Update: CCCS Developmental Education

Taskforce

What’s the problem?

“The more levels of developmental courses a student needs to go through,

the less likely that student is to ever complete college English or math.”

- Thomas Bailey (2009) CCRC Brief.

Colorado Percent of 09-10 Enrollment in Developmental Education

27%

73%

Enrollment

Students enrolled in at least one DE courseAll other students

CCCS Students

0

20

40

6061.6

25.313.1

Percent of total 09-10 remedial enrollment

Percent of total remedial enroll-ment

Traditional Colorado Course Pipeline

MAT 030

MAT 060

MAT 090

MAT 099

ENG 030

ENG 060

ENG 090

REA 030

REA 060

REA 090

Current Course Completion

Course Spring 2010 Completion

ENG 030 59.6%

ENG 060 60.9%

ENG 090 60.5%

REA 030 56.2%

REA 060 62.9%

REA 090 62.4%

MAT 030 58.7%

MAT 060 62.3%

MAT 090 56.7%

MAT 099 53.7%

Total Average 59.3%

Why high attrition rates are a structural problem

For students placing two levels below a college course in English/Math, there are 5 “exit points”

Do they pass the first course? If they pass, do they enroll in the next course? If they enroll, do they pass the second course? If they pass, do they enroll in the college-level

course? If they enroll, do they pass the college-level course?

Students placing three levels down have 7 exit points.

Why high attrition rates are a structural problem

CCCS pipeline example for students beginning in MAT090

Enroll in remedial math (6933) 100% Do they complete MAT 090 (3053) 44% If they pass, do they enroll in college math (1746)

25% If they enroll, do they pass the course (1239) 18% If they complete, do they graduate (558) 8%

Nawrocki, Baker, & Corash (2009). Success of remedial math students in the Colorado community college system: A longitudinal study.

The goal

Move students quickly and effectively through their first college level course.

Some of the possibilities

Compression models that combine existing levels

Mechanisms for bypassing remedial levelsMainstreaming students into college-level

coursesIntegrated reading and writing courses that

replace multiple levels of reading and writingPre-statistics courses that replace the

traditional algebra sequence Contextualized instruction in career-technical

programs

Some of the national models and ideas considered

Washington State - I-BestJohn Squires, Tennessee - Redesign modulesMyra Snell, Los Medinos - shortening the

developmental pipeline and acceleration in mathBetty Frost, Jackson State - math modulesPeter Adams, CCBC - Accelerated Learning (ALP)Tom Dewit, Chabot College - engaging faculty to

dive into pedagogy and practiceUri Treisman & Amy Getz, University of Texas -

new mathways projectTristan Denley, APSU– mainstreaming

Local innovations and successes

Aurora Integrated reading and English curriculum A move from stand alone DE reading or English – at

the highest DE levels (old 090) all are paired as one credit courses with college courses.

Denver Fast Start - compression and paired learning

communities with DE English and reading Additional student support structures

Front Range Learning communities & ALP

Themes

Key metric is success in college coursesTime is the greatest barrier to student

success in a college courseUse evidence based practiceContinuous improvement is essential to long-

term successDevelopmental curriculum should be

transformative and have college preparatory skills imbedded in it

What do the recommendations look like right now?

Goal statement

To accelerate students so they can be successful in a college level course by allowing students to reduce the amount of time, the number of developmental credits and number of classes. Our overall goal is for students to be successful in college level work.

This does mean a curriculum redesign. These principles should be applied to curricular work: Reverse design What do students really need to know for success in college and

careers Two semesters or less for any student in developmental education – 1

semester for MOST students There should be an active learning experience included with each

lessonThis is an ongoing process

Math

Multiple pathways

Each course in each developmental sequence should be redesigned to only cover content necessary for the college level course.

Multiple developmental sequences/paths/branches available to students based on their career/major interest.

Student advising as part of placement

Work with advisors to help students make informed choices that realistically reflect their academic preparation, abilities, and interests

Rather than making the STEM transfer path the default for all students, support students with lower academic skills or different career goals to help make decisions about courses that match both their interest and skill levels

Quantitative literacy prep

Non-credit “soft landing” including options for colleges to deliver depending on student and staffing needs – AAA Accuplacer preparation, Referral to ABE programs, Boot camp, MFL, Aleks, MOOC’s, Tutoring.

Co-requisite AAA with Math

Students at the QL level should be required to co-register for a AAA course designed to provide them with tutoring, college readiness, career counseling, and support structures to promote success. The AAA course could be instructed by the same

person who is teaching their math course or in a learning community format so content in AAA is aligned with MAT content.

Students should be co-enrolled with the same cohort of students from their MAT course in their AAA course.

Delivery strategies

MAT103, 107, 108, 109, 112 could have an iBEST type model linked for technical classes. In this option students could integrate “soft landing” skill building with contextualized program content. Math faculty instructing these courses need to have

additional prep/plan time and tutoring support structured into their schedules and classes.  

 Courses at any point in the sequence could be delivered via modules, face to face, or online depending on space and staffing needs at the college.

English and Reading

Overall ENG/REA

Colleges will offer an accelerated model that provides students with the opportunity to enter a 100 level class no later than their second term in enrollment.

