Predictors of Persistence for Developmental Math Students in a Community and Technical College System

Abstract

At two-year public community colleges, the 2011 three-year persistence rate was 23.9%. From 1988 to 2006, between 40% and 60% of all first-time community college students were referred to and enrolled in at least one developmental education course. More students begin college underprepared in mathematics than any other subject area, and only about half of all students enrolled in developmental mathematics successfully completed such a course. In 2009, only 26% of Kentucky high school graduates reached the benchmark in mathematics; nonetheless, 74% “indicated an interest in obtaining a bachelor’s degree or higher” (ACT, Inc., 2009, p. 5). For students in Kentucky and many other states to earn a degree, persisting beyond developmental mathematics is a necessity. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between demographic, academic, and work and family factors and persistence to the next semester for six cohorts of students enrolled in Basic Algebra at Kentucky’s public two-year community and technical college system. Logistic regression analyses found academic and dynamic factors (i.e., work and family factors) were statistically significant predictors of persistence. Students who enrolled in a MT065 course delivered in person with an online component were more likely to persist, and statistically significant predictor factors varied based on fall-to-spring or spring-to-fall persistence.