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Implementing Transitional Math: Perspectives of Illinois Community College Program Leaders

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Title: Implementing Transitional Math: Perspectives of Illinois Community College Program Leaders
Language: English
Authors: Xiaodan Hu (ORCID 0000-0002-8648-0601), Benjamin Cre
Source: Innovative Higher Education. 2025 50(4):1089-1113.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 25
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Two Year Colleges
Secondary Education
High Schools
Descriptors: Community Colleges, College Readiness, Transitional Programs, College Mathematics, College Preparation, Mathematics Education, High School Students, Partnerships in Education, Universities, Program Design, Program Implementation, Program Improvement, Mathematics Achievement, College Enrollment, Equal Education, Developmental Studies Programs
Geographic Terms: Illinois
DOI: 10.1007/s10755-024-09773-x
ISSN: 0742-5627
1573-1758
Abstract: In 2016, Illinois initiated a statewide transitional math program to support students to be academically ready in college-level math before graduating from high school. This qualitative study focuses on the perspective of community college faculty and administrators on the statewide implementation of transitional math programs. We find that a successful partnership between high schools and community colleges is perceived as key to designing, implementing, and improving transitional math programs to ensure effective teaching and learning. However, community college leaders perceived that it remains unclear how transitional math programs impact student success, college enrollment, and educational equity. We provided practical implications for both transitional math programs and the broader developmental education reform.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1480456
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0187381765;ihe01aug.25;2025Aug20.02:30;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0187381765-1">Implementing Transitional Math: Perspectives of Illinois Community College Program Leaders </title> <p>In 2016, Illinois initiated a statewide transitional math program to support students to be academically ready in college-level math before graduating from high school. This qualitative study focuses on the perspective of community college faculty and administrators on the statewide implementation of transitional math programs. We find that a successful partnership between high schools and community colleges is perceived as key to designing, implementing, and improving transitional math programs to ensure effective teaching and learning. However, community college leaders perceived that it remains unclear how transitional math programs impact student success, college enrollment, and educational equity. We provided practical implications for both transitional math programs and the broader developmental education reform.</p> <p>Keywords: Development education reform; Transitional coursework; P20 partnership; Community college leadership; Education Curriculum and Pedagogy Specialist Studies In Education</p> <p>While college-level math is pivotal for postsecondary degree completion, high school graduates continue to face multiple challenges to enter college academically ready (Cohen & Kelly, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref1">18</reflink>]; Page & Scott-Clayton, [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref2">55</reflink>]). Current estimates suggest that among recent high school graduates, only one out of every three to four students are academically prepared to engage in college-level coursework (Chen et al., [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref3">17</reflink>]), and 59% of all community college students are placed into developmental math courses (Chen & Simone, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref4">16</reflink>]). Given structural inequities in educational resource distribution, students in developmental education are more likely to be historically marginalized students that are women, students of color, low-income, and first-generation, when compared with non-developmental students (Bettinger & Long, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref5">12</reflink>]; Chen & Simone, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref6">16</reflink>]). Despite the goal to strengthen academic skills for entering college students, students who begin their college experience in developmental courses are significantly less likely to earn a postsecondary credential (Attewell et al., [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref7">1</reflink>]; Jaggars & Stacey, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref8">32</reflink>]). Even if they complete, these students tend to graduate with additional student loan debt and longer time-to-degree (Bailey et al., [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref9">8</reflink>]). In reality, developmental courses end up serving as noncredit prerequisites for college-level courses which may not better prepare individuals for college success.</p> <p>The national patterns of high developmental education rates demand state and local solutions to improve high school students' college readiness. Transitional curricula, which support high school students to be prepared for college-level work before high school graduation, are becoming a prevalent solution to improve college readiness and sidestep the challenges associated with traditional developmental coursework. Jointly developed by secondary and postsecondary faculty, transitional courses are typically offered no later than 12th grade to students at risk of being placed into developmental courses in college (Barnett et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref10">11</reflink>]). The goal is for students to successfully complete transitional courses while in high school, therefore avoiding placement into developmental courses in college. Prior studies have indicated the positive impact of transitional curricula on students' college readiness, postsecondary retention, and credit accumulation (Kane et al., [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref11">36</reflink>]; Mokher et al., [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref12">52</reflink>]). As of 2018, 39 states offer transitional curricula in math, including 17 states offering transition curricula through statewide initiatives and 22 states offering these courses in particular localities (Barnett et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref13">11</reflink>]). Few empirical studies have qualitatively examined the implementation of transitional curricula programs that integrate K12 and postsecondary education.</p> <p>In Illinois, the state legislature passed the Postsecondary Workforce Readiness (PWR) Act in 2016, outlining a key initiative to evaluate high school students' math proficiency during their junior year and enroll them in transitional math courses if deemed to be academically underprepared. Regardless of students' standardized test scores or academic benchmarks, if successfully completed, these transitional courses grant access to portable credit-bearing courses at all community colleges in Illinois. Additionally, this legislation partners high schools with community colleges to articulate college readiness standards to bypass developmental math education in the hopes that students will persist through college and degree completion. The expected partnership emphasizes community colleges' role in facilitating collaboration with high schools in their service area and addresses potential challenges as these cross-sector collaborations form and evolve (Kisker, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref14">38</reflink>]; Mokher & Jacobson, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref15">51</reflink>]; Vargas & Venezia, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref16">66</reflink>]). However, the PWR Act in Illinois initially provided limited guidelines on how each community college-led partnership designs, implements, and evaluates the new transitional math program. This exploratory case study focuses on the perspective of community college faculty and administrators on how transitional math programs are being implemented at the local level given the essential and unique role community colleges play, providing practical implications for stakeholders of developmental education reforms. The research questions are:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> What are the community college leaders' perspectives on how transitional math impacts their students' learning and matriculation?</item> <p></p> <item> How did community colleges implement transitional math programs?</item> <p></p> <item> What challenges did community college leaders face related to the implementation of transitional math?</item> <p></p> <item> What additional supports were identified by community college leaders that could improve transitional math implementation?</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0187381765-2">Literature Review</hd> <p>Unequal college access can further marginalize certain student groups based on factors, such as race (Balfanz et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref17">9</reflink>]), family income (Bailey & Dynarski, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref18">6</reflink>]), first-generation status (Soria & Stebleton, [<reflink idref="bib64" id="ref19">64</reflink>]), and proximity to institutions of higher education (Balfanz et al., [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref20">9</reflink>]; Hillman & Weichman, [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref21">26</reflink>]). One of the most widespread, and costly, interventions targeted at addressing college readiness gaps is developmental coursework. These courses focus on helping students identified as academically underprepared obtain the skills to be successful in college through non-credit coursework which students are required to pay for, increasing the costs for individuals pursuing postsecondary education (Cohen & Kelly, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref22">18</reflink>]).