The research study examines grades at a particular university to determine whether completion of required developmental mathematics coursework for select students prepares those students for success in the subsequent college-level geometry course. The research used an ex-post facto design and the Mann-Whitney U Test to determine whether the two group medians are statistically different. The analysis shows that the median final course grade earned by those students who successfully complete the developmental coursework is not statistically equivalent to the median final course grade earned by those students directly placed into the college-level geometry course. We may conclude that successful completion of the developmental coursework for students who are not prepared to enroll directly into college-level geometry does not have an equalizing affect on those students.

mathematics achievement, mathematics preparation, developmental course completion.