Does Literacy Skill Level Predict Performance in Community College Courses: A Replication and Extension

High school senior preparedness for community college level courses has decreased significantly over the last two decades. A large group of students are "placing" into developmental college courses, which delays their entrance into college-level courses each year. Students placing into developmental courses are typically not retained in college. The following study examined what factors contributed to recent high school graduates placing into developmental college courses at Community College X (CCX) located in the Northeast region. Literature comprised student readiness, developmental courses, and course placement tools to identify factors related to students' placing into developmental courses in a mid-size community college in the Northeast region of one specific county. The study was conducted using archival data from one community college and researched data from the fifteen public schools in which the college students matriculate. Relationships were evaluated to determine factors that contributed to students placing into developmental courses. Several statistical correlations were pertinent to this study. Some correlations did not indicate a relationship between a students' preparedness for college level courses and other socioeconomic factors. Reports on high schools with the highest quality ranking and highest median household income showed that at least 50% of their students tested into developmental courses at CCX. As the schools dropped in quality ranking and median household income, the percentage of students placing into developmental classes rose significantly. Most students start to research their college entrance plans during their third year of high school. This is almost always too late for students to attempt to place into college-level courses. Results of this study indicated that all students in high school should be educated on how to learn; however, they may need to learn and practice this key skill at a much earlier age.

This article reports on the author s study of developmental mathematics courses at two-year colleges in the Virginia Community College System in the United States. The study was in part to determine the effectiveness of developmental courses in preparing students for college-level work. The author also investigated the influence on success of certain pedagogical factors. In this study, success was measured by number of students who took and passed a developmental mathematics course and went on to pass the college-level course for which it was a prerequisite. A recent report by the Institute for Higher Education Policy debunks (1998, p. v) the misconceptions that remediation is too expensive and is an inappropriate function for colleges. Instead the report argues that remediation is a core function of higher education and a good investment for society, as well as for colleges and universities. The report proposes strategies for the future - two mutually reinforcing goals (Institute, 1998, p. ix): (1) Reducing the need for remediation in higher education, and (2) improving the effectiveness of remedial education in higher education. This study concentrates on the latter of these two charges - the effectiveness of the developmental mathematics programs in higher education. Descriptive data include credit hours, enrollment, attendance, class size, classroom participation, student success, and retention rates. Classroom observations and discussions with mathematics faculty are also included.

As community colleges have gained more recognition as a viable pathway for students to enter higher education, they have faced greater accountability that has prompted both practitioners and policy makers to attempt to find solutions and tools, such as National Survey of Student Engagement, Community College Survey of Student Engagement, and Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), to aid in improving student success outcomes. This study addressed the validity and reliability of the SENSE instrument using a three-pronged approach via student data collected over 3 years of SENSE administrations at a large urban community college (n = 4,958). The instrument was first factor analyzed against the SENSE benchmarks for effective educational practice through generalized least squares and principal component exploratory factor analysis. Although the instrument did not deliver a chi-square factored fit for the six benchmark categories, consistent loadings were observed. Second, construct reliability was tested for each benchmark category, and the survey as a whole using Cronbach’s alpha. All categories did not yield sufficient coefficient scores for establishing construct reliability. However, the overall survey produced a Cronbach’s alpha of .85, clearly indicating construct reliability for all items combined. Third, correlations between SENSE perception scores and community college students’ grade point averages, fall to fall retention, semester credit hours, course completion for developmental and college gateway courses, and degree and certificate completion were calculated. Although no strong correlations were observed, the SENSE may be useful to community colleges seeking to increase completion rates.

At the beginning of each academic term, thousands of students respond to community colleges' open-door invitation with the expectation of fulfilling their dreams of a higher education. When students walk through those doors, they are routinely asked to take basic skills tests in math, reading, and writing (Bailey, Jeong, & Cho, 2008). These new community college students soon discover that the results of these assessment tests will direct their pathway into college-level courses or developmental or remedial courses. According to Bailey, Jeong, and Cho, about 60 percent of incoming students are referred to at least one developmental course, and many are referred to multiple levels of developmental education before they can be considered ready for college. McCabe (2000) reported that 20 percent of African-American students enrolled in community colleges have seriously deficient skills, that is, they are placed in developmental reading, writing, and math and assigned to a lower level remedial course in at least one area. Only 5 percent of Caucasian students, however, come to community colleges with seriously deficient skills.