</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-3">College Readiness and Developmental Education</hd> <p>Academic readiness for college-level work has consistently been identified as a major barrier to college access and graduation (Attewell et al., [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref23">1</reflink>]; Bettinger & Long, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref24">12</reflink>]; Mokher, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref25">54</reflink>]). In 2011–12, 29% of first- or second-year students at four-year institutions and 41% of two-year college students reported having enrolled in developmental courses (Chen & Simone, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref26">16</reflink>]). While only 43% of students who took ACT reached the established benchmark to be ready for college-level math, the highest level of math course taken also largely explains the college readiness gap among student sociodemographic groups (Bahr, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref27">4</reflink>]; Long et al., [<reflink idref="bib43" id="ref28">43</reflink>]; McCormick & Lucas, [<reflink idref="bib48" id="ref29">48</reflink>]). Though there is no clear consensus on the measure of college readiness across states, it is common for states and colleges to place students in developmental courses with varying eligibility criteria, assessment, staffing, pedagogy, and other regulations (Bailey et al., [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref30">7</reflink>]). In Illinois, nearly half of full-time first-time students who enroll in Illinois community colleges are assigned to developmental education in at least one subject. Developmental math had the highest placement rates with a third of high school graduates being placed in developmental math, compared with 9% in developmental reading and 21% in developmental communications (Illinois State Board of Education [ISBE], 2020).</p> <p>With the goal to address the perceived skill deficiencies among entering college students, developmental education can unintendedly hinder students from accessing college or making progress toward credential completion (Mazzariello et al., [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref31">47</reflink>]; Mokher, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref32">54</reflink>]). Previous research has revealed the negative outcomes related to developmental education on college access, affordability, and postsecondary completion. First, developmental education can serve as a gatekeeper for students interested in postsecondary education, given the long developmental sequence and the associated pessimistic perception of a student's academic future (Colyar & Stich, [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref33">19</reflink>]; Xu & Dadgar, [<reflink idref="bib67" id="ref34">67</reflink>]). When students do not meet the prerequisites for credit-bearing courses, it is common for them to choose not to enroll in developmental education and are sometimes kept out of postsecondary education altogether (Kurlaender & Howell, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref35">39</reflink>]). Bailey ([<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref36">5</reflink>]) found that 21% of students placed in developmental math did not enroll within three years of registration, while only about 16% of students completed the developmental math sequence with fewer than 10% reaching and passing a college-level math course. Students of color, low-income students, first-generation students, and women students were disproportionately placed in developmental education (Chen & Simone, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref37">16</reflink>]; Melguizo et al., [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref38">49</reflink>]). Factors such as stereotype threat, math anxiety, and instructor bias all contribute to inequities in student outcomes in developmental math courses (Brathwaite et al., [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref39">15</reflink>]).</p> <p>There is also a large financial cost of developmental education at various levels. Scott-Clayton et al. ([<reflink idref="bib63" id="ref40">63</reflink>]) estimated that, with a large number of students entering developmental courses in college, there is an annual cost of nearly $7 billion at the national level. With some exceptions, Pell grants only cover up to one academic year's worth of developmental courses and eligible developmental students face a higher risk of exhausting their financial aid before completing a postsecondary credential (Martinez & Bain, [<reflink idref="bib45" id="ref41">45</reflink>]). Partly due to the costs of non-credit course-taking (e.g., tuition, room and board, books and supplies, transportation), about 40% of students rely on student loans to pay for their developmental education (Jimenez et al., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref42">34</reflink>]). Martorell and McFarlin ([<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref43">46</reflink>]) also found little evidence that developmental education is related to students' long-term labor market earnings.</p> <p>Finally, students in developmental education are less likely to obtain a postsecondary credential (Mazzariello et al., [<reflink idref="bib47" id="ref44">47</reflink>]). Taking multiple developmental courses leads to overwhelming barriers for academically underprepared students (Rosenbaum, [<reflink idref="bib59" id="ref45">59</reflink>]). According to Jaggars and Stacey ([<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref46">32</reflink>]), among 63,650 students enrolled in developmental math at 57 community colleges, only 11% persisted and passed an introductory college-level math course. Particularly, students with deep developmental needs spent five years at the community college on average before transferring to a four-year university, and only about one year's worth of college-level credits is transferable to the destination institution (Melguizo et al., [<reflink idref="bib49" id="ref47">49</reflink>]). Because developmental education enrollment largely has either a negative or null impact on credit accumulation, upward transfer, and persistence (Bahr, [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref48">3</reflink>]; Crisp & Delgado, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref49">20</reflink>]; Martorell & McFarlin, [<reflink idref="bib46" id="ref50">46</reflink>]; Scott-Clayton & Rodriguez, [<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref51">62</reflink>]), the effectiveness of development education remains questionable.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-4">The Development and Prevalence of Transitional Curricula</hd> <p>As the unintended outcomes of developmental education have emerged, states have adopted alternative policies to support students' college access and academic readiness, such as co-requisite courses and optional developmental education (Hodges et al., [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref52">27</reflink>]; Logue et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref53">42</reflink>]; Mokher et al., [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref54">53</reflink>]). An approach to ensuring college readiness which is seeing growing adoption is transitional curricula. While there is substantial variation in transitional curricula, transitional curricula are typically: a) offered within the secondary setting; b) consist of a defined set of educational experiences that can include courses, modules, or online activities; and c) aimed at ensuring college readiness amongst students who successfully complete the coursework within key subjects, such as Math and Reading (Fay et al., [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref55">22</reflink>]; Mokher, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref56">54</reflink>]).</p> <p>Although transitional curricula are growing in popularity from 29 states in 2013 to 39 states in 2018 (Barnett et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref57">11</reflink>]), this program is relatively new in practice, and research results are mixed on its effectiveness. For example, the Florida College and Career Readiness Initiative is associated with an increased likelihood for students to enroll in non-developmental courses but not pass these classes (Mokher et al., [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref58">52</reflink>]). In Tennessee's Seamless Alignment and Integrated Learning Support program, participating students were more likely to attend college and accumulate more college credits compared to their counterparts who did not enroll in transitional courses (Boatman & Bennent, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref59">14</reflink>]; Kane et al., [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref60">36</reflink>]). Consistently, a small positive effect was found on passing a math gatekeeper course within one year of college entry and on the number of college credits earned in the first year for students enrolled in New York's At Home in College math course (Trimble et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref61">65</reflink>]). However, Pheatt et al. ([<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref62">57</reflink>]) revealed opposite results in West Virginia's Transition Mathematics for Seniors finding participating students fared worse in terms of total college credit earned and in enrollment in a gatekeeper math course, possibly due to the misalignment between transitional curricula and the skills required for success on the standardized placement test.</p> <p>Accompanying the mixed evidence on the impact of transitional curricula on student outcomes is a relatively thin research base on the implementation of transitional coursework (Mokher, [<reflink idref="bib54" id="ref63">54</reflink>]). Current research on transitional curricula focuses primarily on the alignment of coursework and behavioral expectations between secondary and postsecondary institutions as key aspects of ensuring students' transitional course completion or college readiness (Fay, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref64">22</reflink>]; Lansing et al., [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref65">40</reflink>]; Pheatt et al., [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref66">57</reflink>]). High school students typically have a bounded number of courses they can enroll in, a transitional course supplants another choice for students (e.g., a study hall, an alternate course in the same subject area, or an elective course). Research has begun examining what choices students have to make about what to forgo differs by transition coursework design elements: Transitional coursework can be embedded in existing courses like in Kentucky's Targeted Interventions (Xu et al., [<reflink idref="bib68" id="ref67">68</reflink>]), or as a substitution for existing courses as in CUNY's At Home in College (Trimble et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref68">65</reflink>]) or West Virginia (Pheatt, [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref69">57</reflink>]). The costs of transitional course implementation have begun to be systematically investigated (Levin et al., [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref70">41</reflink>]), although this is limited as the transitional coursework is part of Kentucky's Targeted Intervention program which goes beyond only transitional coursework.