Pepper Harth moved to Florida from New Jersey with three children, but had to leave her real estate career behind. Harth’s weekend gigs singing with a band weren’t enough after the recession hit.
“I have really just been a working single mom for a very long time," she says. "When I moved down to Florida, I never imagined how difficult job opportunities were going to be… I just got tired of having dead-end jobs and not making enough money…and it’s a tough economy and you really, you have to be competitive.”
At age 50 Harth is studying music at St. Petersburg College. She’s eyeing a career in music therapy.
But Harth learned she had to take remedial courses before she could start on her studies.
Math is the problem for Harth – especially algebra.
“It’s letters and numbers and polynomials and trinomials and you’re like ‘What?'" she says. “It never was a strong point for me. I was always a good student. I’m still a good student, but I work very hard at it. And I will be relieved when it’s all over with.”
Nationally, just one in four students who take a remedial college course complete their studies within eight years.
Florida’s state colleges are experimenting with ways to make remedial courses less of a burden.
Tallahassee Community College is testing a program which streamlines two remedial math courses into one semester.
Math professor Jim Smart teaches the Statway program.
“One of the biggest obstacles to students completing their math requirements in general and their developmental requirements specifically is that there’s so many steps along the way," he says. "A student who starts at the very beginning level of developmental math will have to take a total of five math classes to complete their mathematics requirements.”
Smart says the program also swaps out algebra for statistics because it’s easier to teach the real-life uses. It helps older students whose math skills have atrophied.
“The students seem to enjoy learning math they can relate to," he says, "that they understand and see in the media every day.”
And here’s a statistic: Students in Statway are two and a half times more likely to finish their remedial math courses than those in the traditional program.
Florida College System president Randy Hanna says the state’s 28 colleges are a national leader in experimenting with programs such as Statway.
He admits Florida’s remedial rate is too high.
But he says Florida colleges are crucial for training workers and must be open to every student.
“We’re willing to invest in students who want to better themselves," he says. "If you’re a 25-year-old veteran returning from Afghanistan, we’re not saying ‘The door is closed to you.’ We’re saying we’re going to work with you. And that’s something we should celebrate.”
That includes programs at Miami Dade and St. Petersburg colleges which use courses you take at your own pace on a computer.
Students can quickly tick off their required remedial courses if they prove they understand the material.
St. Petersburg College student Pepper Harth says she uses online study materials and frequently visits the school’s tutor lab.
“The support at this school – I just, I love it," she says. "I absolutely love this environment. The staff, the teachers, I mean, they’re so supportive. I have met the most wonderful people. It’s really been life-changing.”
Harth says she used to think she was too old to go back to school. Now she’s tutoring others -- like her.