CVHEC TASK FORCE UPDATE: renewed focus on math and English success

CVHEC’s Math and English Task Forces will resume meeting this fall in virtual sessions.

Central Valley colleges gear up for fall  

CVHEC Task Forces continue collaborative work to support equitable student outcomes

 

BY DR. JOHN SPEVAK
CVHEC Project Lead – Merced College Vice President-emeritus

 

As the fall 2025 semester unfolds, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is once again turning its attention to two of the most persistent hurdles in student success: mathematics and English through two task forces established in the past seven years.

Beginning later this month, CVHEC’s Math Task Force and English Task Force — both consisting of at least one English and one math professor from each of the 15 CVHEC member community colleges in the 28-member consortium — will re-convene educators from across the Central Valley’s 10-county region in a new round of virtual meetings this fall, bringing renewed energy to collaborative solutions that help students succeed in gateway courses.

The Math Task Force, which started as 15 members and has expanded to more than 75 participants, will meet in a series of three Zoom convenings related to implementation of AB 1705 and the 15-member English Task Force is planning one meeting devoted to artificial intelligence.

The task forces, by sharing concerns and best practices, have helped Central Valley community colleges make a significant transition in pedagogy, shifting from a focus on student weaknesses to one on student strengths. The upcoming gatherings will continue a tradition of faculty-led innovation that has become a hallmark of the consortium’s work in recent years.

For the English Task Force, one Zoom meeting, “The Challenges and Opportunities of AI for English Professors in the Central Valley,” is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 29, from 3 to 4:30 p.m.

At the three Math Task Force sessions, Central Valley math professors will share their progress following two-plus years of discussing implementation of the state law in hybrid convenings that were entitled “The Central Valley Way for AB 1705” which included college research and data experts, deans and academic leaders from higher ed as well as from K-16 school districts with support from the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. The 2025-26 academic year is the first year AB 1705 must be implemented.

Each MTF virtual session is from 10 a.m. to noon:

  • Friday, Oct. 24 – “Calculus with a Corequisite” led by Professor Jeremy Brandl of Fresno City College
  • Friday, Nov. 7 – “Innovative One-Course Prerequisite” led by Professor Shelley Getty of Taft College;
  • Friday, Nov. 21 – “Data Collection and Analysis” led by Professor Nathan Cahoon of Taft College.

Professor Cahoon broke his group’s focus down further noting that a central tenet of AB 1705 and 705 has been to expand student choice.

“As we enter the validation phase for the one- and two-semester calculus precursors, it is essential to review the standards established by the Chancellor’s office,” Prof. Cahoon said.

He explains that the pass rate for students in the precursor classes and in the lowest tier must meet or exceed 50 percent, whereas the pass rate for direct placement, lowest-tier calculus students is 15 percent.

“The goal of this group is to ensure that the data collected and analyzed by the state is accurate,” he said. “There is still concern over previous research conducted by the RP group, and we look to validate the data they collected. A central tenet of AB 1705 and 705 has been to expand student choice. We hope to maintain student choice by preserving the option to take precursors to calculus as they choose.”

CVHEC formed the two groups soon after the passage of California Assembly Bill 705 in 2017 which mandated the elimination of remedial English courses and allowed students to go directly into transferable English courses.

That legislation also increased the options of transferable math courses students could take; mandated the elimination of remedial math courses for entrance into statistics and similar courses; and allowed students to go directly into transferable statistics and similar courses.

And it encouraged increased support for students, including corequisite courses.

The more recent passage of AB 1705, an amplification of AB 705, affected math more than English by expanding AB 705 to include STEM math courses. The Math Task Force continues to work, through sharing and collaboration, toward finding ways to allow the largest numbers of students to go into transferable calculus courses and, when necessary, pre-calculus courses.

AB 1705 went into effect this fall 2025 semester and gives community colleges two years to implement new math courses, including Calculus I with a corequisite and, for each college, one innovative pre-calculus course. At the end of those two years, the California Community College Chancellor’s office will determine if each college has submitted sufficient data to verify the effectiveness of the new courses.

Meanwhile, the English Task Force continues to work, also through sharing and collaboration, toward continuous improvement in teaching and learning in English courses. In ETF meetings during the last two years, much time was spent talking about artificial intelligence.

Discussions like this about AI have been happening across all disciplines, but they are especially important for English professors, since they work at having students not only read and think critically on their own but also write in their own personal voice.