</p> <p>Missing from the empirical literature on implementation is an understanding of what systems are in place to ensure students in transitional coursework are successful, particularly as they transition to postsecondary institutions. Supporting student transition and success requires both effective teaching and learning as well as wraparound services through K12-postsecondary partnerships (Greenberg, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref71">24</reflink>]; Mokher & Jacobson, [<reflink idref="bib51" id="ref72">51</reflink>]; Vargas & Venezia, [<reflink idref="bib66" id="ref73">66</reflink>]). In the context of fulfilling multiple missions and declining enrollment, community colleges are under great pressure to improve internal efficiency to meet accountability goals, as well as serve a diverse group of students and groups in their service area (Ayers, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref74">2</reflink>]; Schanzenbach & Turner, [<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref75">61</reflink>]). Despite the common goal of supporting students, community colleges face unique challenges in enhancing curricular unity, providing accelerated and flexible courses, and equalizing educational opportunities while navigating numerous across-sector differences in governance, policy, and culture (Barnett & Hughes, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref76">10</reflink>]; Kisker, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref77">38</reflink>]). Without an understanding of existing systems, supports, and processes for ensuring students who complete transitional coursework at the secondary level matriculate into appropriate credit-bearing courses, the mechanism of transitional curricula's effectiveness is likely to be masked. This study fills the gap by examining the implementation of transitional math in Illinois from the community college perspective as they lead these reform efforts.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-5">Research Design</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0187381765-6">Policy Context</hd> <p>In Illinois, the PWR Act in 2016 established a new statewide system for transitional instruction in Math and English aimed at increasing college readiness for high school seniors and reducing developmental education needs. Community colleges and high schools work in partnership to create policies and courses that incorporate the required competencies of college-level learning for high school students. These courses emphasize authentic learning experiences aligned with individual student's future academic and career plans in three pathways: STEM, Quantitative Literacy/Statistics, and Technical Math (ISBE, Illinois Community College Board [ICCB], & Illinois Board of Higher Education, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref78">31</reflink>]). Successful completion of transitional courses provides students with guaranteed placement into college-level courses at in-state community colleges and participating universities within 18 months after course completion.</p> <p>All school districts in Illinois were expected to implement transitional math instruction no later than the 2022–23 school year, and a parallel effort is underway to launch transitional English statewide. With transitional math courses in place in some districts across Illinois and under development in others when this study was conducted in 2023, it is important to examine how transitional math courses are implemented in order to understand their impact on community colleges and their students. We designed and implemented an exploratory case study, using semi-structured interviews to gather data to learn about community college leaders' perspectives on how transitional math and its related processes were being implemented in Illinois. This exploratory case study also focuses on identifying potential areas for improvement, growth, and the facilitation of learning amongst organizations through sharing of best practices. The latter focus emerged as a way for the transitional math program to be improved and scaled to enhance student outcomes, particularly for Illinois' most underserved students who disproportionately enroll in developmental courses or experience academic barriers to accessing and completing postsecondary education.</p> <p>While school districts can opt out of transitional math participation, community colleges were charged to develop memorandums of understanding for implementations of transitional math implementation within their service area with the consideration of varying performance and capacities of its school districts and remediation rates at the community college (ISBE & ICCB, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref79">29</reflink>]). A key feature of statewide transitional math is portability: Completion of the transitional math courses should be transferrable to any of the 48 community colleges and campuses and a few accepting universities as a college readiness indicator. Thus, local community colleges play an essential role in building a local advisory panel consisting of community college and high school administrators and instructors, developing a consistent yet flexible implementation plan within its service area, and leading the implementation efforts to best support its school districts and students.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-7">Participants</hd> <p>To recruit community college participants, we reached out to 43 principal contacts at 36 community colleges with approved transitional math programs as of Spring 2022 (ISBE, [<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref80">30</reflink>]). We used convenient sampling to identify the principal contacts at each community college who often hold the position of college- or department-level administrator and faculty and were knowledgeable of the history, implementation, and program needs. They were either listed as the main contact for transitional math programs on respective college websites as public records or on the internal email listserv for transitional math communication in Illinois. From the 43 initial contacts, 13 individuals from 13 colleges participated in one-on-one semi-structured interviews via Zoom. Among these 13 colleges, seven colleges started transitional math in 2019, five in 2020, and only one in 2022. While the majority of participating colleges have implemented transitional math for a few years, it is possible that more recent adopters chose not to participate because they have not implemented the program in full cycles, and they have relatively limited information to share. Table 1 presents each interviewee's pseudonym, position, and affiliated campus setting. Though only a third of community colleges with approved transitional math courses participated in the interview, they represent a diverse group of perspectives from both faculty and administrators with varying institution sizes and urbanicity settings.</p> <p>Table 1 Community College Interview Participants</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Name</p></th><th align="left"><p>Position</p></th><th align="left"><p>Campus Setting</p></th><th align="left"><p>Community College Size</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Nate</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>City</p></td><td align="left"><p>5,001–10,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Monica</p></td><td align="left"><p>Department Chair / Dean</p></td><td align="left"><p>City</p></td><td align="left"><p>5,001–10,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Scott</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>City</p></td><td align="left"><p>10,001–20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Brett</p></td><td align="left"><p>Department Chair / Dean</p></td><td align="left"><p>Town</p></td><td align="left"><p>1,001–5,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Gregg</p></td><td align="left"><p>Department Chair / Dean</p></td><td align="left"><p>Suburb</p></td><td align="left"><p>10,001–20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Lori</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>Suburb</p></td><td align="left"><p>Above 20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Eddie</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>City</p></td><td align="left"><p>1,001–5,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Sarah</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>Rural</p></td><td align="left"><p>10,001–20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Jessica</p></td><td align="left"><p>Faculty</p></td><td align="left"><p>Suburb</p></td><td align="left"><p>10,001–20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Brandi</p></td><td align="left"><p>Department Chair / Dean</p></td><td align="left"><p>Rural</p></td><td align="left"><p>1,001–5,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Gina</p></td><td align="left"><p>Staff</p></td><td align="left"><p>Rural</p></td><td align="left"><p>1,001–5,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Erik</p></td><td align="left"><p>Department Chair / Dean</p></td><td align="left"><p>Suburb</p></td><td align="left"><p>10,001–20,000</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Will</p></td><td align="left"><p>Staff</p></td><td align="left"><p>Rural</p></td><td align="left"><p>10,001–20,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <hd id="AN0187381765-8">Data Collection and Analysis</hd> <p>Each interview was between 45 and 60 min following a pre-developed, semi-structured interview protocol with 10 questions. The interview included general questions about the implementation of transitional math, how it impacts their students and their colleges, what the implementation process was like for them, what challenges they have encountered, and what additional support they need moving forward. All participants were asked the same set of 10 questions with follow-up questions asked to probe responses for clarity or to expand on a response. As the goal was to identify patterns, trends, and insights into the implementation of transitional math, the questions were designed to yield open-ended responses rather than testing a specific theory or investigate pre-determined themes.</p> <p>Interview transcriptions and formalized and typed observation field notes were coded manually using an inductive analysis (Miles et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref81">50</reflink>]; Saldaña, [<reflink idref="bib60" id="ref82">60</reflink>]). After emergent codes were identified from the interviews, respective codebooks were created. All data was then coded deductively utilizing the codebooks and revisions were made accordingly. Once the codebook was finalized, the cycle was repeated, and all interviews were coded using the finalized codebook. A matrix was created and used to help organize the data (Miles et al., [<reflink idref="bib50" id="ref83">50</reflink>]). The matrix also facilitated the systematic analysis by creating visual connections across transcripts that resulted in the themes. However, it is worth noting that with a convenience sample in one state, the findings cannot be generalizable to all transitional curricula implementation. We conducted member checking with all participants with a thorough description of the qualitative evaluation steps to ensure accuracy and to establish trustworthiness, and additional expert review was provided by key ICCB officials (Jones et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref84">35</reflink>]). All themes discussed below emerged from the interviewees' responses to general questions about their perceptions of how transitional math has influenced their institution, the influence of transitional math on student preparedness, transitional math implementation in their institution, and general recommendations.