‘Despite significant growth in dual enrollment

participation rates in Central Valley, disparities persist ’

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications Coordinator

A University of California, Merced research team has completed the first phase of a two-year project project to create a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of college readiness among high-school students in the San Joaquin Valley, particularly those from underrepresented and socioeconomically diverse backgrounds.

The UC Merced Advancing Educational Opportunity in the Central Valley Project, announced earlier this  year and led by Professor Zenaida Aguirre-Muñoz, principal investigator, focuses on surveying and analyzing college-readiness data, policies and infrastructure to determine how certain academic pathways and access disparities impact student populations — including Latinx, Black, Native American and English learners — and their preparedness for higher education.

UC Merced is a member of the Central Valley higher education Consortium that is made up 28 colleges and universities in the valley’s 10-county region.

In the “What the CV-Hec is Happening Blog” for this November issue of the CVHEC e-newsletter, Aguirre-Muñoz writes that in October, the research team completed the first phase of the project with an in-depth analysis of student and districtwide data on dual enrollment and Advanced Placement (AP) access and participation for key demographic groups in the Central Valley.

“The analysis highlights significant growth in dual enrollment participation rates across the Central Valley, with a rise from 3.3 percent in 2015 to 11.1 percent in 2021 among 11^th and 12^th graders,” she blogs. “This rate has now surpassed participation levels in other parts of the state, reflecting a local commitment to increasing college readiness opportunities for students. However, disparities persist.

The project is a collaboration between the UC Merced, Language, Learning, and Teaching Lab led by Aguirre-Muñoz and the UC Merced Center for Educational Partnerships led by Dr. Orquidea Largo, CEP interim associate vice chancellor and chief outreach officer who is the project’s co-principal investigator. It is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation whose $500,000 grant first announced in February is the foundation’s first award to UC Merced.

“High-school students in this region, on average, encounter more barriers in accessing dual enrollment or AP (Advanced Placement) courses compared to students in other areas of California,” explained Aguirre-Muñoz when the grant was first announced last spring.

“This grant funding will contribute valuable insights and practical solutions that can shape state policies aimed at addressing the persistent disparities in equity and academic achievement, which hinder the upward mobility of underrepresented, minority students as they progress through high school.”

In a supplemental summary of the first phase she provided this month for the blog, Aguirre-Muñoz said the project’s findings will support state policy makers and regional leadership in continuously improving evidence-based pathways for accelerating college readiness rates in the Central Valley’s most vulnerable student populations.

She said this first phase summarizes key findings from the Strategic Landscape Analysis that provides descriptive detail of both dual enrollment and advanced placement (AP) availability and participation for key demographic groups in the Central Valley, adding that “a mixed effects hierarchical modeling analysis also was completed to identify critical factors affecting dual enrollment access in the Central Valley, focusing on geographic, socioeconomic and demographic variables.”

In the summary, Aguirre-Muñoz broke down these highlights from the project’s Strategic Landscape Analysis:

Dual Enrollment Growth: Between 2015-2021, dual enrollment rates in the Central Valley increased significantly, surpassing non-CV rates by 2020-2021. Although schools in the CV now offer dual enrollment at rates comparable to other parts of California, AP course access remains lower, with the gap widening over time.

Racial/Ethnic Disparities: While dual enrollment participation has increased, underrepresented minority (URM) students, especially Black and Latinx students, continue to enroll at lower rates than their White and Asian/Pacific Islander peers. This disparity persists even in schools that offer dual enrollment, suggesting that simply increasing availability does not fully address access inequities.

AP Participation: Central Valley schools lag behind the state in AP course offerings and student participation. For example, AP enrollment among Asian/Pacific Islander students in the region decreased slightly, resulting in a narrower but still present racial/ethnic gap.

“The analysis indicates the need for targeted interventions, particularly in rural and high-poverty schools, to further bridge these educational gaps and enhance college readiness across the Central Valley,” she said.

