Community Colleges: Promises or Preclusions.

Since nearly 10% of the students in the U.S. who receive doctorates in the mathematical sciences begin their undergraduate studies in two-year institutions, it is clear that these schools are a significant part of the mathematics educational pipeline. Yet, minority students enrolled in two-year colleges are one-fifth as likely to earn a bachelor's degree as those who start out in four-year schools. Given that approximately 50% of minorities in college are enrolled in two-year institutions, the role of these colleges in increasing minority participation in mathematics-related fields cannot be overstated. Mathematics teachers and professors, and those charged with facilitating the learning process, are the major change agents for improving the delivery of mathematics for minorities, as well as for all students. Proven change strategies include: (1) supporting a paradigmatic shift which asserts that all students can and must learn mathematics, and that minorities can succeed in mathematics-based fields; (2) setting up articulation and collaborative programs that make transfer from two- to four-year institutions smoother; (3) encouraging the best students to go into teaching; (4) intensifying minority recruitment; (5) promoting mathematics within minority communities by highlighting the successes of two-year college students in these communities; (6) restructuring remedial courses to incorporate cooperative learning, peer tutoring, and computer-assisted instruction; (7) setting numerical targets for minority student transfer; (8) establishing partnerships with industry; (9) seeking financial and human resources from government; and (10) promoting the teaching and learning function in mathematics. (MAB)