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-9">Limitations</hd> <p>This exploratory investigation of community college faculty and administration perceptions of transitional math faces several key limitations. First, the study relies on interviews with a single individual within 13 different community colleges in Illinois at a single point in time. It is entirely plausible that the perceptions of other individuals in the participating community colleges may have differed from our respondents. However, we believe the individuals we conducted interviews with were ideal candidates within their institutions as they were the primary points of contact with the Illinois Community College Board related to the implementation of transitional math in their institutions. It is also plausible that a different set of community colleges would have different perceptions related to transitional math. Even still, we believe the patterns discussed below cut across a variety of institutional sizes and geographic locations. Further, as this is an exploratory case study, we are not trying to generalize to all community colleges but instead, we focused on identifying emergent patterns. Another limitation of the work is that we do not have student perspectives or perspectives from the secondary settings. As this was not the focus of the exploratory case study, the findings should be interpreted as representative of just one of the relevant stakeholders. Future work should consider not just these other voices and perspectives but how they interact, overlap, and differ.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-10">Results</hd> <p>Based on data collected from semi-structured interviews conducted with community college leaders, we uncovered nuanced understandings and themes that emerged from the data. The community college leaders shared their perspectives on transitional math implementation in Illinois with respect to the following themes: (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref85">1</reflink>) insufficient data to determine the impact of transitional math on student success and college enrollment, (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref86">2</reflink>) community colleges and high schools partnerships to ensure effective teaching and learning, (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref87">3</reflink>) transitional math pathway availability which was influenced by existing programs and constraints, (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref88">4</reflink>) targeted support for educational equity in transitional math programs, and (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref89">5</reflink>) the need for additional guidance from the state agencies.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-11">Insufficient Data to Determine the Impact of Transitional Math on Student Success and College...</hd> <p>When it comes to students' math learning and college success, community college partners largely agree that transitional math can benefit the targeted student population who did not meet the college readiness benchmark in Illinois. As math courses are not required in the senior year in Illinois high schools, participants agreed that transitional math allows its targeted students, who would have otherwise not taken a fourth-year math course, to continue a math course. A dean at a large suburban community college described how transitional math can increase students' chances of college enrollment with expanded college opportunities in a "more comfortable environment or less threatening environment than a college math course." One dean at a small rural community college also mentioned,Honestly, I feel like transitional math has been the most effective for those students that are coming directly from high school to us because it puts them in that fourth year of math and keeps them at least kind of cultured into thinking mathematically.</p> <p>However, within individual colleges, there is a general lack of data access and evaluation to empirically support the transitional math program's impact on student success, such as students' college attendance and college-level course success. Respondents from a quarter of the colleges initiated efforts to evaluate the program's impact by sending surveys to high school counselors and teachers to collect data necessary to assess the effectiveness of the program. However, a couple of interviewees discussed an expectation for additional resources and collaboration with the Office of Institutional Research to systematically examine the effectiveness of transitional math.</p> <p>About half responding community colleges expressed interest in learning about how transitional math influences college enrollment. Overall, these participants did not notice prominent enrollment increases due to transitional math alone. Two participants indicated that even though the total enrollment may stay the same, the enrollment distribution between developmental courses and college-level courses may have changed. One math faculty in a medium rural community college discussed the reduced number of developmental math sections. "We've decreased our need for developmental math... When I first started there, we had like 22 sections... it's so dramatically decreased." An administrator in K12 collaboration from a medium-sized rural community college noted that:Our goal is to try and make sure that as we get those students coming in and they're going to be better prepared to be successful, right away in that college-level math class and not get spun around in a developmental ed cycle and spend money and time and get frustrated and then quit.</p> <p>The majority of participants acknowledged the difficulty in isolating the impact of transitional math from the larger developmental education reform taking place in Illinois. The dean of a small community college shared:As we've shifted to multiple measures, we have definitely had a smaller number of students that are still in remediation. So, there've been a lot of changes not only at the state level but within our own program. Over the last five years, almost every year, we've made so many changes that it's hard to really know where we're at. I don't have a good gauge of it, because we've made each year a new change and you don't know where the students are in the process specifically. And they go at different paces.</p> <p>One such example of the crowded policy context this dean was referring to is the Illinois enacted the Developmental Education Reform Act, passed in 2021, which required major changes in how community colleges define placement measures and relevant policies. One faculty in the liaison position of a medium urban community college also provided a few examples to caution against attributing enrollment changes to transitional math programs alone:As the state changed placement criteria... for example, a 3.0 [high school] GPA or higher is college ready. The campus placement exam went away, and we had to figure out a new math placement exam. So, we went with the ALEKS placement exam. This was also around that time [when transitional math was implemented]. We were working on co-requisite courses. And then there's also this HB 2170... basically said, community colleges should have mechanisms in place to make sure they're increasing that they have a maximized probability of students getting into a college-level math course their first year.</p> <p>An administrator in K12 collaboration from a medium-sized rural community college attributes the lack of causal evidence of transitional math on college enrollment to the 18-month timeline for transitional math to be eligible for college-level placement:The students have 18 months as the expiration of their placement. So, a student may have graduated this academic year. But we may not know for another year and a half whether or not that student is going to enroll into that college math class... [It] plays a role in not knowing for sure.</p> <p>Another reason why transitional math is not directly related to changes in college enrollment is that community colleges do not use transitional math programs as a recruitment tool, or they have limited recruitment efforts for transitional math students. One math faculty at a small urban community college considered recruitment as a responsibility of the recruitment and marketing department, but they may not know about transitional math as a potential recruitment strategy. The administrator who oversees P20 collaboration at a rural small community college noted:We talked about recruiting all the time. But there's just who's responsible for it often changes in a small school. We're not visiting schools; we're not pressuring them to say, "Come to us!" Certainly, our college supports them the best we can, but we don't have the bandwidth to do that either.</p> <p>A dean of a medium community college in the suburban area, however, noticed the positive outcomes of collaborating with high schools on student recruitment.[Transitional math] wasn't meant to be a recruiting tool. That was not what we were trying to do. But it kind of turned into it from the standpoint of, "Hey, you should be paying attention to what's going on at your local community college.</p> <p>Most community colleges are driven by their desire to support students and communities rather than their self-interests even when community colleges experience a severe enrollment drop during the pandemic since 2020.</p> <p>Overall, while participants see the potential of the transitional math program to improve student success and college enrollment, they have insufficient data to determine the true impact of the program. As a backdrop to all of the sources of uncertainty identified by interviewees above, COVID directly affected student learning across the secondary and postsecondary sectors, which may have led to lower participation rates in transitional math programs, impacted students' college readiness, and even shaped the relationship-building and effective communication between high schools and community colleges during program implementation.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-12">Community Colleges and High Schools Navigate Partnerships to Ensure Effective Teaching and Le...