Basic Skills Committee 2003-2004
Mark Lieu, Chair, Ohlone College
Fernando Contreras, Victor Valley College
Gertrude Fator, College of Alameda
Yula Flournoy, Mt. San Jacinto College
Barbara Illowsky, DeAnza College
Mark Snowhite, Crafton Hills College
Assistance in the preparation of
this paper was also provided by the Research Committee
Chair, Greg Gilbert, Copper Mountain College.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Matriculation
Assessment Instruments
The Best Test
Preparation of High School Graduates
Native Speakers vs. Non-Native Speakers
Orientation
Enrollment
What is Basic Skills: Measuring Our Success
Recommendations
Works Cited
Sources
Appendices
Appendix A: California Community Colleges Assessment
Instruments, 2002-2003, with headcount
Appendix B: California Community College Matriculation
Services data, 2002-2003
Appendix C: 2004 Basic Skills Survey
Abstract
When the Academic Senate for
California Community Colleges compiled best practices
for serving basic skills students in 2002-2003,
assessment practices were notably absent. In this
paper, problems with current assessment and placement
practices with regards to basic skills are explored.
The paper begins with a review of the matriculation
process and the most appropriate assessment instruments
for use in placing basic skills students into
courses. Issues confronting the assessment and
placement process are presented, including the
stigma of the "basic skills"label, the
particular difficulties faced by non-native speakers
of English, and the lack of resources for adequate
orientation and counseling for entering basic
skills students. Concerns about the disparity
between the number of students assessed and the
number who actually enroll in basic skills are
also reviewed. The paper moves on to discuss how
best to measure "success"in basic skills,
vital to appropriate evaluation of our current
assessment and placement processes. Based on the
discussion in the paper, several recommendations
for improving the overall success of basic skills
students in the community colleges are made.
Introduction
A central mission of the California
community colleges is to provide instruction and
support services to students who are not prepared
to succeed in college-level coursework. Under
a previous Fund for Instructional Improvement
(FII) grant, the Academic Senate for California
Community Colleges published a paper, A Survey
of Effective Practices in Basic Skills, on
best practices in developmental education and
model programs in community colleges throughout
the state. The Senate has followed up on the work
done for this grant by showcasing model programs
at each plenary session and linking to successful
programs on its website in order to better disseminate
information about model programs to other colleges.
In its research for the aforementioned
paper two key issues emerged. First, no college
in the system identified its assessment/placement
process as a model practice. Second, more than
one-third of students who were assessed as needing
further work in basic skills mathematics and English
did not enroll in basic skills courses.
In order to gather more information
on the key issues of assessment and placement,
the Academic Senate applied for and received a
Board of Governors' research grant. In addition
to exploring problems in assessment and placement,
the Senate also researched issues with enrollment
after assessment and how to measure the success
of basic skills practices. At the Fall 2003 Plenary
Session of the Academic Senate, a breakout session
was conducted to ask senate leaders about core
issues in placement and assessment. Based on this
discussion, the Basic Skills Committee of the
Academic Senate formulated a survey which went
out to all colleges in the system. Eighty-seven
of the 109 colleges responded. The research, discussions,
and survey results form the basis for this paper.
