Integrating the Curriculum: A New ESL Program at Middlesex County CollegeRichard Roy, Associate Chair of ESL/Languages and Cultures

Gary Abbott, Chair of ESL/Languages and Cultures

Current Program Overview

Five levels Five to four discrete courses in each level

Writing

Reading

Structure

Phonology/Discussion

Three to four credits per course

67 credits for the entire program

Faculty Ten full time faculty

Approximately 40 adjunct faculty

Current Program Overview

Resources Three labs in Edison

Writing Lab

Phonology Lab

General Lab

One lab in the Perth Amboy Center

No current lab in the New Brunswick Center

Current Program Overview

Enrollment is approximately 900 students Level 1 – 15.5%

Level 2 – 15.9%

Level 3 – 19.5%

Level 4 – 21.6%

Level 5 – 27.%

Student Success

Pass rates for ESL courses range from a low of 61%(Level 1ESL 060 Listening) to 94% (Level 3 ESL 086 Phonology/Discussion). Level 4 ESL 093 Writing – 76%

Level 4 ESL 094 Reading – 75%

Level 5 ESL 099 Writing/Reading – 74%

40% of a semester are new students 15.6% of the total ESL student population

progress out of ESL any given semester

25% ESL students do not return the next semester

Student Success

Table 1: Pass Rates of ESL and non-ESL Students in Content Courses

  Fall 2011 Spring 2012 Fall 2012 Spring 2013 Fall 2013

ESL Pass Rate

Non-ESL Pass

ESL Pass Rate

Non-ESL Pass

ESL Pass Rate

Non-ESL Pass

ESL Pass Rate

Non-ESL Pass

ESL Pass Rate

Non-ESL Pass

ACC 101 81.8 63.5 75.0* 62.5 57.1* 51.9 83.3* 69.3 72.2 59.6

BUS 101  Ø 68.3 100.0* 76.7  Ø 72.9 50.0* 73.4 Ø  72.7

COM 115 100.0* 83.3 100.0* 78.3 100.0* 86.6 Ø  83.7 50.0* 83.2

CSC 115 76.2 77.0 55.6 76.9 64.0 72.9 58.8 75.5 77.8 75.9

MAT 129 90.3 62.0 84.1 67.7 87.1 56.1 87.1 70.2 78.9 57.9

PSY 123 73.5 72.6 70.0 71.3 71.6 70.3 70.9 70.0 64.3 73.3

SOC 121 63.2 72.3 88.9* 70.2 42.9 70.4 61.1 69.7 64.3 69.8

*Denotes a class with fewer than ten students enrolled

Student Success

Table 2: Pass Rates of former ESL Students in ENG 121

  Former ESL Students

Former Developmental Students

Non-ESL or Developmental Students

       Spring 2011 57.5 50.6 79.0Fall 2011 73.1 61.7 71.4Spring 2012 66.4 53.0 75.1Fall 2012 68.2 60.0 71.5Spring 2013 69.9 54.9 80.3

New Student Placement

Edison Perth Amboy

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5

F 12FT 27 31 56 52 25 10 3 0 3 0

PT 28 26 24 21 29 32 7 3 4 2

S 13FT 14 21 14 20 2 10 1 1 0 0

PT 14 5 14 27 15 19 4 3 3 1

F 13FT 20 37 47 76 19 14 4 3 3 0

PT 30 30 32 31 22 23 19 2 3 1

S 14FT 12 15 30 34 7 6 1 1 1 0

PT 16 16 27 19 3 31 10 2 0 0

Table 3: New Student Placement Full Time vs. Part Time at Edison and Perth Amboy

• New student enrollment from Fall 2012 to Spring 2014 = 1218• 988 in Edison – 81.1%

• 559 FT (56.6%); 429 PT (43.4%)• 230 in Perth Amboy – 18.9%

• 61 FT (26.5%); 169 PT (73.5%)

New Student Placement

Level Edison Perth Amboy Combined

1 161 16.3% 145 63.0% 306 25.1%

2 181 18.3% 49 21.3% 230 18.9%

3 244 24.7% 15 6.5% 259 21.3%

4 280 28.3% 17 6.1% 297 24.4%

5 122 12.3% 4 1.7% 126 10.3%

Table 4: Enrollment by Level at Edison and Perth Amboy

• Edison – Levels 1 and 2 = 342 (34.6%)• Perth Amboy – Levels 1 and 2 = 194 (84.3%)• Combined – Levels 1 and 2 = 536 (44.0%)