</hd> <p>Across the board, community college participants describe transitional math implementation as a process of trust-building and resource-sharing with the secondary sector to ensure course rigor. All community colleges value the relationship-building process with local high schools, and this complex process directly influence whether community colleges and their school districts are capable of effectively delivering these courses. Nearly all participants provided detailed information to depict a picture of the successful implementation of transitional math, such as the local advisory panel with good representations from both sectors, the establishment of a liaison position at community colleges to lead communication with high schools, a consistent application process across school districts, professional development with incentives, and online resources dedicated to transitional math implementation. One math faculty at a small urban community college described the K12 collaboration as "a real eye opener...for our faculty to look at what was happening with transitional math and that process and what they wanted." Improved communication between sectors has aided community college faculty to better understand students' experiences during high school.</p> <p>All responding community college practitioners believe that transitional math design should prioritize and ultimately serve course rigor and authentic learning for students. High schools and community colleges developed a Memorandum of Understanding to outline the responsibilities of each party (e.g., curriculum design, professional development, exam development) to ensure transitional math course rigor. One math faculty in the liaison position mentioned, "We met with all the teachers, principals, and superintendents, and we're getting constant feedback from them. I think the local advisory panel is critical for transitional math to work." The department chair of a small urban community college provided specific examples:[Students] are taking the exact same content and courses that we ourselves teach. And we oversee it on our side, we have an agreement with [the high schools]... We do edit together [on examination]. I create the master file based on college-level expectations,and I edit it according to the needs and understanding of students from the [high school] faculty side...So we feel strongly that the [transitional math] students that come in are properly prepared.</p> <p>A few participants also highlighted the importance of high school teachers' expertise and qualifications in teaching transitional math that teachers with both experiences of teaching high school students and a clear understanding of college-level math expectations contribute to student learning. However, it is worth noting that respondents from a quarter of the colleges specifically mentioned that, after the PWR Act, their transitional math program benefited from the previous collaboration with K12 through dual credit coursework or locally articulated transitional math courses prior to the PWR Act; while a couple of other colleges with no such prior collaboration in place exerted more efforts to initiate the collaboration as a response to transitional math programs.</p> <p>In the meantime, at least two community colleges also have experienced considerable navigation of different cultures and policies and competing interests between high schools and colleges. In the process of relationship-building with high schools to support student success, community colleges experienced conflicts over different administrative policies and some unforeseeable challenges. For example, the department chair of a small urban community college discussed the "50% minimum rule" (which allows students to get no lower than 50% on an assignment if they attempt to meet the basic requirements) and the "deeply articulated IEPs [individualized education programs] that sometimes make it difficult for us to feel like the standards aren't the same." Over half of the responding participants highlighted how high school teachers and counselors serve as the main force encouraging students to participate in and succeed in transitional math. However, the cultural and resource differences between the secondary and postsecondary sectors require community colleges to adequately support K12 partners and teachers in particular. One faculty from a small urban community college noted:I think a lot of high school teachers are very guarded because they think the college teachers are going to yell at them and scream at them that the students are not prepared ... I know that they are under a lot of pressure there about what needs to be done to get the students graduated. I understand that... their hands are tied a lot, which is a shame... We understand what they're going through. And it's about working together... That's hard sometimes.</p> <p>Part of navigating the partnership between colleges and high schools is to identify what could be changed and what could not. In the process of implementing transitional math programs, community colleges recognized their limited influence given existing K12 regulations and rules, yet they could support high school partners by providing financial and content-based resources.</p> <p>A couple of participants also mentioned internal conflicts that some college faculty are "really on the perimeter," while some other faculty at participating community colleges have expressed concerns over job security due to potentially reduced course sections of developmental math due to transitional math programs, especially for colleges with a larger share of developmental education enrollment from local high school students. One math faculty and liaison person at a medium suburban community college said,I do know that, without naming names, some faculty members aren't as open and sharing all their [math course content]. Some felt threatened by this move: "They're taking our jobs away." ... So, when I would go to department meetings and tell them what we're doing, they're like, "Our high school teachers give extra credit for bringing in cans of soup. ... We're gonna lose our jobs, and they're giving extra credit. My colleagues were nervous about those kinds of things.</p> <p>One dean at a small rural community college attributed the reduced number of course sections to curricular changes including the offering of transitional math, the lower number in the developmental classes, consolidation of sections, and enrollment decline due to COVID. She continued, "Initially when we began [the transitional math program] ... Yes, they were worried about enrollment. But what they were more worried about is: How do we know that [students] were really actually prepared?... So, I think that was the larger pushback." From the department chairs' or deans' perspective, though personnel management can be a challenge as course sections are reduced, how to ensure course quality seems to be a more critical question to ask moving forward. When the interests of community colleges do not fully align with the ones of high schools, addressing faculty concerns and overcoming these challenges contributes to a healthy partnership between sectors to serve students with the transitional math program at the local level.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-13">Transitional Math Pathway Availability Influenced by Existing Programs and Constraints</hd> <p>When it comes to the decision on which particular transitional math pathway(s) to offer, each college and high school partnership seems to have independent logic and practical considerations in selecting the three pathways of STEM, Quantitative Literacy/Statistics, and Technical Math. For example, most of the community colleges choose to offer the Quantitative Literacy/Statistics pathway because it is the pathway for the largest percentage of students who are non-STEM-oriented to keep math skills fresh and transition to college. Community colleges choosing the STEM pathway also justified their decision by noting that STEM math applies to all college-level math pathways (i.e., college algebra, general education math, technical math) as a higher-level placement indicator, providing students with flexibility as they transition to college learning. The staff member overseeing K12 collaboration at a rural small community college noted that "When they [students] don't know what they're going to be when they grow up, they [high school counselors] don't want to put them [students] in a lower level than is necessary. They'd rather shoot for STEM." Other participants also describe the STEM pathway course as being the least duplicated with co-requisite programs. One dean from a small community college mentioned that "The Technical Math course is almost identical to a lot of the college-level technical math courses."</p> <p>Some community colleges choose to offer high schools with the Technical Math pathway because it aligns with their career pathways in manufacturing. The staff member overseeing K12 collaboration at a rural small community college explained that "[The high schools] have students who cannot prove that they are college ready for [college-level] math, [the technical pathway] will do it for them." Similarly, if the college in the partnership offers no relevant pathways in career and technical education, they typically do not choose to offer transitional math classes in the Technical Math pathway. The Technical Math pathway remains to be the least prevalent across community college districts. A math faculty at a medium suburban community college indicated that they had not offered the Technical Math pathway, because "we don't offer that [technical courses] at the high school or at the college. So, we had no place for them to go." Despite these general principles of selecting transitional math pathway(s), about a third of participants agreed that advising students into different pathways can be challenging. High schools are often limited by existing resources to offer all pathways and meet each individual student's needs in math learning.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-14">Targeted Support for Educational Equity in Transitional Math Programs</hd> <p>Given the larger context of educational inequity in higher education, it is not surprising that the community college participants were largely in agreement about potential equity concerns for all incoming college students, including transitional math students, as transitional math completers receive generic instruction and student services (e.g., TRIO programs) once they enroll in college. One math faculty in a large suburban community college described the transitional math process as "... Just get through the course. Let's see how you do and matriculate here and then the services that we offer here we offer to everybody; not just a transition math student or one for a particular background." However, one department chair raised a comment about the differences between transitional math completers and developmental math completers, and it suggests transitional math completers' potential needs during their college transition may not be met during high school coursework – even transitional coursework.We have people who have the intellect, but don't necessarily know how to be [college] students and therefore cannot be successful... A lot of these developmental courses aren't designed to just teach [students] the math they need to do. They're designed to prepare them for an extremely rigorous college environment. Are they getting that rigor at a high school for a [transitional] course?