Developmental courses in community colleges often leave students unprepared, demeaned, and uninspired. These gatekeeper courses need reform, especially in terms of curriculum and instruction. One framework – Dr. Gholdy Muhammed’s Historically Responsive Literacy (HRL) – could be useful for developmental courses and students. HRL is a teaching and learning framework that focuses on identity, skills, intellect, and criticality, all of which are lacking in developmental education and are necessary for students to succeed in college-level courses. Muhammed discussed HRL in the K-12 context, but I argue that HRL can and should be used in college, specifically in developmental courses wherein students are forming their academic identity yet engage in limited critical thinking and metacognitive practice. This essay will explain HRL and its use in a community college developmental writing class. We can improve these important courses and students’ experiences in them by using the HRL framework to reform curriculum and teaching practices.

Purpose The aim of this longitudinal study was to describe developmental courses of childhood dysarthria against the background of typical speech motor development by collecting auditory-perceptual data. Method Fourteen children (four girls, 10 boys; 5;1-8;4 [years;months] at Time 1) with neurological conditions (CNC) and 14 typically developing children (CTD) matched for age and gender were assessed at three points in time over an 18-month period. Speech samples were collected using the Bogenhausener Dysarthrie Skalen-Kindliche Dysarthrien (BoDyS-KiD; in English: Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales-Childhood Dysarthria), a German tool for the assessment of childhood dysarthria, and analyzed by means of nine perceptual scales covering all clinically relevant speech components. Age normalization was performed according to a method published recently. Data from the matched controls were used to estimate whether the gradients of the CNC group's developmental trajectories exceeded those of typical development. Results The children with neurological conditions presented heterogeneous speech profiles with a wide range of severity. At the group level, relatively stable trajectories of the age-normalized dysarthria total score were found over the observation period. The nine perceptual scales showed more or less parallel developments. All patients except two followed the growth curve describing the developmental course of the typically developing children. Conclusions Most children took advantage of the developmental dynamics as they developed parallel to the age norm. With its comprehensive description of the developmental courses of 14 children with neurological conditions, this study may contribute to a more valid, statistically verified clinical assessment of the course of childhood dysarthria.

More than half of community college courses are taught by part-time faculty. Drawing on data from six community colleges, this study estimates the effects of part-time faculty versus full-time faculty on students’ current and subsequent course outcomes in developmental and gateway courses, using course fixed effects and propensity score matching to minimize bias arising from student self-sorting across and within courses. We find that part-time faculty have negative effects on student subsequent enrollments. These negative effects are driven by results in math courses. We also find that course schedules could explain substantial proportions of the estimated negative effects, while faculty individual characteristics could not. Survey results on faculty professional experiences suggest that part-time faculty had less institutional knowledge regarding both academic and nonacademic services. We infer that inferior working conditions for part-time faculty, rather than inferior instructional practices, contribute to the negative effects we observed on students’ subsequent course enrollment.

A study was conducted at a community college in northeast Alabama to determine how the format of developmental English courses impacted student withdrawal rates and final grades. The two course formats examined were online/hybrid and face-to-face courses. Data were obtained from a 4-semester time frame: fall 2012, spring 2013, summer 2013, and fall 2013. It was determined that students enrolled in the online course were far more likely to withdraw from the course or attain a nonpassing, nontransferable grade than their counterparts who chose the face-to-face course format. The researchers found similar results to larger studies at community colleges in Virginia and the state of Washington.

Recently Published Dissertations on Community and Junior Colleges

Over the past several years, the Community College Research Center (CCRC) has conducted several research studies on developmental education and has produced reviews synthesizing the results of our own work together with that of colleagues from other research organizations. In a recent issue of the Journal of Developmental Education, Alexandros Goudas and Hunter Boylan (2012) aimed several criticisms at this body of work, with the key claims being that: (1) we unfairly portray developmental education as ineffective because it does not lead to outcomes better than those of college-ready students; (2) we ignore several studies showing positive results; and (3) we overgeneralize from results that are only valid for students near the developmental cutoff scores. These three claims are woven into a broader critique that we have “cherry-picked” negative results, neglected methodological problems with the studies yielding such results, and ignored positive results in order to advance our own reform agenda and, in particular, to support the notion of co-requisite developmental education. In this essay, we address each of the claims advanced by Goudas and Boylan (2012). We disagree with their portrayal of our research as biased and flawed, yet we also believe that their comments may reflect some widespread confusion in the field about research on developmental education—so our response has significance beyond our particular disagreements with these authors.