The CVHEC Math and English Task Forces represent one of the consortium’s most impactful strategies: creating faculty-led communities of practice that span institutions and sectors; serving as a collaborative space for faculty to discuss curriculum alignment, address equity gaps and share best practices.

For CVHEC Executive Director Dr. Benjamín Durán, the task forces underscore the consortium’s methodology of collective problem-solving across the Valley – a region-wide commitment to what the consortium calls “The Central Valley Way” towards achieving its mission of enhancing a college-going culture in the region.

“When faculty come together across campuses, they create solutions that no single institution could achieve alone,” Dr. Durán said. “That’s what makes these task forces so powerful for our region and, most importantly, for our students across the Central Valley. For them, the results of this work may mean not only passing a math or English class but truly unlocking the path to transfer, degree attainment and career success.”

Dr. Durán adds that CVHEC has been pleased to convene the task forces and to help facilitate meetings “because the consortium believes in the talent of Central Valley Math and English Task Force professors and their ability to respond to challenges and opportunities effectively as they create a positive ‘Central Valley Way to Student Success’ for their math and English students.”

 

Also see:

English Task Force

Math Task Force

Wrap up: CVHEC Math Task Force Convening Mar. 28

 

Wrap up: CVHEC Math Task Force Convening Mar. 28

Read more

Higher Education Summit May 9, 2025 – topics set; CCA provides national data

Valley’s higher ed CEOs to convene at CVHEC Summit 2025

Complete College America will provide national perspective; summit topics announced

 

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications Coordinator

As educators across the nation face an urgency to re-imagine higher education to meet the needs of today’s students and society, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Summit 2025 this spring in Fresno is shaping up with topics that present voices from policy makers and practitioners nationally, statewide and from throughout the Central Valley’s 10-county region.

With the theme “Navigating Higher Education in a New Era: The Central Valley Way,” registration is now open for the CVHEC summit set for Friday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. The event is open to the higher education community who register in advance with breakfast and lunch included. Registration is free compliments of  the College Futures Foundation, event sponsor.

The CVHEC 2025 Summit will bring together chancellors, presidents and campus directors of 28 Central Valley institutions of higher education — who make up the CVHEC Board of Directors – with other educators and policy makers including elected officials who develop litigation that affect the region. Various CVHEC board members will moderate the panels that are planned.

CVHEC’s Welcoming & Networking Reception will be the day before the summit, May 8 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m., at the convention center’s Valdez Hall Breezeway to provide an opportunity to connect with other attendees and the CVHEC Board of Directors in an informal relaxed setting.

Dr. Brandon Protas, Complete College America

One of the panelists participating this year will be Dr. Brandon Protas, assistant vice president for Alliance Engagement at Complete College America, a national alliance of higher education institutions and organizations including CVHEC in California,  Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director, announced.

“Join us as we convene with national, state and regional colleagues, partners and friends for a full day of discussions and showcases related to higher education in the valley that lead to degree completion for our students,” Durán said.

Topics to date include an overview of CVHEC efforts such as the Central Valley Transfer Project; the Master’s Upskilling Project, dual enrollment initiatives; and math alignment measures such as the CVHEC Math Task Force and the Central Valley Math Bridge Program with College Bridge.

Also featured will be a “Legislative Update” with federal legislators providing the latest about higher education laws; a student panel “What Does this Mean for Students?”  and a panel with the four segments of higher education in California.

Dr. Protas will be a panelist on the “The Central Valley Landscape: Honing in on the Data” panel.

The CCA vice president, who guides the planning and management of the CCA Alliance to support institutions, systems and states in their efforts to improve student success, will participate on the data panel providing insights to CCA’s nationwide data compilation efforts. CCA works with states, systems, institutions and partners to scale highly effective structural reforms and promote policies that improve student success.

Durán represents CVHEC as an alliance lead responsible for providing oversight and coordination for local initiatives as well as CCA-sponsored projects and in November, he led a consortium delegation to CCA’s three-day conference which drew 800 participants from throughout the country.  He said the CVHEC summit provides a regional and state version of CCA’s national gathering.

“The CVHEC annual summit always draws interest from our region’s higher education community, but this year brings a difference sense of urgency as we learned at the Complete College American national conference last fall,” said Durán, president-emeritus of Merced College, referring to the national conference’s keynote address delivered Nov. 19 by Dr. Jamie Merisotis, president of the Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all which also provides support to CVHEC.

