MONTGOMERY COLLEGE
Office of Institutional Research & Analysis

 Research Brief:
Student Success in Initial College-Level English and Mathematics

 An examination of Montgomery College students’ performance in their first English and mathematics classes over the past three years revealed that students had greater success in their initial mathematics courses (72.1% had grades of ‘C’ or better) than in their initial English courses (67.5%).  There were some slight differences by race in these “success rates.”

Students who had previously taken a developmental English or mathematics course were excluded from this examination.  This study was focused on the success of students who had not taken developmental coursework prior to their first college-level English or mathematics course.   A student’s performance was considered “successful” if she received a grade of ‘C’ or higher.

Collegewide, 72% of these students were successful in their first college-level mathematics course (MA110 or higher).  Seventy-one percent of nonwhites were successful and 73% of whites were successful; the success rate was 77% for Asians, 72% for Hispanics, and 65% for Blacks.

Overall, 67.5% of students were successful in their first college-level English course.  Student success in a first college-level English course (EN101 or EN102) was also examined separately for students who did, and those who did not, have a prior EL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) course.  Those who had taken an EL course prior to their initial college-level English course had a 65% success rate, while those who had no prior EL courses had a 68% success rate.  For students with no prior EL course, 66% of nonwhites had grades of ‘C’ or better, compared to 71% of white students.  Asian students had a 70% success rate compared to 65% of Blacks and 63% of Hispanics.  Among students with a prior EL course, 62% of nonwhites were successful compared to 78.5% of whites; 63% of Asians and Black were successful and 61% of Hispanics were successful.

Interestingly, for white students, student success was greater for those who had taken EL courses (79%) than those who had not (71%), while for Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics the reverse was true – students with no prior EL coursework did slightly better than those with previous EL courses – 70% versus 63% for Asians, 65% vs. 63% for Blacks, and 63% vs. 61% for Hispanics.

Summary

Students with no prior developmental English courses had a 68% success rate in their initial college-level English course.  Students with no prior developmental mathematics courses had a 72% success rate in their initial college-level mathematics course.

Some slight differences by race occur in student success in initial English and mathematics courses. Students with no prior EL courses were slightly more successful in their initial regular English courses than their counterparts who had taken one or more EL courses (68% versus 65%).

OIRA/March 2004  Briefs2004\Initial Success Eng-Math