Aguirre-Muñoz’s summary also reports that the first phase presents this analysis of Central Valley dual enrollment availability:

Model Structure — three models were developed to examine dual enrollment factors, gradually incorporating geographic (e.g., location and urbanicity), socioeconomic (e.g., poverty rates), and demographic (e.g., race and ethnicity) elements.

Significant Findings:

• Regional Trends: Schools in the Central Valley are generally less likely to offer dual enrollment than other regions, though local initiatives have improved access over time.
• Urban-Rural Divide: Urban schools have a higher likelihood of offering dual enrollment than rural schools.
• Socioeconomic Factors: Schools with high Black student populations showed an increase in dual enrollment availability, while high-poverty and high-URM schools faced more access challenges.

Interaction Effects — notable interactions include:

• Central Valley and Year: Positive trends over time indicate regional improvements and positive impact of local efforts to increase access.
• URM and Poverty: High-URM, high-poverty schools saw improved dual enrollment access under certain conditions, suggesting that targeted support may benefit these schools.

Model Fit: Model 3, incorporating interaction effects, was the strongest predictor of dual enrollment variability, offering the most comprehensive insights into access disparities.

“The analysis suggests a need for targeted support in high-poverty, rural, and URM-focused schools to enhance dual enrollment accessibility and improve educational equity across the Central Valley,” Aguirre-Muñoz said in her summary.

In her blog, she declares that, “as educational leaders and policymakers digest these insights, the path forward becomes clear: invest in dual enrollment for underserved communities, prioritize high-poverty areas with significant Black and Latinx populations, and bridge the gap between urban and rural school districts.

“By expanding these opportunities, we can create an educational environment that empowers every student to reach their fullest potential, regardless of race, geography, or socioeconomic status,” Aguirre-Muñoz wrote. “This is the promise of dual enrollment, and it’s a promise that Central Valley students deserve to see fulfilled,”

She told CVHEC that two more phases will be complete in spring 2025.

See:

• UC Merced press release by Francesca Dinglasan (February 26, 2024).
• CVHEC blog link

Project media inquiries: Alyssa Johansen, UC Merced Public Information Officer, at 209.413.9330 or ajohansen@ucmerced.edu

 

 

 

 

 

Central Valley’s math professionals go above and beyond  

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications Coordinator

A “unique collaboration” was the vibe for more than 60 community college math educators and other education officials who met last month at the third meeting of the “Central Valley Way to AB1705 Success and Beyond” convening where they shared ideas and perspectives addressing implementation of Assembly Bill 1705 curriculum.

Presented by the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Math Task Force with the Charles A. Dana Center (University of Texas at Austin), the Oct. 25 convening continued two years of discussion as Central Valley community colleges and their counterparts statewide prepare to meet the requirements of the state law related to equitable placement, support and completion practices for STEM programs.

Plans are already underway for the next math gathering in spring 2025 with a tentative March 28 date, said Dr. John Spevak, CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math Task Force and co-facilitator with Dr. Tammi Perez-Rice, Dana Center course program specialist.

“At that 2025 meeting, we will continue the vibrant conversation for even more intersegmental collaboration related to improving success for students in STEM math courses,” Spevak said.

In three virtual and three in person sessions beginning in early 2023, the task force addressed the various options available to the state’s community colleges for AB1705 implementation, a unique situation that the consortium has dubbed “The Central Valley Way” because of its innovative approach of bringing the region’s math community together for the first time.

“This confluence of thought and individuals of math faculty and math professionals is unique to California,” said Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director and president-emeritus of Merced College.

“This was truly a boots-on-the-ground campaign, and we commend the folks who rolled up their sleeves and crossed territorial lines to collaborate for a great impact on our students,” Durán said. “As many excellent educators are driven to do, some went above and beyond the call of duty, even working through the summer, to prepare for this culmination and beyond.”