Mainstreaming, compression, integration, and a combination of integration and compression are all possible models to achieve this goal.

Mainstreaming

Students are co-enrolled in a 100 level course along with a corresponding/ complimentary developmental course. Examples would be pairing ENG 121 with ENG 090 or

HUM 121 with REA 090, utilizing a just-in-time remediation approach in each.

This model could be run with a single instructor teaching both classes, or as a learning community where two instructors (one for each course) collaborate to provide instruction to the same cohort of students.

Compression

Students are enrolled in two sections of developmental coursework in a single semester. For example ENG 045 (traditionally 030 and 060)

followed by enrolling in a mainstreamed 121/090. Or students could enroll in a compressed 060/090

course followed by a traditional section of 121 the next semester.

In any compressed sequence there is the need for eliminating curricular redundancy.

Integration and Compression

Developmental English and reading curriculum should be integrated. Either together in a single course with a new prefix or in single credit courses paired with college level academic content.

Curriculum is integrated across functional areas. For example a student would enroll in a single course (to be

created ENG/REA prefix) that covers both ENG 060 and REA 060 competencies.

Alternatively a learning community format could be applied here where students enroll in an academic course, i.e. Biology and co-enroll in REA 090 where the reading instructor specifically focuses on skills for reading the college text for Biology.

Improve placement score - options

Options for colleges to deliver depending on student and staffing needs AAA Accuplacer preparation, Referral to ABE programs, Boot camp, MFL, Aleks, MOOC’s, Tutoring, Integrated basic skills training with technical

programs (iBEST)

Developmental coursework

 Integrated ENG/REA course should integrate English and Reading curriculum to eliminate redundancy in a single class. This class could be instructed by current English or current reading faculty.

College discipline course with co-requisite support, i.e. ENG121 with a co-requisite developmental course.

Mainstreaming students at this level for additional support. This could be run as an ALP model or as a learning community.

Biology, History, Philosophy, or Psychology paired with a support course for disciplined reading/writing instruction.

Secondary Assessments

Students will complete the traditional Accuplacer exam (weighted multiple measures should be uniformly applied system wide).

Students may challenge their placement with a secondary writing assessment, either WritePlacer or a writing sample scored with a standardized rubric.

Other items of interest

Faculty development

The state will fund a system of faculty and staff support to carry out developmental education redesign. We need to address faculty workload compensation, Allow release time/compensation for development, To expand advising on some campuses that currently do not have

the ability to offer advising to all students who test into developmental math,

Offer limited full time positions during the implementation phase of this work to stabilize our workforce to allow for program adoption to scale.

Reexamine a full time load for developmental education faculty should be redefined to 12 instructional hours instead of 15. The remaining time should be spent doing the supplemental academic support, tutoring, and advising we know developmental students need.  

Assessment

An institutional administrator (IA) for Accuplacer is needed at the system level to Monitor common multiple measures, Consistent placement scores for all system schools, Ensure consistent training for testing center directors, Create uniform test delivery and scoring practices, Prepare new Accuplacer testing platforms for college

use. Implement best practices for National Council for

Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) standards Validate scores every 3-5 years consistent with test

recommendations from the College Board.  

Assessment

Following the revision of developmental education curriculum, develop a Colorado Accuplacer.

Have testing center directors/designated experts meet to determine processes and procedures that can be standardized across colleges. To include but not limited to: Retakes, Common non-cognitive questions, and test cost.

Students who register for ESL courses at the college should be placed there through the testing process.

Measures of success

Successful developmental students and programs should be measured in the following ways: In Math – Successful completion of any college level

(100+) math course. In English – Successful completion of ENG121. In Reading – Successful completion of any college

level course.

Contextualized Curriculum

Should be a frequently used teaching/learning method

Need learning community or curricular compensation standards if this is going to be a sustainable method

Professional development is needed for content faculty to collaborate with math and English/reading faculty to use this methodology effectively

Contextualization should be blended with any other acceleration method(s) selected

Infrastructures need to be flexible enough to support contextualization (team teaching, linked courses)

Modularization

This is a delivery model that may be appropriate for some institutions and program areas

Curriculum in all DE areas should be able to be customizable to student needs

Instructional strategies should be able to be flexible enough to differentiate instruction to students based on those needs

Modularization of the math curriculum allows students to get specific instruction in the areas we identify they need most  

Student Support

Required orientation, advising, goal setting, or planning before registration

No late registrationsFirst year experience, student success

courses that aren’t optional (compressed/one weekend formats encouraged)

Encourage learning communities Sustaining tutoring and supplemental

instruction in any developmental education model

CONTACT YOUR COLLEGE REPRESENTATIVE(S) FOR A COMPLETE LIST

SEE WWW.CCCS.EDU/DETF

CASEY.SACKS@CCCS.EDU720-858-2841

BITSY COHNBITSY.COHN@CCCS.EDU

720-858-2883

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Unless otherwise specified, this work by the Colorado Community College System http://www.cccs.edu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. The material was created with funds from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) Grant awarded to the Colorado Online Energy Training Consortium (COETC).