College students need help in required math classes

They call them "gatekeeper" courses. To graduate from a state university in Florida, every student must pass at least two mathematics classes.

But thousands of students - more than 20 percent of them - received D's and F's in core math classes in 2007-08, says an analysis by Enlace Florida, a state-supported group that promotes college readiness.

When students who withdrew from those classes were added, the number who didn't pass jumped to 37 percent - nearly four in ten.

Kristina Nicol, a sophomore studying pre-nursing at the University of South Florida, sees a pattern that helps explain the problem: "People who don't do well are people who don't go to class."

But Paul Dosal, Enlace Florida's executive director, said the blame doesn't rest with students alone. "That's an attitude that needs to change."

Many students aren't ready for these classes, he said, and that can change.

"We can take a good look at the curriculum, the textbooks, supportive services," Dosal said. "Given the rise in college costs, everyone at the universities, down to the instructors, should be concerned."

The results do concern Glen Besterfield, University of South Florida's associate dean of undergraduate studies.

"We can do better," he said. "We do realize there's a problem, and we're working on it."

USF freshman Bev Smith, who's worried about passing math, said smaller classes would help.

She attends a big lecture with more than 100 students then a lab. But with 25 students, even the lab is too big, she said.

"If it were smaller, it would be easier for me to ask a question."

Results from the Enlace study varied widely among the 10 public universities studied.

USF matched the state average. The University of Florida had the best record, with only 16 percent of the students withdrawing or receiving D's or F's. At the bottom of the list was Florida International University in Miami, where 66 percent didn't advance.

"Gateway" class failures have long been a concern at FIU, Dosal said. The university recently received a $100,000 grant from the Wal-Mart Foundation to improve math instruction, with a focus on students who are the first in their families to attend college.

Overall, the universities that served less affluent students, many of whom work while attending classes, had the lowest math passing rates.

The high number of withdrawals should be a special concern, Dosal said, in light of new rules for the Bright Future Scholarships that pay college tuition for students with good grades. Bright Futures recipients will be charged a penalty if they withdraw from a class late in the semester.

Unable to afford tuition without Bright Futures, many freshmen will try to complete math classes and fail, Dosal said. That may reduce their grade point average and cost them the scholarship.

This is the first time Enlace, or any other group, has done this kind of study of math course performance.

Besterfield did his own analysis of failure and withdrawal rates at USF during the past two school years. It showed that efforts to improve performance have paid off, he said.

In fall 2008, USF consolidated its tutorial services and created a math lab in the library.

The gains in some classes have been phenomenal, he said. In a math course designed for liberal arts majors, the percentage of students who got Ds and Fs dropped nearly 5 points, from 22 to 17.5. Withdrawals dropped from 14 percent to 11 percent.

Ds and Fs didn't change much in the largest math class, college algebra, but withdrawals dropped by eight points, from 36 to 28.5.

Grades got worse, however, in one class, Math for Liberal Arts II. About 38 percent didn't pass in 2007-08. The next year, 43 percent didn't pass.

"Everybody struggles" with grades in these large introductory classes, Besterfield said. The challenge is even greater at USF because the school encourages all freshmen to take the two state-required math classes in their first year.

There are no rules or guidelines concerning what percentage of students should pass college classes, said John Curtis, with the American Association of University Professors.

It's not a simple question, he said, with an either or answer - better instruction or better prepared students.

"Maybe students aren't being put into the right classes. Maybe something is going on in the courses before the course," Curtis said.

"There is a constant debate about how to best reach students and bring them to a certain skill level," he said. And there's a "tension between accommodating students because of their background and requiring them to master certain skills."