Math Curriculum Alignment

The NCTN Promising Practice Series presents detailed descriptions of strategies from the field that are designed to promote the successful transition of adult basic education students to postsecondary education.

The Urban Corridor Project (UCP) was designed to build upon the positive adult-education transition initiatives that have been implemented in Hartford, CT between Capital Community College and Hartford Adult Education and in New Haven, CT, between Gateway Community College and New Haven Adult Education. The goals of the UCP were:

• Develop and pilot an “aligned” adult-education math curriculum that addresses the gap between the adult-education and college-level math programs
• Integrate the aligned math curriculum into the adult secondary level of instruction at both adult-education programs.
• Increase the number of students from Hartford and New Haven adult-education programs who take the ACCUPLACER and successfully place into college-level math or the highest level of developmental math at both community colleges.
• Increase the number of adult-education students who enter postsecondary education prepared to succeed at credit-level college math.

The pilot program was designed to serve 30 individuals who were enrolled in either Hartford or New Haven adult-education programs, who were pursuing their high school diploma or GED, and who were planning to enroll in postsecondary education upon graduation.

The program provided students with assessment, instruction, tutoring, limited case management, and academic and financial aid counseling. Students were dual-enrolled at each of the community colleges and had access to the student services available on campus, including the library, math center, writing center, computer labs, etc. World Education, 2013.