Do the Math

 

The goal of the Do the Math campaign is to encourage high school juniors to take higher math courses during their senior year.

For many students, math courses are often gatekeepers.  Two-thirds of the freshmen in the University of Alaska system enter college under-prepared.  In other words, most freshmen need to take at least one developmental course before they can begin college level coursework.  Part of the problem stems from the gap that exists between high school graduation requirements and postsecondary education entry requirements.  

While a high school diploma is not an indicator of college readiness, secondary curriculum is not the problem.  Algebraic equations are the same in developmental college courses as they are in high school. Unfortunately, the first math course most students take at college is a course they could have taken while in high school for free.  Indeed, there are many students who took Algebra 2 who still place into elementary Algebra either because their skills are rusty or they didn't master the content.  In either case, their chance of success in college would have improved dramatically if they had moved beyond Algebra 2.  See this stat.

All students are encouraged to take four years of math, whether or not they plan to go to college.  The fact is, most living wage jobs today require some type of postsecondary training and most postsecondary programs require college Algebra.

The Do the Math campaign was created to make the UAS placement exam and college level advising tools available in all southeast high schools. With these tools in place more students will have a clear picture of their college track and hopefully more students will use their senior year in high school as a bridge to college.  

... 

UAS Math Course Topics