</p> <p>Nearly half of the participants mentioned that equal access and success in college readiness and success require support from more than one math class. One salient example was provided by the department chair of a small urban community college that English proficiency prevents English Learner students from being successful in transitional math courses because reading requirements are not specified in transitional math courses.</p> <p>Similarly, inequity among school districts can further limit the resources available for their teachers and students. Two responding community college practitioners specifically noted that some school districts are underserved because of their small size. An administrator in K12 collaboration from a medium-sized rural community college mentioned that "Smaller school districts have few math teachers, and they cannot just attend the professional development [instead of being in class]." Three other participants wondered if virtual courses and more funding may be beneficial. The staff member overseeing K12 collaboration at a small rural community college said, "I think the equity piece for small schools is going to be this virtual coursework. Again, is that the best way? No, but it still will meet the needs of some of our students." All participants plan to ensure students have equal access to transitional math courses and benefit from this program in their future work.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-15">The Need for Additional Guidance from the State Agencies</hd> <p>One consistent response from the community college participants is about their need for additional guidance from the state agencies to continue the successful design, implementation, and evaluation of the transitional math program. The success of transitional math programs relies on community colleges to initiate broad participation through the development of a new implementation system. Nearly half of the participants commented on the benefits of receiving grant funding from ICCB, which directly enabled recipient colleges to conduct student surveys, build data systems, and support K12 partnerships in general; however, not every participant was aware of the grant or how it could be used to support the transitional math program and its students.</p> <p>A third of responding community colleges indicated that they have dedicated leadership and increased resources in high school-college collaboration and attempted to make data-driven decisions as they continue to roll out the transitional math program. However, data access and interpretation seem to be a major challenge to guiding practices at community colleges. One dean from a small community college commented on the level of different information they receive from high schools:All the data might be different, housed differently, or interpreted differently... One high school [provides] the grades, the names, and the genders of the students; but at another high school, the grades, the names, and the races of the students; and another high school something different. So, it's like, you put all that information together, and we made some charts... So, it wasn't very helpful... I would love to get a little bit more guidance ... where it's like, there's a standardized format for how the information will be turned into the college. And that standardized format is easy enough in high schools to actually fill out that they'll do it.</p> <p>According to the majority of participants, the PWR Act focuses more on transitional math program goals than the means to achieve these goals. The majority of community colleges perceived the lack of or delayed state support – with respect to human resources, funding, and the implementation process – as a major challenge in navigating the transitional math program at the local level. For example, participants expressed polarized views about the length of transitional math courses because it is currently up to local decisions. Two colleges were in support of one-semester transitional math courses as opposed to one-year courses, because they prefer not to "be adding a barrier to the students that are now able to take that college class while they're still in a high school setting with the potential to be more successful." Two other colleges indicated concerns over the rigor of one-semester-long transitional math courses. For transitional math completers, taking dual-credit courses in the second semester of their senior year was described as "taking some students who aren't ready and then pushing them at double the speed." While it is a possibility that sufficient supports from ICCB and other groups do exist, these responses suggest that knowledge of how to access available supports remains uneven at best, similar to the knowledge about available grants.</p> <p>Given the diverse needs of responding participants and their school district partners, the lack of guidance (at least in the initial planning stage) directly leads to push-back from high schools and some college faculty members. Many colleges have experienced a lack of high school buy-in or motivation to participate in transitional math for a variety of reasons, such as a fear of lack of flexibility or frequent policy changes. One participant in a dean's role explained,I have a school district that they're just adamant that this [transitional math] program is not for their students, because their students are too good for this. And there's nothing I can do about it. I mean, we've tried to be as nice as we can, and say there's a subset of your population–I'm sure the majority of them don't need it–But there's a subset that probably can really benefit from this. They don't even want to be associated with it, because it seems like it's beneath them.</p> <p>Two community college participants expressed frustration over high schools offering transitional math courses "on the books" but with no actual students. One department chair from a medium college in a suburban area said:A lot of them are still holding off on "Is this here to stay? Or is this just another one of those? If we wait long enough, we can wait. We can wait out the state and things will change again."</p> <p>Given the resources required to develop and implement transitional math programs, including the need to build new relationships, develop new transitional curricula, and partner with community colleges to implement transitional math, it is perhaps not surprising that community college leaders hear quotes like the above from their high school partners. As PK-12 school districts face a crowded policy environment, one in which districts are constantly balancing multiple and sometimes conflicting policy mandates, where policy mandates shift and mandates are often underfunded, there is a reticence for high schools to change. All participants shared that the local high schools and colleges can benefit from additional communication facilitated by state agencies with their peer institutions to learn more about the success and process of transitional math programs. This communication and continued support from state agencies could allay concerns about whether transitional programs were "here to stay." Providing evidence of success and how the program better supports students could also help high school districts see the value of investing in transitional programs and making the changes needed to implement them.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-16">Discussion</hd> <p>Understanding how faculty and administrators at community colleges design and implement transitional math programs helps provide insights into the mechanism of effectiveness of transitional curricula, opportunities for local implementation improvement, and the need for additional systemwide supports to improve implementation. By interviewing key stakeholders at 13 community colleges, this exploratory case study also brings nuance to our understanding of their perceptions on the impact of transitional math for students – both in terms of better measurement of the impacts and institutional barriers to success. Ultimately, investigating the implementation of transitional math programs at the community college level supports community colleges to be better equipped to establish high school-college partnerships and use transitional coursework to support student success and college access. Given the prevalence of transitional curricula across states (Barnett et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref90">11</reflink>]), this exploratory case study revealed important findings that enable the secondary and postsecondary systems' developmental education reform priorities.</p> <p>First, our findings on insufficient evidence to determine the impact of transitional math programs on student success and college enrollment align with mixed findings from prior quantitative research on transitional coursework (Boatman & Bennent, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref91">14</reflink>]; Kane et al., [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref92">36</reflink>]; Mokher et al., [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref93">52</reflink>]; Pheatt et al., [<reflink idref="bib57" id="ref94">57</reflink>]; Trimble et al., [<reflink idref="bib65" id="ref95">65</reflink>]). This finding highlights how variation in policy design can lead to different outcomes that developmental education reform policies should be scrutinized with empirical studies. Despite challenges associated with traditional developmental courses, more recent research also noted the null or unintended outcomes of alternative developmental education models (e.g., Mokher et al., [<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref96">52</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib53" id="ref97">53</reflink>]). Though local research and data capacity can directly reflect student outcomes and contribute to timely and collaborative decision-making at the local level (Jenkins & Spence, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref98">33</reflink>]), it is also important to utilize state longitudinal data systems to provide empirical-based and generalizable evidence on the effectiveness of transitional coursework and its variation on student success as its intended outcome (Bland & Blankenberger, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref99">13</reflink>]). After the study was conducted, transitional curricula programs continued to expand in Illinois with transitional English courses launching and additional four-year universities joining the portability agreement. To ensure program sustainability and compatibility with other developmental education reforms, understanding the impact of transitional math on student success remains to be crucial.