Tech Journal
Tech From the Heart: Subtracting Barriers to Multiply College Algebra Success Rates

A college degree has a profound impact on career trajectory and earned income. But for a surprisingly large population of students, achieving a degree is out of reach because of one common dominator: algebra 101.

Research from the National Center for Education Statistics reveals 51% of students in remedial algebra classes at two-year schools and 41% at four-year schools never earn a passing grade. A required class for many majors — particularly in the STEM field — failure to pass algebra creates a daunting barrier to graduation as early as the first semester.

With a long-vested interest in supporting STEM and contributing tech for good, Insight jumped at the opportunity to team up with Intel, Khan Academy and the National Education Lab to help solve the college success equation.

Together, we partnered with Howard University to pilot a hybrid version of its College Algebra I course to 100 high-performing students at five historically underserved high schools — giving these students an early advantage by equipping them with the knowledge and resources to pass higher education math classes before leaving high school.

A $150,000 donation from Intel supplied a learning kit to every student and teacher in the pilot program, complete with a laptop, headset and backpack. Insight’s team of experts selected, configured and deployed all the devices, so class participants could seamlessly access course material through Khan Academy’s online learning platform.

The results were striking.

More than 90% of students who started the course completed it, and more than 80% of those students passed — earning transferrable college credit from Howard University. Based on this success, the number of students enrolled in the program for the fall session doubled.

“The students in this pilot inspire us,” says Megan Amdahl, senior vice president of partner alliances and North America transformation at Insight. “We’re glad to have provided our technology resources and solutions to remove barriers to access and enable them to reach new heights.”

That’s what it’s all about — leveraging technology’s potential to create a smarter, stronger future for people and the planet — and we’re proud to provide the tools that make it all possible.

Drive positive change. Insight is committed to using technology to do good.

About the author: