodations equitably: Recognizing life challenges and the need for accommodations. Clear and consistent policies for late work, retakes, redos, makeups. Equitable opportunity and enforcement is key. This ensures all students, not just those that speak up have access to the extended deadline or exception.

Fostering Belonging: Creating intentional opportunities for students to connect with each other and work together. Faculty assure students that concerns about belonging are normal and do nor reflect inadequate academic potential. Model how to navigate college by sharing how to address a faculty member, locate an office hour, what to include in an email to an instructor.

Taking responsibility for addressing racial equity: A syllabus may include norms on how students should respect individual differences or provide guidelines for engaging in group work/group discussion boards in ways that show diverse backgrounds are valued.

23 of 35

Small Group Discussion: Sharing Your Practices

23

What you are doing to promote students’ sense of belonging and connection in the classroom?

Are there pieces you would like to build on?

24 of 35

24

25 of 35

BUILDING TRUST BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHERS AND MATH FACULTY

BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCHERS AND MATH FACULTY

PRESENTED BY: Rena Weiss | Math Professor

Oleg Bespalov | Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Marketing

INSPIRED BY THE RESEARCH ON TRUST

tinyurl.com/build-trust-in-a-relationship tinyurl.com/who-can-you-trust

26 of 35

FOCUS ON ONE FACULTY CONNECTION

ESTABLISH A CLOSE CONNECTION WITH ONE FACULTY MEMBER INSTEAD OF A WEAK CONNECTION WITH THE ENTIRE MATH DEPARTMENT

Advocate for hiring a Math faculty AB1705 coordinator as an ambassador between the research and math departments.
It is less intimidating for IE folks to work with one person rather than a whole department.

27 of 35

HONESTY &

TRANSPARENCY

BE HONEST AND TRANSPARENT ABOUT THE RAMIFICATIONS OF AB1705

Acknowledge the pain math faculty are feeling.
At Moorpark, 61% of classes taught in fall 2018 can no longer be offered in fall 2025.
Some faculty will be teaching calculus for the first time ever.
There will likely a reduction in FTES allocated for Math.

28 of 35

GO ABOVE & BEYOND

WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE

Prioritize and follow through on all math requests.
Encourage faculty exploration, even if it means research requests are repeatedly revised.
Compensate IE staff with overtime to handle the increased volume of requests.

PROVIDE EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR AB1705 REQUESTS

29 of 35

MAKE IT OKAY TO TAKE RISKS

IE can lead by example. For instance, I shared with the math faculty that it's unclear whether corequisites will be effective.
Normalize that most initiatives will not be successful.
Experiment with different approaches for unsuccessful strategies instead of abandoning them. For example, course embedded tutors were not working at first, but then we added two-way text and success rates increased.

Inside Higher Ed article: tinyurl.com/Tutoring-Two-Way-Text

CREATE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY—

I.E., MAKE IT OK TO TAKE RISKS, TO FAIL, OR SAY “I DON’T KNOW”

30 of 35

MAKE IT OKAY TO TAKE RISKS (continued)

Don’t be afraid to pitch some evidence-based initiatives as well, even though you’re not a math faculty member. For example, I forwarded research which found that giving students shorter exams or more time to complete the exams can close equity gaps, and the math department agreed to try it out. The experiment was a success!

New York Times article: tinyurl.com/Timed-Exams-Research

Inside Higher Ed article: tinyurl.com/Extra-Time-Success

CREATE PSYCHOLOGICAL SAFETY—

I.E., MAKE IT OK TO TAKE RISKS, TO FAIL, OR SAY “I DON’T KNOW”

31 of 35

TIME IS MONEY

Advocate for creating stipends for every initiative. This increases faculty participation and enhances the statistical power of the research.
If an initiative is successful, continue compensating faculty until it is fully scaled up. This approach is currently being applied with CETs enhanced by two-way text messaging, and the shorter test/longer time initiative.

SHOW FACULTY YOU VALUE THEIR TIME BY COMPENSATING THEM

32 of 35

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1

FOCUS ON

ONE FACULTY CONNECTION

2

HONESTY &

TRANSPARENCY

3

GO ABOVE & BEYOND WITH CUSTOMER SERVICE

4

MAKE IT OKAY

TO TAKE RISKS

5

TIME IS

MONEY

33 of 35

Questions?

33

34 of 35

Group Discussion

What are your key takeaways?

What might you do differently?

34

35 of 35

Thank you!

35

Oleg Bespalov

obespalov@vcccd.edu

Darla Cooper

dcooper@rpgroup.org

Mina Dadgar mina@edequitysolutions.com �

Rena Weiss

rweiss@vcccd.edu