</p> <p>Additionally, our findings on community colleges' rationale for offering different transitional math pathways reflected students' complex college-going process, especially for historically underserved students who have less information and resources to navigate decision-making (Page & Scott-Clayton, [<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref100">55</reflink>]; Posselt et al., [<reflink idref="bib58" id="ref101">58</reflink>]). Historically, ICCB has identified historically underserved student populations based on disability status, gender, age, race/ethnicity, and first-generation status and exerted efforts to support their educational outcomes (ICCB, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref102">28</reflink>]). However, the eligibility criteria (e.g., standardized test score, high school teacher recommendation) for transitional math participation could potentially create structural barriers that discourage certain students from enrolling in transitional math courses. Any investigation of the impact of transitional curricula on students' academic trajectories should account for systemic supports for accessing credit-bearing courses. In other words, students who are considered to be college-ready by completing transitional math in high school may not use it as a placement test waiver or ever enroll in credit-bearing courses due to challenges in navigating the college system. Especially when programs are expected to scale, educational equity should be an essential consideration. For example, because underrepresented minority students face more barriers to choosing STEM majors with greater earning potential (Fouad & Santana, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref103">23</reflink>]), students' course-taking in the three transitional math pathways can influence their long-term academic and career trajectories. Academic advising at the local level should ensure the students' self-efficacy and agency in their college major choice and career exploration (Falco & Summers, [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref104">21</reflink>]). Comprehensive wraparound student services should also be supported to transitional math participants who are historically underserved in postsecondary education (Hallett et al., [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref105">25</reflink>]; ICCB, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref106">28</reflink>]; Kezar et al., [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref107">37</reflink>]).</p> <p>Finally, the implementation of programs like transitional math can be challenging because, from the community colleges' perspective, they are essentially non-credit-bearing courses that are delivered in high school by high school teachers. Without clear evidence to support transitional math as an incentive to increase enrollment, community colleges rely on their mission of community-building to initiate and sustain partnerships with local high schools. As community colleges continue to navigate the broader developmental education reform, cross-sector challenges found in the current study will likely surface. In addition to formal distinctions in governance and policy between secondary and postsecondary sectors, policy and program changes also rely on how educational leaders navigate varying organizational cultures (Loss & McGuinn, [<reflink idref="bib44" id="ref108">44</reflink>]; Perna & Armijo, [<reflink idref="bib56" id="ref109">56</reflink>]). Trust-building and resource-sharing remain to be central for community college leaders to address internal concerns of job security and collectively advocate for policy stability in K12 collaboration.</p> <p>Policymakers and state agencies should continue to invest in community colleges for them to fulfill the community engagement mission, as well as provide guidance on designing, implementing, and evaluating transitional math programs. In the meantime, state agencies can clarify what transitional curricula mean for high schools, as they are held accountable to Illinois' evidence-based funding, to ensure adequate and equitable funding. For instance, no formal study or evaluation has been conducted by the college due to the lack of access to cross-sector data and limited personnel capacity. State-level supports remain needed to ensure students who complete transitional math in high school have equitable access to credit-bearing courses. The state government may continue educating both secondary and postsecondary institutions and facilitate collaboration with educational sessions on the goals and outcomes of transitional math, as well as professional development sessions about best practices. Our findings validated the significance of the state's continued effort to effectively communicate and fund transitional curricula.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-17">Future Research</hd> <p>Future studies are warranted to further understand the multifaceted implementation of state policy, such as transitional curricula, and how it is interpreted by community colleges and high school districts. Longitudinal case studies focused on transitional program analysis would help illuminate the processes which could lead to or hinder the successful implementation of transitional curricula and highlight best practices when responding to a state policy at the local level. Future work considering implementation from multiple perspectives, such as high school principals, high school teachers, and students in transitional math courses, beyond the community college leader tasked as the main contact would provide nuance to how transitional math programs are perceived and implemented. Including multiple perspectives can also help the field better understand the role various individuals and organizations play in implementation and the impact of similar (or dissimilar) perceptions can have on program fidelity.</p> <p>Examining how prior partnerships between high school districts and community colleges play out is another area for investigation. It is possible community colleges that already had similar cross-sector partnerships with high schools (e.g., dual credit programs) would be more likely to successfully implement and execute these formalized transitional programs toward student success. As highlighted in the interview data and the review of the literature, work examining both the secondary and postsecondary partners can help provide insight into the role that governance structure, culture, and systems alignments can play in the implementation of transitional curricula programs. Uneven distribution of resources and capacities to develop and maintain cross-sector partnerships can exacerbate inequity for high school districts and community colleges as low-resourced schools and colleges may be restrained from adopting innovative and promising solutions to (proactively) address challenges. Future work should consider prior partnerships as a contributing factor when identifying the causal relationship between transitional math and program outcomes.</p> <p>Investigating the ways that transitional curricula impact community colleges' academic structure in the larger context of developmental education reform is another area for future studies. As students enroll in community colleges after completing transitional programs, there are likely impacts on the types and scope of supports offered to newly enrolled students. It is possible transitional programs could remove much of the need for developmental courses, having implications for staffing (e.g., instructors, advisors) and revenue as fewer students would need to take these courses. As suggested in the interviews, successful transitional programs may reduce students' reliance on developmental education, thus altering the roles high schools and community colleges play in college readiness. This could require changes of duties, the hiring of new administrative staff, and the facilitation of ongoing conversations across sectors.</p> <p>The patterns and trends identified in this study will provide fruitful ground for future investigations into the impact of transitional programs on students. Future research should use both quantitative and qualitative approaches to investigate the impact of transitional math participation and completion on short-term outcomes (e.g., college matriculation, college-level course success, retention) and long-term outcomes (e.g., degree attainment, time to degree, student loan debt accumulation). However, these studies often lack insight into how differences across community colleges shape or influence the impacts via varying implementation strategies. Tying variation in local-level policy implementation may shed light on what programs work, in what conditions, and for what students. As transitional programs focus on improving the preparation of students prior to high school graduation, future research could evaluate policy impact on the measures of preparedness after the implementation of transitional programs and whether the level of preparedness is related to community college outcomes. These studies of policy impact can benefit from using the Illinois Longitudinal Data System (ILDS). The ILDS is designed to link an individual's data across various state agencies using a common identifier – including K12 data from the Illinois State Board of Education, community college data from ICCB, four-year higher education data from IBHE, and workforce data (ILDS, n.d.). While the ILDS has been invested in since 2009, the ILDS governing processes are maturing to the point where researchers can use disaggregated student-level data to answer impact-oriented questions about transitional curricula in Illinois.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-18">Authors' Contribution</hd> <p>All authors whose names appear on the submission made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, as well as the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data. The authors approved the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-19">Funding</hd> <p>Open access funding provided by SCELC, Statewide California Electronic Library Consortium. This study was funded by the Illinois Community College Board.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-20">Data Availability</hd> <p>Data and materials collected for this study are not publicly available for confidentiality purposes.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-21">Declarations</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0187381765-22">Competing Interests</hd> <p>The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-23">Ethics Approval</hd> <p>This study was reviewed and deemed exempt by the Institutional Review Board at Northern Illinois University (Protocol # HS22-0410).</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-24">Consent</hd> <p>Informed consent from human participants has been obtained.</p> <hd id="AN0187381765-25">Publisher's Note</hd> <p>Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.