“We both see the urgency of reimagining higher ed to meet the needs of today’s students and today’s society,” Dr. Merisotis’ said at the conference regarding the partnerships between Lumina and CCA. “And we both put special focus on reaching those who have too often been left out.”

CVHEC featured that keynote as the “What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog” in the consortium’s January newsletter and Durán said Merisotis’ message fuels the CVHEC summit as well as the CEOs of its member institutions from San Joaquin County in the North Valley to Kern County in the South Valley.

“I hope that this national education leader’s words generate some dialogue between you and your colleagues and we encourage you to share those conversations, as we will at our 2025 CVHEC Summit and on our various consortium social media platforms,” Durán said in setting the tone for the summit.

 

 

ABOUT CVHEC

The Central Valley Higher Education Consortium (CVHEC) is a California non-profit made up of 28-instutitions of higher education in the ten-county region from San Joaquin to Kern that is the size of some states. Through CVHEC, higher education professionals and academicians in the Central Valley address difficult and complex initiatives, scaling them up across the region for mutual effectiveness to serve our students and communities.  

 

Valley math profs to present national experience at AB1705 convening March 28


Jeremy Brandl and Shelley Getty (seated at right) presenting CVHEC’s approach to addressing AB 1705 at the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges Conference (AMATYC)  conference last fall .

Getty, Brandl share ‘The Central Valley Way’ to AB1705 at

AMATYC national meet – March 28 MTF agenda released

[REGISTER]

BY TOM URIBES
CVHEC Communications Coordinator

Among the highlights of the upcoming Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Math Task Force convening this month in Fresno will be a full report from two members featured in the national spotlight with a presentation at a national math conference in Atlanta last fall about “The Central Valley Way” in tackling AB 1705 curriculum issues.

Jeremy Brandl, Tammi Pérez-Rice and Shelley Getty.

CVHEC released the official agenda for the “The Central Valley Way to Math Success: AB 1705 Success and Beyond” Convening set for March 28 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the new West Fresno Center of Fresno City College where community college professors Shelley Getty  and Jeremy Brandl will discuss how, at the national math conference Nov. 17, they shared  CVHEC’s approach to addressing AB 1705 the past two years.

In addition to updates in five breakout sessions from Central Valley community colleges regarding their revised calculus and precalculus curricula, the upcoming event will feature a visit by Dr. Erik Cooper, assistant vice chancellor of the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, presenting “Reflections from Chancellor’s Office” regarding a Dec. 10, 2024 memo which provides “additional direction on placement and enrollment options.”

Dr. John Spevak, CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math Task Force and serves as event facilitator, said participants will also hear about innovations in teaching calculus from university colleagues, as well as ways to improve math outcomes through student engagement from the Central Valley Math Bridge Program now in full swing by College Bridge and CVHEC.

“We will have an opportunity in break-out sessions to hear what our math colleagues are doing, now that curricula has been finalized and fall schedules are set, in terms of innovative pedagogy, student support structures and collecting relevant data,” Spevak said.   “We will conclude the event with discussions about next steps.”

Session topics are:

  • “Math Strand Report Out”
  • “Math Bridge in the Central Valley – Improving Student Engagement Quantitative and Qualitative Outcomes of Increased Student Participation in Mathematics”
  • “Reports & Updates on Regional and State Math Initiatives”
  • “Conversations around Pedagogy, Support and Data”
  • “How was Atlanta? Showcasing CV Math Efforts to a National Audience”

The Atlanta session features Getty of Taft College and Brandl of Fresno City College who attended the  American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges Conference (AMATYC)  with Dr. Tammi Pérez-Rice, course program specialist for the Charles A. Dana Center (University of Texas at Austin), a co-facilitator of past MTF convenings with Spevak.

When the delegation returned, Pérez-Rice commended the Central Valley math professors for their Atlanta presentation which she said drew approximately 20 participants representing about six states.

“Our presentation at AMATYC was a success,” Pérez-Rice said in an email report. “Jeremy and Shelley were amazing.  Even more exciting are the conversations sparked during the session, including ideas about returning next year with even more data and updates to share. The enthusiasm and engagement from attendees were inspiring, and it’s clear that the momentum around this work is only growing.”

Brandl noted in the email report that “many in attendance were very taken back with what we are going through, and how we are navigating it all.”  He said the national conference experience also provided the opportunity to attend other presentations that provided numerous ideas.

“I will have some notes to share, both to my department, as well as the CVHEC community,” he said.

Getty called it an “amazing experience” where the attendees were “very interested both in the challenges we have faced in California and the benefit CVHEC and the Dana Center have offered us.

