A. Organization and Administration

Best practices research has identified seven organizational practices that characterize effective basic skills programs. For this reason, the state has asked us to evaluate our own work in these areas. For each of the seven areas identified by the questions below, please give us your feedback and ideas about any and/or all of the following:

• What institutions and practices already exist and what evidence do we have for their effectiveness?

• What barriers or obstacles limit our implementing or enhancing these strategies?

• How can we expand or advance new or existing institutions and practices in the future?

 

1. Institutional Priority

How effectively is basic skills education clearly stated as an institutional priority at MiraCosta? What could we do to better state that priority?

Research based best practices include prominent and clear references to this priority, institutional leaders demonstrating a commitment, basic skills educators included in broader college planning activities, adequate funding for developmental ed., and the comprehensiveness and integration of the developmental ed program at the institution.

Insert your responses below here:

We have a desire to do this but with competing priorities it moves aside to tend to other priorities. My feeling of what we could do to state this priority better is what Karen Baum has listed below regarding a view of holistic education on what the student has when they come to us and to avoid blame as Sylvia points out on other institutions or the student's past performance. ~Christine Sylvia

 

Priority on paper but not infused into all we do. More common to blame the student or the institution where the student comes from for being under-prepared. ~ Sylvia Ramirez

 

 

Instructional excellence not an institutional priority. Growth is in special projects & “More” – but not making classroom time better.

 

 

Money not going to improving classroom. No big pots of money for experiments.

 

 

Developmental ed. has been treated like al other classes in the past (class size, prep time, counselors, etc.).

 

 

Are basic skills stated as an institutional priority? I’ve written course objectives that emphasize the need to be “college ready.” ~ Karen Baum

 

 

We have competing priorities (i.e. SLO, Hiring, Division Stuff) Now we add basic skills?! We need to organically feel, articulate, organize a plan that we believe in. ~ Edward Pohlert

 

 

Market to these students how to succeed in college.

 

 

Hiring: Philosophy on basic skills that is reinforced through hiring so hiring committees are mindful of this. ~ Karen Baum

 

 

Institutional Priority? Not Yet – Faculty is getting there through AMP but need Board to commit to this as a priority. We need to commit institutional dollars to this. We have the money – but waited until state money came.

 

 

Holistic education includes supporting students in all classes as they learn skills or close up gaps in their skills. ~ Karen Baum

 

BAsic Skills classes are treated like other classes, and do not currently have a seperate identity or emphasis. ~ Brent

 

Not sure if this the right place in the wiki to put this, but it seems to me that identifying basic computer skills, as a component of basic skills, is necessary. The current definition from this wiki's home page says: "For this initiative, California is defining basic skills as “skills in reading, writing, mathematics, and ESL, as well as learning skills and study skills, which are necessary for students to succeed in college-level work.” I would propose that we should take the opportunity presented by this self study to acknowledge and recognize that achieving success in most parts of that definition is not possible without basic computer skills. I am not talking about information literacy, ala library, (though that is important, too) but somehow through this process recognizing that much of what our students do to function successfully as learners requires the use of the computer as a tool – without some basic skills in using that tool, achieving success at the college level is difficult. Some starter questions that need our collaboration to consider and answer: what are the computer skills and techniques that students need so that they can be successful as learners (insert any of the basic skill areas here as well); once those computer skills and techniques are identified, what are the best ways to teach our basic skills students those computer skills and techniques; and, finally, once these computer skills and techniques are taught, how can we effectively measure whether or not our basic skills students can do the computer skills and techniques we have taught them? Implied in this, at least from my perspective, is that we do not necessarily need to allocate more money (vis-à-vis this initiative at least) to buying more computers and physical technology (hardware/software/otherwise) to show success in this area. I am willing to work with others in collaboration on this piece of the project/initiative when we get to the appropriate point. ~ Steve Isachsen

 

Many of our students taking developmental math courses need more instruction than the three courses we offer. By this I mean either additional courses (at even a lower level than prealgebra), or expanded versions of the courses we offer, as in 5 (or more) units instead of 4. For many students, three semesters just is not enough instruction/time to absorb what normally takes 3 or 4 years in middle school/high school. ~John T.

