CRYSTAL LAKE – In 2010, more than half of high school graduates who went to McHenry County College had to take a noncredit developmental math class before progressing onto college-level courses.

Five years later, that reliance has been sliced by 63 percent and MCC officials say it’s largely because of an articulated math program that gives high school seniors the chance to take those remedial courses while still in high school.

MCC's program serves more than 300 students within six high schools – in Huntley, McHenry, Woodstock and Harvard – where MCC developmental math courses are being offered so students can bypass them in their first year of college.

“We’ve gone from 57 percent down to, for the Class of 2015, 21 percent, which is not huge – it’s incredible,” said Tony Capalbo, associate dean of college and career readiness.

The MCC program, which is the root of why the local college is up for the 2016 Bellwether Award, is working against a very evident problem, apparent not only throughout the nation and the state, but locally, too.

In several McHenry County districts, the portion of students who go on to attend an in-state community college and who need remediation is approaching half, mirroring the statewide rate, according to postsecondary remediation data available for the first time this year.

Taking a fourth year of math in high school is not required in Illinois.

The data show Woodstock School District 200, which has 60 students involved in MCC’s articulated math program, has an overall postsecondary remediation rate of 52 percent.

That means 52 percent of graduates from the Class of 2013 who attended a community college were enrolled in remedial classes. The rate for math was 42 percent.

“Obviously, it is an issue,” Assistant Superintendent of Middle and High School Education George Oslovich said, adding the district’s participation in MCC’s program is one attempt to improve that rate. “I think it’s an issue for us to continue to combat.”

According to school report card data, at least 37 percent or more of community college-bound students needed remediation in math across almost all McHenry County districts with high schools. The exception is Marengo High School District 154, which had 23 percent, and Alden-Hebron School District 19, for which information was not available.

Statewide, nearly half – 48.7 percent – of students need remediation, and a national survey by the Community College Research Center out of Columbia University found 59 percent of students were referred to developmental math while 33 percent were referred to developmental reading.

When talking about such courses, MCC officials often use the term “quicksand.”

Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Tony Miksa offered an example, suggesting a student had to take two remedial courses upon entrance to MCC.

“Each is four credit hours, so that’s eight, or over $800, students are spending before getting to college-level math, and then they’re behind,” Miksa said. “Some won’t start a certain math sequence until sophomore year ... if you get stuck in developmental coursework, it really lessens your chances of getting a degree or certificate in the end.”

MCC officials already know the program has saved students money over the five years its been effective – a collective $250,000, Capalbo estimated – but they still are working to track the program’s long-term effectiveness.

“We’re trying to track those students who have been here a few years, who have actually earned an associates or a certificate,” Miksa said. “That’s one thing we’ll be looking at. That would be another feather in the cap.”