After the various previous sessions leading up to the Oct. 25 gathering, which was held at the Clovis Community College Herndon campus, the task force narrowed its focus to three strands with cross-institution teams developing reports regarding:

• calculus 1 corequisite design and implementation,
• designing and implementing an innovative pre-calculus course,
• evaluating the efficacy of the courses in the path to calculus as reported out by strand leads.

Spevak said each community college has worked on its own plan to comply with the new legislation, for implementation in fall 2025, but the collaboration gave them the opportunity to see what sister Central Valley campuses were doing and feed off each other.

“Each college benefitted from the ideas presented by fellow college math educators,” Spevak said. “The comment most frequently heard was ‘I appreciated the opportunity to learn what other community colleges are doing and to share what my college is doing’.”

Joan M. Zoellner, the Dana Center’s Launch Years Initiative lead who also delivered a presentation, “National Best Practices in Math Student Success,” at the event summarized the outcome.

“Despite taking different approaches, all of the participants displayed dedication to student success, discussing a wide variety of topics including active learning, flipped classrooms, scheduling with other STEM departments and creatively leveraging existing campus resources such as MESA programs,” she said.

Spevak also noted that the spirit of collaboration extended to math educators from other segments who participated in the math gathering, including three Central Valley high schools and representatives from the California State University System and the University of California as well from UC campuses at Merced and Davis.

Dr. Erik Cooper of the California Community College Chancellors Office briefly discussed the AB1705 guidance.

Zoellner said of the vice chancellor’s Zoom appearance, “Attendees had the opportunity to pose several logistical questions that are still ambiguous.”

Sharing updates on work in progress throughout the Central Valley as well as statewide to enhance math education research, teacher training and student support were Dr. Lynn Cevallos of College Bridge, Dr. Ted Coe of the California Mathematics Education Collaborative, Dr. Fred Uy from the CSU Chancellors Office, Dr. Liz Rozell of the Kern Master’s Teacher Upskilling Project. Rolin Moe of UC Online sent comments presented to the group by Spevak.

Several high school officials and other higher education representatives also offered input throughout the day, highlighting the impression the Central Valley Way has made on the Dana Center representatives who work with several education organizations throughout the nation on math issues. In California, they have worked with CVHEC since 2018, when AB705 was initially being implemented and more recently into the current partnership focusing on the AB1705 implementation.

“We have been honored to work with the dedicated math faculty in the Central Valley over the course of these past years,” Zoellner said. “We have witnessed the thoughtful and intentional work by the faculty to design corequisite supports that will best support their local student populations, even when buy-in to the overall guidance was mixed.”

She echoed Duran’s assessment saying the cross-sector collaborative work happening in the Central Valley — including high schools, community colleges, CSUs and UCs — is unique in the state and in the country.

“The collaboration of many Central Valley community colleges, including small rural colleges, to share ideas, strategies and data will help identify and make the case for scaling effective ways of implementing AB1705 for similar schools in the state,” Zoellner said.

Perez-Rice said that this collaboration will be highlighted in a presentation by the Dana Center at the annual conference of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) in Atlanta Nov. 14-17 that will include two of the three CVHEC Math task Force strand leads who will share the CVHEC story addressing AB 1705 the past two years.

Set to participate in that national presentation are math professors Jeremy Brandl of Fresno City College and Shelley Getty of Taft College.

“So really the nation is seeing what is happening in the Central Valley of California and how CVHEC is leading the way showing what it means to convene like this; what it means to work across sectors to this caliber,” Perez-Rice said.  “We hope the story behind the ‘Central Valley Way to Math Success’ collaboration will serve as a template for similar regional collaboration throughout the state and nation. It’s quite exciting.”

This national attention is possible “thanks to all the math professionals in our region for their dedication to math success for our Central Valley students,” Durán said in a recorded welcome for the group.

“You are all doing something unique — a collaboration of math educators working closely together to create the ‘Central Valley Way to Math Success.’ Now the work of your partnerships is being noticed nationally.”