Gulf Coast Partners Achieving Student Success (GC PASS) is a regional collaboration designed to
increase college readiness among high school graduates, ease student transitions between high school
and community college, and increase student success in community college developmental courses.
Though each community college and school district project is unique, all are founded on researchbased and field-proven best practices, and all rely primarily on student data to inform and evaluate
their efforts.
Takeaways from the GCPASS Houston convening
GCPASS, the Dana Center, Houston A+, and the Texas Success Center (TSC) hosted a workshop on
February 5, Supporting Partnerships for Student Success in the College Prep Mathematics Course. 24
Districts and 9 community colleges from the Gulf Coast region had the opportunity to:
o Hear from field leaders Superintendent HD Chambers and Dr. Martha Ellis about the
importance of the course in preparing students for the variety of mathematics courses they
will encounter in their first year of college,
o Learn about the TSC’s Framework for the College Prep mathematics course and
instructional resources to support implementation,
o Hear from K12 teachers, administrators, and college faculty and administrators about their
experiences implementing the course, and
o Collaborate on strategies to improve their course for the 2015-16 academic year.
Here are select highlights of what we learned from participants who attended:
Participant satisfaction
o 97% of participants indicated they were satisfied with the professional development
experience.
Current influence of the TSC framework
o 77% of participants indicated that their College Prep mathematics course reflected mostly
or all algebraic content during the 2014-2015 school year, inconsistent with the
recommendations of the TSC framework.
Impact of convening
o 74% of participants indicated they are now likely or very likely to use the TSC framework to
inform their College Prep mathematics course for 2015-16.
o 64% of participants indicated that they are now likely or very likely to include, Quantitative
Reasoning content in their course; 56% indicated they are likely or very likely to include
Statistics, more consistent with the recommendations of the TSC framework.
Course Materials and Assessments
o 62% of participants are developing their own resources at the district level to teach the
course.
o 72% are using college-generated final exams to determine successful completion of the
course.
o 26% indicated they are interested in learning more about the materials from the Dana
Center, designed to reflect the recommendations of the TSC framework.
For more information, contact Lindsay Fitzpatrick at lindsay.fitzpatrick@austin.utexas.edu.
Texas Success Center
1304 San Antonio St., Suite 103
512/476-2572
Comments/Questions: tsc@tacc.org
Austin, TX 78701
@TXSuccessCenter