UCLA

Although Assembly Bill 705 has done much to increase completion of transfer level math in the California Community College system, historically marginalized students including the Latina/o/x student population continue to experience equity gaps in transfer-level math completion. This qualitative case study investigated the experiences of Latina/o/x students at a community college that fully implemented the legislation by the Fall 2019 deadline by eliminating all prerequisite remediation. The data were collected through student focus groups, one-on-one student interviews, and classroom observations. The findings revealed that students require additional support in the form of career and academic advising to inform their choices of classes including whether to enroll in a corequisite. They also indicated that students experience math anxiety that can be reduced through academic validation from their instructors and would benefit from demystifying resources such as tutoring. Implications included the need to reimagine math instruction in ways that recognize students’ funds of identity through culturally reflective curriculum and peer collaboration and that leverage first generation students’ aspirational motivations for attending college through real life math applications. The experiences and perceptions of these students can be utilized to inform on-going AB 705 implementation efforts.