“I have learned a lot from some great presenters and gathered ideas that will be very beneficial as we continue to move forward in this adventure we call AB1705,” Getty said. “It has been really good to see how schools across the country are wrestling with similar challenges, but on much longer timelines. It has made me very thankful to be a part of ‘the Central Valley Way’.”

Event questions:  contact Ángel Ramírez, operations and finance manager, at CVHECinfo@mail.fresnostate.edu or 559.278.0576.

Media inquiries: Tom Uribes, CVHEC communications coordinator, text 559.348.3278 or cvheccommunications@mail.fresnostate.edu

FULL AGENDA [link to come]

See:

Community colleges loosen STEM math placement rules, calming some critics – EdSource (Dec. 13, 2024)

Math Task Force sets next AB1705 convening March 28

Read more

What the CV-HEC is Happening Blog – December 2024: Year-In-Review

Read more

Math Task Force AB1705 collaborations to continue

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.”

AB 1705: Math Task Force sets Oct. 25 reconvene with 3 strands

Math Task Force ‘Central Valley Way’

gains national math attention

 

REGISTER

As a July 1, 2025 deadline approaches regarding implementation of Assembly Bill 1705, the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium Math Task Force prepares for its next convening of valley math minds Friday, Oct. 25 in Clovis amidst several new developments.

The group has now met five times since October 2022 – three in person and two virtually – as Central Valley community colleges prepare to meet the requirements of AB 1705 related to  equitable placement, support and completion practices for STEM programs.

The free convening Oct. 25, again co-facilitated by John Spevak, Ph.D., CVHEC regional coordinator who oversees the consortium’s Math Task Force, and Tammi Rice-Perez, Ed.D., of the Charles A. Dana Center (University of Texas at Austin), will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Clovis Community College Herndon campus (390 W. Fir Ave. in Clovis).

At the April 19 gathering attended by about 70 that Spevak described as “filled with energy, synergy and productivity,” math professors and deans shared ideas about how best to meet AB 1705 requirements.

That conversation will continue on Oct. 25 with the focus narrowed to three strands and discussion of a new direction provided recently by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.  

Spevak said the task force, with the help of the Dana Center, has been working over the summer to present reports on these three updated strands:

  • “Developing a Single-Course Prerequisite to Calculus,” led by Professor Jeremy Brandl of Fresno City College
  • “Developing a Calculus 1 Course with a Corequisite,” led by Professor Shelley Getty of Taft College
  • “Verifying the New Prerequisite Course,” led by Professor Nathan Cahoon of Taft College.

“The Oct. 25 math gathering in Clovis will continue to focus on the Central Valley Way to Math Success in light of AB 1705,” said Dr. Spevak. “Math professors will be giving updates on the development of new courses that will be taught starting in fall 2025, including a new calculus prerequisite course and a calculus with corequisite course.”

Spevak said another group of professors is working on ways to deal with the challenges presented in the Chancellor’s Office guidelines to implementing AB 1705.

He added that the Central Valley’s pursuit of best math practices is gradually expanding as representatives from the California State University and the University of California are expected to attend on Oct. 25 and provide updates.

That gathering will also include expanding representation from K-12 partners, who are also working on finding the best paths to math success in the Central Valley.

Dr. Spevak also announced that this collaborative endeavor by CVHEC, the Dana Center and consortium member institutions of higher education – convening community college math educators, administrators and researchers as well as K-12 representatives to address AB1705 – is getting national attention with the invitation of two strand leads of the Math Task Force, Jeremy Brandl and Shelley Getty, to present at a national math conference in Georgia this fall.

They will join Rice-Perez of the Dana Center to make a presentation about the “Central Valley Way to Math Success” collaboration at the annual conference of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC) in Atlanta I Nov. 14-17.

“We continue to thank all the math professionals in our region for their dedication to math success for our Central Valley students,” said Dr. Benjamín Durán, CVHEC executive director and president-emeritus of Merced College.

“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.”

He noted the AB1705 collaboration on the Central Valley front is providing an added benefit: the establishment of an ongoing network between the consortium’s math community.

“This is one of the primary purposes of our consortium, to convene our members on issues of higher education affecting our region and to unify as one voice when needed,” Dr. Duran said. “That’s why we call this CVHEC Math Task Force endeavor ‘the Central Valley Way.’”

Registration for the event is now open.

See also: 

 

CVHEC’s Mid-Year Review 2024

Read more
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