DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
For College Procedure
2.01.01.14: Committees
MINUTES FOR 2015-2016
(Note: The chair must email the approved minutes to the IE Office for placement on the College web page.)
September 16, 2015
VV MV12A
The NCBW team will add these lessons
learned to the existing NCBW Overview along
with desired Banner processes that would make
registration and tracking of these courses more
manageable. Then, the team will meet with Dr.
Cassandra LaChica-Chavez (Executive
Director Admissions and Registrar) to see if
these Banner processes are feasible. The
NCBW team also plans to scale the number of
sections offered to students once a more
manageable registration process is established.
The NCBW team will also hold additional
training sessions for ENGL 1301 faculty
interested in teaching a co-requisite NCBW
0111 section. The plan is to slightly increase
the number of sections in spring 2016 and
implement a large-scale roll out in fall 2016.
Attendees: Michael Duncan (Chair), Roberto Santos, Lucia
Rodriguez, Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez, Claude Mathis, Brian
Kirby, Kathleen Bombach, and Margie Nelson Rodriguez
I.
Welcome & Introductions
Michael Duncan (Chair) welcomed the committee.
II.
Approval of Meeting Minutes (April 15, 2015)
Minutes from April 15, 2015, were approved
unanimously.
III.
Selection of Co-Chair and Secretary
Roberto Santos was elected as Co-Chair.
Brian Kirby was elected as Secretary.
IV.
B.
INRW: Brian Kirby reported on the last
INRW committee meeting. The committee will
work on developing a lab and an NCBO for
INRW. Susan Silva and Margie Nelson
Rodriguez are piloting the textbook Making
Sense this semester.
C.
HB5: Brian Kirby, Michael Duncan, and
Margie Nelson Rodriguez participated in
trainings over the summer. Students who
successfully complete the HB5 course will
receive a TSI-exemption for twelve months at
EPCC and UTEP. Claude Mathis reported that
some ISD’s will offer the HB5 course to some
high school juniors. The next training is TBA.
D.
TSI Operational Plan: BASE NCBO’s
Old Business and Updates
A.
NCBW: The NCBW faculty members shared
their experiences. Kathleen Bombach reported
that one student was misplaced; his TSI scores
were too low. One of Margie Nelson
Rodriguez’s NCBW 0111 students was also
misplaced with an essay score of 3 instead of 4.
Her other students are all true “bubble”
students, and all her students are highly
motivated to succeed in ENGL 1301. Brian
Kirby has one NCBW 0111 student and
reported that the TSI diagnostics were helpful.
Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez has five students,
one of which is enrolled in David Moody’s
ENGL 1301 course. The NCBW team will
work with the TM campus dean and assistants
to make sure that the NCBW 0111 students are
enrolled in the same instructor’s NCBW 0111
and ENGL 1301. Michael Duncan’s NCBW
students have had some difficulties obtaining a
copy of their TSI diagnostics/branching
profiles. He is going to present this issue to the
Developmental Education Council to seek a
smoother process for students to obtain a copy
of their TSI diagnostics.
Kathleen Bombach reported that in the past,
the BASE NCBO was targeted to students who
score ABE levels 5-6; however, now we need
to look at students who score ABE levels 3-4.
ABE centers only have funds for 2% of the
ABE population. EPCC will receive state
reimbursement to offer these courses.
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E.
Kathleen Bombach reported that her PYSC
2301/INRW 0311 Learning Community is
going very well. In fact, her 0311 students
scored 7 points higher on average than the
regular students on their last PYSC 2301 exam.
Her class has 27 students. Margie Nelson
Rodriguez’s ALP 1301/INRW 0311 Learning
Community is also going well. The hope is to
increase INRW 0311 learning communities
across the district.
V.
New Business
A.
B.
Dallas, Texas, from Sept. 30-Oct. 2, 2015.
Their presentation focuses on the English
discipline’s numerous developmental
initiatives and redesign, and they will share
their presentation and the information they
learn from other colleges with the committee.
Margie Nelson Rodriguez encouraged other
committee members to try to attend.
PYSC 2301/INRW 0311 & ALP ENGL
1301/INRW 0311 Learning Community
Reports
RAND Study: Brian Kirby reported that the
RAND Site Visit will take place on Oct. 5-8,
2015. Representatives from RAND will visit
campuses and conduct focus groups. Lucia
Rodriguez shared that the study has two
strands: serving ABE students and
mainstreaming developmental students into
credit courses. Details on the site visit are
forthcoming.