 

 

2. A Clearly Articulated Mission

How effectively does a clearly articulated mission including a shared philosophy and specific goals and objectives guide basic skills education at MiraCosta? How can we develop, improve, or expand the articulation of our basic skills mission.

Research based best practices include a detailed mission statement developed by a diverse group of institutional shareholders, regular update and review of mission, philosophy, goals and objectives, and a clear communication of this mission across the campus.

Insert your responses below here:

My belief is that we have previously been separated across our campus on whether basic skills is something that crosses both instruction and student services. This effort supports bridging this divide as our students are served best with a united approach to this from all areas of the college. ~ Christine Sylvia

 

I think outcomes come into play here – very clear definitions of what students are expected to learn – not to limit creativity but to make clear “how to succeed.” Students who have not experienced success or students new to academic expectations are easily defeated. ~ Sylvia Ramirez

 

Basic Skills is one of the mission statements.

 

More cross-campus coordination/discussion needed.

 

MCC needs its own basic skills mission as articulated by a core group of committed faculty & staff. ~ Edward Pohlert

 

Not a college mission for dev skills. Letters created a mission statement, goals & objectives for our Dev classes. It is listed on our website and all faculty (FT & PT) participated in its development.

 

3. Coordination of Basic Skills Education

How is basic skills education at MiraCosta centralized or highly coordinated? What could we do to improve our basic skills organizational structure?

Research based best practices include a clear institutional decision about how to organize in this area, designation of lead administrators and/or lead faculty, a designated budget allocation, and formal mechanisms for communication within disciplines, across disciplines, and across divisions (instruction and students services, etc.).

Insert your responses below here:

We really do need to have institutional support (on-going, not dependent on the state grant or the changing enthusiasms of purse-string holders) for lead instructors. This would go a long ways toward a highly-coordinated overall approach. (Susan Herrmann)

 

We need to have a leader in the math department with release time to devote time to basic skills. ~Math folks

4. Early Student Completion of Necessary Coursework

How do institutional policies at MiraCosta facilitate student completion of necessary basic skills coursework as early as possible in the educational sequence? What could we do to improve or expand these policies and practices?

Research based best practices include requiring early assessment and advisement, advising and encouraging students to enroll only in college level courses consistent with their basic skills preparation, mechanism/cultures to alleviate potential marginalization or stigma associated with isolation of basic skills students, and the monitoring of outcomes for students concurrently enrolled in college level and basic skills courses in order to adjust policies or recommendations to students.

Insert your responses below here:

Require students to take basic skills classes first, and then have a great freshman seminar program. ~Math folks

Automotive Technology is in a unique position with regard to basic skills. Technical education programs tend to attract students with a history of deficiency in basic skills. Often these students are reticent, not only to admit their inadequacies, but especially to seek corrective help for them.

Identifying them is easy; inside one week their problems are obvious, but getting them to commit to a reading or math help session is next to impossible. That's why they're in automotive. Many have never been able to "get up" for academia, and the thought of grammar exercises and math problems is pure drudgery to them.

Even though they HAVE to know how to read and interpret service literature, calculate shim thickness in thousandths, measure fractions and degrees, etc, those with inadequacies in these areas usually intend to skirt traditional basic skills curricula, and hope to navigate their way into a job with minimal basic skills requirements.

I totally support JKs idea of allowing students to select content areas which are relavent or interesting to them in basic skills building. This might just be the breakthrough we need to "capture" the elusive student who just bristles at the thought of traditional approaches. Steve Vail

5. Comprehensive and Integrated Support Services

How does a comprehensive and highly integrated system of academic and student support services contribute to basic skills education at MiraCosta? What could we do to improve, expand, or better integrate our support services for basic skills learners?

 

Research based best practices include supplemental instruction, course-based tutoring, learning communities, course-embedded counseling, team teaching, learning assistance centers, and peer and/or faculty mentoring programs.

