In January of 2020, the CSU board approved an action that took into consideration concerns expressed by external stakeholders regarding the CSU’s quantitative reasoning proposal. Among those actions, the board required a third-party independent analysis of implementation and potential impact of the proposed requirement on CSU applicants.
Following the January 2020 meeting, the CSU initiated a public competitive bidding process according to state regulations and CSU policy. MDRC is the organization selected to conduct the assessment required by the CSU board. MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve educational programs and policies, especially those that potentially affect low-income communities. MDRC is best known for mounting large-scale demonstrations and evaluations of real-world policies and programs. MDRC’s Statement of Principles guide its work and codifies its research and assessment practices. The MDRC study will focus on four primary areas:
- Analysis of the planned implementation and potential impact of the CSU’s proposed quantitative reasoning requirement;
- Analysis of any potential disparate impacts of the admission policy change on CSU-bound students;
- Analysis of the potential admission policy change on CSU students’ success in college for all students and particular subgroups of students;
- A qualitative assessment of the implementation needs for the proposed change to be successful and equitable.
MDRC is tentatively expected to provide a progress report to the CSU board at its March 2021 meeting and a final report by January 2022. According to the resolution adopted in January 2020, the CSU board will consider approving the requirement and Title 5 change by spring 2022 to be effective fall 2027.
Contact:
James T. Minor, Ph.D.
Assistant Vice Chancellor and Senior Strategist
Academic Success and Inclusive Excellence
jtminor@calstate.edu
(562) 951-4317