</p> <ref id="AN0187381765-26"> <title> References </title> <blist> <bibl id="bib1" idref="ref7" type="bt">1</bibl> <bibtext> Attewell P, Lavin D, Domina T, Levey T. 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His research explores the impacts of educational policy on the systems of education, with a particular focus on educational leadership development, policies related to the educator workforce, and policies focused on transitions in the prek-20 educational system.</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib55" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref4"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib52" firstref="ref12"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref14"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib51" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib66" firstref="ref16"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib64" firstref="ref19"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref21"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib54" firstref="ref25"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib43" firstref="ref28"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib48" firstref="ref29"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib47" firstref="ref31"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref33"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib67" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref35"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib49" firstref="ref38"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref39"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib63" firstref="ref40"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib45" firstref="ref41"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref42"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib46" firstref="ref43"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib59" firstref="ref45"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref49"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl30" bibid="bib62" firstref="ref51"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl31" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref52"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl32" bibid="bib42" firstref="ref53"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl33" bibid="bib53" firstref="ref54"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl34" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref55"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl35" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref59"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl36" bibid="bib65" firstref="ref61"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl37" bibid="bib57" firstref="ref62"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl38" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref65"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl39" bibid="bib68" firstref="ref67"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl40" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref70"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl41" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref71"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl42" bibid="bib61" firstref="ref75"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl43" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref76"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl44" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref78"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl45" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref79"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl46" bibid="bib30" firstref="ref80"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl47" bibid="bib50" firstref="ref81"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl48" bibid="bib60" firstref="ref82"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl49" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref84"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl50" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref98"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl51" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref99"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl52" bibid="bib58" firstref="ref101"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl53" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref102"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl54" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref103"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl55" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref104"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl56" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref105"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl57" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref107"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl58" bibid="bib44" firstref="ref108"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl59" bibid="bib56" firstref="ref109"></nolink>
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Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Implementing Transitional Math: Perspectives of Illinois Community College Program Leaders
– Name: Language
  Label: Language
  Group: Lang
  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Xiaodan+Hu%22">Xiaodan Hu</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8648-0601">0000-0002-8648-0601</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Benjamin+Cre%22">Benjamin Cre</searchLink>
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Innovative+Higher+Education%22"><i>Innovative Higher Education</i></searchLink>. 2025 50(4):1089-1113.
– Name: Avail
  Label: Availability
  Group: Avail
  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
– Name: PeerReviewed
  Label: Peer Reviewed
  Group: SrcInfo
  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 25
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Higher+Education%22">Higher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Postsecondary+Education%22">Postsecondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Two+Year+Colleges%22">Two Year Colleges</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22High+Schools%22">High Schools</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Community+Colleges%22">Community Colleges</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Readiness%22">College Readiness</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Transitional+Programs%22">Transitional Programs</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Mathematics%22">College Mathematics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Preparation%22">College Preparation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematics+Education%22">Mathematics Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22High+School+Students%22">High School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Partnerships+in+Education%22">Partnerships in Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Universities%22">Universities</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Program+Design%22">Program Design</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Program+Implementation%22">Program Implementation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Program+Improvement%22">Program Improvement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mathematics+Achievement%22">Mathematics Achievement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22College+Enrollment%22">College Enrollment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Equal+Education%22">Equal Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Developmental+Studies+Programs%22">Developmental Studies Programs</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Geographic Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Illinois%22">Illinois</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1007/s10755-024-09773-x
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 0742-5627<br />1573-1758
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: In 2016, Illinois initiated a statewide transitional math program to support students to be academically ready in college-level math before graduating from high school. This qualitative study focuses on the perspective of community college faculty and administrators on the statewide implementation of transitional math programs. We find that a successful partnership between high schools and community colleges is perceived as key to designing, implementing, and improving transitional math programs to ensure effective teaching and learning. However, community college leaders perceived that it remains unclear how transitional math programs impact student success, college enrollment, and educational equity. We provided practical implications for both transitional math programs and the broader developmental education reform.
– Name: AbstractInfo
  Label: Abstractor
  Group: Ab
  Data: As Provided
– Name: DateEntry
  Label: Entry Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: AN
  Label: Accession Number
  Group: ID
  Data: EJ1480456
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=eric&AN=EJ1480456
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  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s10755-024-09773-x
    Languages:
      – Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 25
        StartPage: 1089
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Community Colleges
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Readiness
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Transitional Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Mathematics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Preparation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematics Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: High School Students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Partnerships in Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Universities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Program Design
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Program Implementation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Program Improvement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Mathematics Achievement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: College Enrollment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Equal Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Developmental Studies Programs
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Illinois
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Implementing Transitional Math: Perspectives of Illinois Community College Program Leaders
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            NameFull: Xiaodan Hu
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            NameFull: Benjamin Cre
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              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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