ESL New Students and Financial Aid Needs

Semester Location New Students

Percentage

Receiving Financial

Aid

Fall 2012 Edison 283 59.6%

Perth Amboy

64 92.2%

Spring 2013 Edison 121 39.7%

Perth Amboy

42 90.5%

Fall 2013 Edison 304 53.6%

Perth Amboy

71 85.9%

Spring 2014 Edison 150 40.7%

Perth Amboy

52 90.4%

Table 5: Students Receiving Financial Aid at Edison and Perth Amboy

Financial Aid and ESL

Volume 1 Student Eligibility 2014-15 A student may receive FSA funds for English as a

Second Language courses that are part of a larger eligible program.

If a student’s ESL coursework is connected to an eligible program of study, maximum time frame will not be an issue for these students.

ESL courses do not count against the one-year limit on remedial coursework.

Financial Aid and ESL

Example 1 Associate in Arts: 61 credits

ESL coursework as determined from placement testing: 54 credits

Total credit hours for customized program of study: 115 credits

Pell Grants will cover 150% x 115 = 172.5

Example 2 AAS in Computer and Information Systems: 61 credits

ESL coursework as determined from placement testing: 30 credits

Total credit hours for customized program of study: 91

Pell Grants will cover 150% x 91 = 136.5

Financial Aid and ESL

Considerations ESL placement testing will provide proof that ESL

is a necessary part of the student’s degree program.

The Financial Aid Office in conjunction with the Registrar’s Office will need to write our SAP policy to reflect the ESL student’s program design.

ESL students would have enough Pell funding to complete ESL and their Associate’s, but may not have enough for a Bachelor’s.

Other Considerations

It takes 5 – 7 years to become academically proficient in a language (Hakuta, Butler, & Witt, 2000)

Open access mission of community colleges (Sullivan, 2008) Providing opportunity and hope of a higher

education to at-risk populations, such as ELLs (English Language Learners)

Recommendations

NJCCC ESL Concept Paper Fall 2012 Integrated/combined skill courses (i.e. Reading

and Writing).

English Comp I credit courses for ESL

ESL Certificate of Achievement

Increase support services

Recommendations

Program Cyclical Review Spring 2013 (Abbott & Roy, 2013) Revise the program and curriculum for timely

completion and sufficient academic readiness

Integrated curriculum

Aligning outcomes with the English department

Establish level testing

Recommendations

External Consultant Report (Pomann, 2013) Integrated/combined skill courses (i.e. Reading

and Writing)

Accelerated courses

English Composition I for ESL students

Improved tutoring

ESL Certificate of Achievement

Recommendations

Program Review Committee (Faculty Committee) Integrated curriculum

Course level assessment/level testing

ESL resource center in lieu of the current 1 hour language lab

Revising the Curriculum

Creating an ESL path to Credit Level Programs Aligning the ESL curriculum with Developmental

English

Taking into consideration the Common Core requirements

Integrated Courses

Level testing

Language Resource Center

New Program

Four levels

Integrated courses

8 classes required

2 Supplemental Accent Reduction Courses

No lab component

Reading added to Level 4

40 total credits

Addressing Concerns

Advantages Students can progress more quickly through ESL

Students still benefit from the curriculum to be ready for College course work upon leaving the program

Concerns Open access for Low levels ESL students

63% of new ESL Perth Amboy students and 16% of new ESL Edison students will not be able to take ESL courses – 25% of all new ESL students.

Moving Forward

Rolling out the new program Fall 2016 full implementation

Creating a Pre-Academic level in Continuing Education Academic Rigor

Seamless transition process

Providing access at Perth Amboy and Edison

Developing level testing

Removing the placement testing requirement

Devising a new schedule

Transitioning current students

Professional development in teaching integrated courses

Future Initiatives

ALP Courses Level 2 with 3

Level 3 with 4

Level 5 with ENG 121

Safety Net courses in Winter and Summer

ESL Certificate of Achievement

Questions