Insert your responses below here:

I am not sure how this can be accomplished but I have been surprised to have students come to me and say that they had to take an appointment for 2 or 3 days later to get help on subject matter where they needed immediate help, because of an assignment due fairly shortly or because of an upcoming test. Yes, I know that they could plan better, but they don't and if possible we should still be able to help when they need it or as soon as possible. An idea will be to staff tutoring centers throughout the day with "advanced" students who can help in more than one discipline. So, the same student could help in in physics, chemistry and math while another one could handle life science disciplines and so on. Of course to attract this kind of students we are going to need strong incentives, like higher pay and/or promise of strong letter of recommendations from their work at these sites or any other types of commendations that can be very attractive to them. Pierre Goueth

 

When students are about to drop their classes because they really do not have the skills to succeed in them, what programs do we have to "capture" those students? We should institute late-late start options for those students, and expand our college success skills classes. We should consider offering college success skills to seniors at night or on Saturdays. (Louisa Moon)

 

6. Knowledgeable, Experienced, and Motivated Basic Skills Faculty

How effectively does MiraCosta recruit and hire faculty who are knowledgeable, experienced, and motivated to work with basic skills learners? What could we do to enhance or develop these approaches?

Research based best practices include processes that emphasize experience/expertise in basic skills or developmental education, specific training in basic skills and developmental ed strategies, faculty choosing to teach basic skills courses rather than being assigned, and a high proportion of basic skills courses are taught by full-time faculty.

Insert your responses below here:

As Sylvia mentions, many of our noncredit courses are currently taught by excellent associate faculty. Statistics state that it is better to have FT faculty teach these courses but some of this difference might be attributed to associate faculty not being included as much in trainings and meetings that occur due to their work shifts. This occurs not only with basic skills courses but with other subject courses as well thus it would be better to find a solution to this issue of training and meeting time...perhaps blogs and on-line asychronous training to discuss and engage our associate faculty members who are interested in more involvement. ~Christine Sylvia

 

Hiring of English Basic Skills instructors

 

Faculty not trained for this specific population. ~ Karen Baum

 

Training – English, ESL, Math, Tutoring are all familiar with Basic Skills – other disciplines/departments are not familiar and would or could use training to integrate basic skills into their course work. ~ Karen Baum

 

Only 14% of noncredit courses are taught by FT faculty. We have excellent associate faculty – however we ask associate faculty who often feel marginalized – to engage and inform students who are often marginalized. When we are working on pathways – faculty need to be involved in meetings and discussions to discover ad support pathways. The two noncredit ESL fulltime faculty have been very involved in these meetings. ~ Sylvia Ramirez

 

We are moving to hire more experienced, motivated Basic Skills faculty in Letters – New Hires Coming. This needs to be expanded to math, counseling, etc.

 

A basic skills training academy that honors the work required and accomplishments attained. ~ Edward Pohlert

 

Good idea Edward. Can this be part of the Teaching Academy or do you see it as separate? JK

 

 

Experience in working with developmental students has become a screening criterion for ALL of our hiring in Letters, not just for specifically developmental positions. We include also include interview questions to explore candidates' experiences and sensibilities regarding developmental education. Since it's true that developmental students continue to be developmental students, even as they take transfer-level courses, it makes practical sense to have faculty who are equipped, no matter the course they may be teaching. (Susan Herrmann)

7. Defined and Shared Expectations

How does MiraCosta manage faculty and student expectations regarding basic skills education? How effective are these strategies? How could we enhance or improve them?

Research based best practices include clearly defined and widely shared definitions of “successful basic skills education,” orientation for new faculty, faculty and staff understand individual roles and responsibilities, expectations for student performance/behaviors are clearly communicated early and frequently by faculty and staff.

Insert your responses below here:

I don't know that we have done this in a campus-based way in the past. This is something that we are now working to change here. ~Christine Sylvia

 

We have not pulled the necessary statistics to mark where we are or if we have changed. ~ Baum

 

Expectations not well defined for any group – Public relations campaign needed ~ Baum