In Summer 2021, the University of California, Merced (UCM) implemented a pilot program called “Summer Edge” to try out a new model for college readiness preparation for incoming first-year students. Students who signed up to participate in the program did not earn undergraduate credit. Their primary incentive for completing the pilot was to improve their knowledge and be more prepared for their college-level pre-calculus class. They were also given the option to retake the UCM math placement exam so that they could place into calculus. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• UCM had 124 students participate in the Summer Edge pilot. The pilot student group included 66% first-generation, 60% Pell-eligible and 73% URM students.
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• Seventy percent of the students engaged with EdReady and improved their mathematics skills, which is noteworthy given the only incentive to participate in the program was the learning itself.
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• From the pilot cohort, 22 students opted to retake the mathematics placement exam at the end of the program, and placed into calculus.

WHAT'S NEXT

UCM is planning on using propensity score matching to look at the first-semester grades for Summer Edge pilot student participants versus a demographically similar group of non-participant students. We hope to see overall performance gains for the Summer Edge students, with particular success in math and writing courses. We will also be looking at first-year student survey outcomes to see if the summer experience impacted student sense of belongingness, their study skills, and their academic self-agency. 

Based on the success of the pilot, UCM plans to scale-up the Summer Edge program to serve upwards of 1,000 incoming students each year. We are also planning a Winter Edge program to help serve students who will be taking their first college math course in the spring semester.