New Quantitative Skills Requirement for the Direct Transfer Agreement
Proposal
November 2012

Background.  The current Direct Transfer Agreement (DTA) requires:  

Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning Skills (5 credits) 
1. One of the following (5 credits) 
(1) Symbolic reasoning course 
(2) Quantitative reasoning course in computer science, statistics, mathematics, or other discipline for which intermediate algebra is a prerequisite. 

2. Intermediate Algebra Proficiency -- All students must be proficient in intermediate algebra. May be satisfied by completion of high school mathematics through second year algebra, by course challenge or other examination demonstrating mastery of intermediate algebra skills, or by completion of an intermediate algebra course (to be numbered below 100) or a mathematics course for which intermediate algebra is a prerequisite.

The intermediate algebra proficiency requirement was added in 1998 when the Intermediate Algebra course was re-numbered below 100 across the CTC sector.  

Encouraged by a variety of recent local, state, and national reform efforts, some community and technical colleges (CTCs) in Washington have developed alternative tracks in math to help students prepare for their college-level Quantitative Skills Requirement (QSR) courses.  As these practices have become more widespread, some baccalaureate institutions expressed concern that “intermediate algebra” was no longer consistent across community college campuses.  In some cases, this concern has led to questions about transfer student admissibility to universities and about how the CTCs’ math reforms impact the terms of the DTA.

In fall 2008, the Joint Transfer Council formed a Math-in-the-DTA Task Force to investigate the issue and to develop solutions.  The task force’s deliberations led both to a short-term “hold-harmless” solution for current students and to a longer-term proposal to consider revising the DTA so that it would no longer reference “intermediate algebra proficiency.”  To clarify the intent to continue a substantive mathematics requirement, the task force recommended that QSR courses should be restricted to “college level math courses . . . intended for transfer.”

After considerable discussion, the Math-in-the-DTA Task Force’s 2008-09 recommendations were tabled, primarily because the proposal did not appear to resolve the underlying issues regarding transfer admissions at some of the state’s baccalaureate institutions.  The CTC system raised some concerns of its own about the proposal, most of them centering on the unintended consequences of forfeiting QSR options in philosophy, computer science, and other non-math disciplines.

2010-2012 discussion process.   While the baccalaureate sector continued to consider the admissions implications of any change to the DTA, other approaches were pursued.  An ad-hoc group — with representatives of Instruction Commission, Articulation and Transfer Council, Disability Services Council, FACTC, and SBCTC staff — convened in fall 2010 to consider that question.  The work group offered to re-craft the proposal with the goal of submitting it to the CTC council system for comment and, ultimately, for adoption by the Instruction Commission as a precursor to resubmission to JTC.

At the same time, the Joint Transfer Council began exploring the nationally recognized Statway curriculum.  Pilot programs were underway at two community and technical colleges and, after review and discussion, a joint CTC and baccalaureate ad hoc math group recommended that the universities agree to accept Statway, without a separate intermediate algebra requirement, as appropriate for students preparing for the social sciences and similar disciplines.  Students in the pilot programs would be considered as meeting DTA and admission requirements for a trial period.  The recommendation was adopted by all of the universities for a period that will end in 2015.

The Statway pilot approval process encouraged further system conversations regarding the college-level quantitative skills needs of students in additional educational pathways other than those traditionally geared toward STEM majors.  Five current pathways were recognized by the group: STEM; Business; Education; Social Sciences and related disciplines; Humanities, Fine Arts and related disciplines.

Two concurrent initiatives were the result:

1.	The joint CTC and baccalaureate ad hoc math group outlined common content requirements for a liberal arts-oriented, college-level math course that would be supported by specific prerequisite knowledge and skills, but not necessarily all of the intermediate algebra outcomes.  Nearly all of the colleges and universities already offered such a math course for students to meet their quantitative requirement, but the content and outcomes varied widely.
2.	The CTCs re-structured their common philosophy courses based on content, separating the critical thinking course from the symbolic reasoning courses that, consequently, are now widely recognized as strong college-level QSR courses.

Given the desire to provide students with the necessary college-level quantitative skills suited to multiple educational pathways, the following proposal is before the Joint Transfer Council for consideration as a new quantitative/symbolic requirement for the DTA.

Proposed DTA Language:

Quantitative/Symbolic Reasoning Skills (5 credits)

(1) Five (5) credits of college level mathematics (a course with a Mathematics prefix numbered 100 or above) that furnishes the quantitative skills required in the commonly recognized educational transfer pathways toward a baccalaureate degree.  Beginning courses in the pathways are:  Precalculus, Mathematics for Elementary Education, Business Precalculus/Finite Mathematics, Statistics, and Math in Society; or

(2) Five (5) credits of a symbolic logic course that focuses on (a) sentence logic with proofs and (b) predicate logic with quantifiers and proofs and/or Aristotelian logic with Venn Diagrams.