[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-585246-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-585246-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","maryland-higher-education-commission-policy-brief-how-marylands-mathematics-reform-initiative-shapes-student-success-lessons-from-marylands-community-colleges","Maryland Higher Education Commission Policy Brief - How Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success - Lessons from Maryland’s Community Colleges","","Remedial and developmental education in college can hinder students from retaining and completing higher education, prompting nationwide reforms since 2000. Maryland launched its Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI) in 2013 through seven community colleges and five public four-year institutions to redesign the math pathway. This policy brief evaluates MMRI’s impact on completion of developmental and college-level mathematics in Maryland community colleges, while analysis for four-year institutions will follow.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/maryland-higher-education-commission-policy-brief-how-marylands-mathematics-reform-initiative-shapes-student-success-lessons-from-marylands-community-colleges/585246/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/maryland-higher-education-commission-policy-brief-how-marylands-mathematics-reform-initiative-shapes-student-success-lessons-from-marylands-community-colleges/585246.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Aria Callaghan","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-12","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",15,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"Why can developmental (remedial) education become a barrier for college students?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"Developmental education is intended to provide learning support for students not assessed as college ready, but it can impede retention and completion.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What is the Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI) and when was it launched?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"MMRI was launched in 2013 by the University System of Maryland as a collaboration among seven Maryland community colleges and five state public four-year institutions to redesign the math pathway for higher education.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What does this policy brief evaluate about MMRI?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It evaluates the impact of MMRI on developmental and college-level math completion in Maryland community colleges, and considers how curriculum and other components affect these outcomes.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},585246,1792061888,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,127],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":130},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":132},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":133,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":128,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962084926284,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Maryland Higher Education Commission Policy Brief  \nOffice of Research and Policy Analysis  \nWes Moore Governor  \nAruna Miller Lt. Governor  \nSanjay Rai, Ph. D. Secretary  \nHow Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success: Lessons from Maryland’s Community Colleges  \nYuxin Lin, Ph. D.  \nAssociate Director of Research and Policy Analysis, Maryland Higher Education Commission  \nFlorence Xiaotao Ran, Ph. D.  \nAssistant Professor, College of Education and Human Development, University of Delaware  \nJesse Eze  \nCollege of Education and Human Development, University of Delaware  \nSuggested Citation: Lin, Y. et al (2026) . How Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success: Lessons from Maryland’s Community Colleges. Baltimore, MD:  \nMaryland Higher Education Commission.  \nThe authors gratefully acknowledge the University System of Maryland for their support. Special thanks to Frances Turner and Eliza Levin for their outstanding research assistance. Seminar participants at the AEFP 2024 and SREE 2024 annual conferences gave valuable suggestions as well. If you have questions regarding this publication, please contact [rpa.mhec@maryland.gov](rpa.mhec@maryland.gov)  \nClick Here for the Executive Summary  \nor enter: [https://mhec.maryland.gov/publications/Documents/Research/PolicyReports/MHECPolicyBriefVol5Summary.pdf](https://mhec.maryland.gov/publications/Documents/Research/PolicyReports/MHECPolicyBriefVol5Summary.pdf)  \nJanuary 2026  \n217 E. Redwood Street, Suite 2100, Baltimore, Maryland 21202  \nHow Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success: Lessons from Maryland’s Community Colleges  \nYuxin Lin 1 Florence Xiaotao Ran2 & Jesse Eze3  \nRemedial/developmental education in college, which aims to provide learning support to students assessed as not college ready, can become a roadblock impeding students from retaining and completing college. Starting in 2000, various reforms were implemented nationwide to explore an effective approach to remove barriers, accelerate time of remediation and boost learning outcomes. Maryland is one of the states leading the reforms. In 2013, the University System of Maryland led Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI), a collaboration among seven Maryland community colleges4 and five state public four-year institutions5 toredesign the math pathway in higher education in order to make the remedial math courses relevant for students’ chosen career paths. This policy brief evaluates the impact of this math pathway reform on Maryland community colleges students. The analysis on public four-year institutions will be forthcoming.  \nIntroduction  \nSuccessful completion of gateway math, the first credit-bearing college-level math course required by degree programs, is a critical academic milestone for community college students. However, many new students are assessed as requiring developmental (or remedial) education to strengthen their math knowledge and skills for college-level math. In Maryland approximately 60 percent of community college students entering in 2016 were identified as needing developmental education in math6.  \nTraditionally, students entering community colleges who need math remediation are required to complete a remedial math course on an algebra track for one semester or one year, such as intermediate algebra, geometry, and trigonometry, before enrolling in college-level math. The developmental math sequence consists of algebra-based courses designed to prepare students for college algebra and, eventually, calculus. However, this curriculum has been criticized for its poor alignment with the math skills relevant to students’ majors, jobs, and everyday lives (e.g., Cullinane & Treisman, 2010; Hern, 2010) . To address this issue, math pathways have gained popularity as a reform to improve success in college-level math (Burdmanet al., 2018) .  \n1 Associate Director of Research and Policy Analysis, Maryland Higher Education Commiss","cbCaibpmKNmeUKEH","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibpmKNmeUKEH","pdf",2716393,"English","# Introduction\n## Gateway math and developmental education in Maryland\n## Traditional algebra-track remediation and criticisms\n## Math pathways as a reform approach\n## MMRI design and research questions","[{\"question\":\"Why can developmental (remedial) education become a barrier for college students?\",\"answer\":\"Developmental education is intended to provide learning support for students not assessed as college ready, but it can impede retention and completion.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI) and when was it launched?\",\"answer\":\"MMRI was launched in 2013 by the University System of Maryland as a collaboration among seven Maryland community colleges and five state public four-year institutions to redesign the math pathway for higher education.\"},{\"question\":\"What does this policy brief evaluate about MMRI?\",\"answer\":\"It evaluates the impact of MMRI on developmental and college-level math completion in Maryland community colleges, and considers how curriculum and other components affect these outcomes.\"}]","Maryland Higher Education Commission Policy Brief - How Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success - Lessons from Maryland’s Community Colleges | PDF",1792054154,48]