Psychologists of varying theoretical persuasions have long held that social experiences are critical to normal developmental trajectories and that the lack of such experiences is worthy of compensatory attention. Surprisingly, however, little empirical attention has been directed to the study of the psychological significance of social solitude for children. In an effort to shed new light on the meanings and developmental course of social solitude in childhood, a group of esteemed scholars from Europe and North America was invited to share and exchange information. An international audience of researchers actively involved in the study of social withdrawal and social inhibition or shyness in childhood was led in discussion by the scholars whose chapters are published in this volume. The editors hope that this offering stimulates continuing efforts to better understand the developmental meanings, causes, and courses of this childhood social dysfunction.

Based on a mixed methods case study design, the current study reports on a Promise Scholarship program offered by a community college and its affiliated foundation to graduating students at a nearby high school located in a low-income neighborhood of a large city and with a high proportion of African American and other students of color. Using a mix of government and private funding, all graduating students, regardless of financial need or academic achievement, were offered free tuition at the community college for one year. The promise of a scholarship plus an intensive outreach effort resulted in the majority of graduating seniors submitting scholarship applications and a four-fold increase in the proportion of graduates from the high school who subsequently matriculated at the community college. Once at college, the student recipients demonstrated a high rate of quarter-to-quarter retention. However, few placed into college-level courses in English and math, and their academic progress at the end of the first year was modest.

The study's purpose was to identify demographics, educational background, finances, formal and informal education and experiences, reading habits, external environmental factors, psychological factors, and computer efficacy factors that predict a student's ability to successful complete an online (Web-based) distance learning community college course. Major student retention theories and student attrition and persistence research guided the study. Distance learners (N = 926) completed four surveys, which collected data for 26 predictor variables that included age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, support others, course load, first-time student, last semester attended, student type and location, financial stability, tuition payment, prior learning experiences, reading habits, family support, enrollment encouragement, study encouragement, time management, study environment, employment, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, locus of control, self-efficacy, computer confidence and skills, and number of prior online courses. Successful or unsuccessful course completion was the dependent variable. Statistical analyses included Cronbach's alpha, Pearson chi-square, two-sample t test, Pearson correlation, phi coefficient, and binary logistic regression. Variables in each factor were entered sequentially in a block using separate binary logistic regression models. Statistically significant variables were course load, financial stability, prior learning experiences, time management and study environment, extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and computer skills. Selected predictor variables (N = 20) were entered hierarchically in a logistic regression model of which course load, financial stability, and self-efficacy were statistically significant in the final block. Correlation coefficients were computed for statistically significant predictor variables to determine whether the significance was confined to the control group or an overall level of significance. Findings were supported through cross-validation and forward stepwise entry of variables in logistic regression. Despite having two or more at-risk factors, distance learners who had high levels of self-efficacy, good computer and time management skills, financial stability, a favorable study environment, were enrolled in more than one course, and believed their prior learning experiences helped prepared them for their course were more likely to be successful.

Gene-set analysis identifies master transcription factors in developmental courses

Community colleges are a large sector of postsecondary education. In 2016–2017, the United States had nearly 1,000 public 2-year postsecondary institutions (community colleges), serving almost nine million students, representing 39% of all undergraduates. The majority of entering community college students require developmental (or remedial) math. Success rates in the developmental math course sequence and college more broadly are discouragingly low. Policymakers, practitioners, and researchers alike are eagerly searching for reforms to improve success rates, but there is a dearth of causal evidence on the effectiveness of most proposed reforms. We sought to answer the following question: what effect does a modularized, computer-assisted, self-paced approach to developmental math (compared with a more “traditional” direct-instruction course alternative) have on students’ likelihood of completing the developmental math course sequence? Findings from a randomized controlled trial (n =1,403) are presented. The program was well implemented; however, we did not find evidence that this approach was superior to the “traditional” math class. Although these results are disappointing, they are important because modularization and self-paced computer-assisted instruction are popular reforms.