Developmental Education and the

Common Core

Christopher JacobsonFrederick Community College

Cindy NicodemusHoward Community College

Courses in math and English for those students

that did not place into college level courses as determined by the ACCUPLACER exam

Courses that review basic concepts in math and English to prepare students for college level courses

Courses that traditionally meet for a longer period of class time than college level courses

Courses that do not count towards a degree, but support and improve student’s academic success and completion.

What is Developmental Education?

Did not take math their senior year (became a requirement in

the 2012/2013 school year) Was at or below grade level in reading and math in high

school Had to take summer school in high school to pass reading or

math Student has an undocumented/documented learning disability Dropped out of high school prior to the 11th grade Student received completed their high school diploma

requirements with either a GED or NEDP Students who come to college course after many years out of

school. Many other reasons

Why do students place into Developmental Education?

If students are not prepared to take certain courses,

then they are much less likely to be successful. Our Challenge:

1- How do you know for sure that a student needs developmental? Example: Faculty expertise, Accuplacer (quantitative)

Study Skills (qualitative), active intervention strategies. 2- What are you going to do to help students be

more successful? 3- How do you get students help quickly, effectively,

and efficiently? 4- How do you know that a developmental course

really helped students?

Developmental Mission

College and Career Readiness (HS Testing, Transitional

Courses) College Completion Agenda Financial Aid

Only pays for up to 30 credits of developmental Stricter policies for non completion

Returning Students and Adults: Unique challenges. Certifications, non-degree programs

SB740 Dual Enrollment College Readiness Exams (PARCC, Smarter Balance, Accuplacer)

Communication- How will YOU help build educational partnerships in Maryland to support students who need help?

Changes in Developmental Education?

Early Alert Program at HCC (Starfish) targeted

for developmental programs that traditionally have lower pass rates Instructors give reports 3 times during the

semester on students’ progress Follow up with those that are demonstrating

they are not doing well Developmental Repeater tutoring

requirements

Retention efforts in Developmental Education

Measuring College Readiness is HARD…. but Testing Centers have an

opportunity to help establish new partnerships and reexamine how colleges:

Use standardized instruments Ensure our instruments are Reliable Ensure that students scores are Valid Improve and Create new testing guidelines help all MD students succeed. USE and SHARE data (Whilst protecting privacy and ensuring that we support

FERPA) to improve the academic success for students who will still need help. Partner with developmental faculty: Empowering college faculty experts and

looking to their leadership as we design systems for ensuring accuracy and success.

LONGITUDINAL DATA TRACKING: Think about how we can start linking college readiness and placement to: Learning Outcomes Assessment Academic Success Programmatic goal completion (non-credit or credit) Support systems and degree success at all MD 4 year institutions

New Targets: New Opportunities!

Example: Linking Accurate Placement to

Success

CHANGING SYSTEMS: Using data/research to help improve

student success

Example: FCC TC Linked/Correlated Placement to student success. Students who score 85-89 on the Sentence Skills instrument had an

EN101 Academic Success Rate of 81%. These students currently would still have to complete a writing sample, and 93% of them are eventually placed college level using the FCC writing sample.

By comparison, students who placed directly into EN101 courses (exemptions or other) had a success rate of 77%.

By additional comparison, students who placed first into developmental, complete FCC remediation, and then take EN101 had a success rate of 77%.

 

While the FCC Writing Sample is the most successful instrument for predicting academic success and developmental need…. we found a new population who (based on quantitative test data and academic success in future courses) we could more quickly integrate into credit English courses with infused writing and study skills assistance.

EN101S : Effective developmental remediation which occurs simultaneously with to English 101 research, reading, and rigorous general education instruction.

Over the next year how will Testing Professionals:

Create new partnerships with MHEC, MSDE, local high schools/county educators

Ensure that our placement instruments are working now? Ensure that we can support and improve new goals for PARCC, Common

Core and SB740 transition (Senior Year) Streamline our systems to maximize resources, minimize time to test, and

reduce “testing fatigue.” Share data with each other to establish best practices for supporting

students who need help. Support and enhance the “Open door?”

Think about it… how will YOU help develop a new Maryland College Readiness SYSTEM.

It’s time to enhance your “links” with local high schools, community colleges, and 4 year institutions to improve readiness and create systems to help students throughout their educational career.

Supporting Future Students

Questions?