MARYLAND HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION POLICY BRIEF - How Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success

Oct 15, 2026

Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI) redesigns math pathways for community college students who require remedial/developmental education. Traditionally, students complete an algebra-track remedial course before enrolling in college-level math, but this alignment with major- and job-relevant skills has been criticized. Implemented across seven MMRI community colleges, the initiative introduces a new statistics pathway and, for some colleges, structural reforms such as multiple-measure placement and corequisite remediation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages1

Reading Time3 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Key elements of two reform categories

Findings

What else can Maryland do?

MARYLAND HIGHER EDUCATION COMMISSION POLICY BRIEF How Maryland’s Mathematics Reform Initiative Shapes Student Success: Lessons from Maryland’s Community Colleges January 2026 Traditionally, students entering community colleges who need math remedial/developmental education are required to complete a remedial math course on an algebra track before enrolling in college-level math (e.g., Calculus) . However, this curriculum has been criticized for its poor alignment with the math skills relevant to students’ majors, jobs, and everyday lives. In 2015, the University System of Maryland (USM) created the Maryland Mathematics Reform Initiative (MMRI) . Collaborating with 12 public institutions (five public four-year institutions and seven community colleges), the MMRI project conducted a reform on math pathways by introducing the new statistics pathway for students in college majors where math requirements can be fulfilled by statistics courses. This brief evaluates the impact of this math pathway reform on the students of Maryland community colleges. For the complete findings, please see the full report at: [https://mhec.maryland.gov/publications/Docume](https://mhec.maryland.gov/publications/Docume)[nts/Research/PolicyReports/MHECPolicyBriefVol5.pdf](nts/Research/PolicyReports/MHECPolicyBriefVol5.pdf) All seven MMRI community colleges implemented the curriculum reform, while three of them also conducted the structural reform. Key Elements of Two Reform Categories Introduction of new remedial courses in statistics pathway Curriculum reform Implementation or revision of corequisite remediation in math (concurrent enrollment in remedial and college-level math) . Structural reform AND / OR Implementation of multiple measures for course placement (e.g., student highschool GPA, SAT scores, reading assessment) Finding 1: First-year developmental math enrollment and completion increased when aligned with its subjectrelated college-level math pathway (e.g., developmental statistics aligned with college-level statistics). 10.8 percentage point increase in proportion of students enrolled in aligned developmentalto-gateway sequence. 7.5 percentage point increase in proportion of students completing aligned developmentalto-gateway sequence. Finding 2: First-year gateway math completion improved when both pathways and corequisite remediation were employed. 5.2 percentage point increase in proportion of students enrolled in gateway math by end-ofyear 1 at MMRI colleges employing both curriculum and structural reforms. 4.1 percentage point increase in proportion of students completing gateway math by end-ofyear 1 at MMRI colleges employing both curriculum and structural reforms. Finding 3: MMRI reform does not negatively impact the percentage of enrollees who passed the algebra course, while it significantly enhances the percentage of enrollees who passed the statistics course. 4.7 percentage point increase in pass rate of gateway statistics courses. What Else Can Maryland Do? • Maryland colleges can focus on removing barriers that prevent students from taking college-level math in their first year. Simply offering a developmental (remedial) statistics course doesn’t improve enrollment or success in college math. Colleges that made both curricular and structural reform saw improvements. • Math pathway reforms work best when students get clear advice about which math courses fit their academic goals. Standardized advising tools and stronger communication between math departments and advisors help guide students and support these reforms.

FAQs

What problem does the policy brief identify with the traditional remedial math requirement?

The brief argues that requiring students to complete an algebra-track remedial course is criticized for poor alignment with the math skills needed for students’ majors, jobs, and everyday lives.

Which reforms did MMRI community colleges implement?

All seven colleges implemented the curriculum reform by introducing the statistics pathway, and three also conducted structural reforms such as corequisite remediation and multiple-measures course placement.

What were the main results of the MMRI reforms?

Aligned developmental-to-gateway sequences increased enrollment and completion, gateway completion improved when both pathways and corequisite remediation were used, and the reform did not harm algebra pass rates while significantly improving statistics course pass rates.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Aria Callaghan