CASP 2015 Conference: Margie Nelson
Rodriguez and Kathleen Bombach will be
presenting and attending this conference in
C.
DEV. Students/Clubs: Roberto Santos
discussed the need for developmental students
to socialize, build confidence, and form
connections with their peers, faculty, and
campus. Forming a student club and/or holding
events that target but not label developmental
students would help with these efforts and
could also help increase student retention and
completion. Roberto Santos will work with
Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez and other
committee members on this initiative.
Next Meeting: Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. in
MV12A, VV campus
Minutes taken by Margie Nelson Rodriguez
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October 21, 2015
VV MV12A
information on how an NCBW section is
managed, and provide suggestions for how to
organize one on one meetings with students.
After suggestions were given, she informed the
committee that she would create and email an
agenda for the workshop, and that she would
ask faculty for additional suggestions to be
addressed during the session.
Attendees: Michael Duncan (Chair), Roberto Santos (Cochair), Claude Mathis, Brain Kirby, Kathleen Bombach,
Margie Nelson Rodriguez, Rich Yañez.
I.
Welcome
Michael Duncan welcomed committee members.
II.
There was also debate about how to recognize
faculty who go through future NCBW training
sessions. Some possible ideas are that
instructors could be officially recognized for
their training and/or that they can be given a
certificate as documentation of their training.
Approval of Meeting Minutes (Sept. 16, 2015)
The committee unanimously approved the minutes of
September’s meeting.
III.
Selection of Secretary
C.
Roberto Santos was elected Secretary.
IV.
Updates/New Business
A.
B.
Proposed Cut Score Change: Margie Nelson
Rodriguez discussed the benefits of broadening
the cut score in light of RAND study, so that
RAND can have a larger sample size for their
research. She mentioned that if broadening the
sample size is ineffective, we could re-think
the approach.
Margie Nelson Rodriquez is currently
collecting information and in the future will
present on issues relating to INRW placement.
She noted that data must me found in order to
find solutions to existing problems. She also
mentioned that we should aim to save student’s
time and money, but with the current issues
facing INRW this is not happening. She will
present findings to the INRW Committee and
the Developmental English Standing
Committee after she has collected the needed
information.
NCBW Training, Classes, and Workshops:
Kathleen noted that her NCBW students seem
to have come in at a higher level than she
expected. Dean Claude Mathis asked the
committee how NCBW could become a
pathway to English 1302. Kathleen responded
that steps are being taken to ensure the success
of NCBW students, and mentioned that more
full-time faculty should take on NCBW, so that
students can benefit from their expertise.
Margie Nelson Rodriguez would like to make
the NCBW option more automated, so that the
process is easier for students and councilors.
She also mentioned that setting up the NCBW
option has been very difficult because Banner
is not set up for these types of unique course
offerings. Attempts to streamline this process
are underway.
Margie Nelson Rodriguez announced the
offering of an NCBW Faculty Development
Week training session for interested parties.
She also asked the committee for suggestions
on what to cover during the training.
Committee members suggested the following:
Provide information on how to communicate
NCBW issues with councilors, provide
INRW Placement: Kathleen Bombach
announced an INRW Brown Bag meeting set
for November 17th, so that teachers can share
their progress and challenges.
Rich Yañez suggests we look for solutions
through other INRW programs, for example
the Puente Program in McAllen, Texas, in
order to learn from how they have navigated
challenges similar to our own.
D.
HB5 Training: Michael Duncan will be
conducting a training session at Region 19 in
the near future. He is currently seeking
experienced INRW professors to help facilitate
the training.
E.
RAND Study: Brain Kirby informed the
committee that November 15th is the deadline
to widen cut scores. He suggests we make a
goal of recruiting more teachers to take on
NCBW classes, in lieu of increasing class
sizes.
F.
CASP Conference: Kathleen Bombach and
Margie Nelson Rodriquez presented at the
conference. While there, they learned that that
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the Co-board is interested in starting more
programs. They also mentioned that San
Jacinto seems to be doing interesting work for
people at the lower levels, and that we should
look to them for information on how to manage
our programs. They also noted that progress
has been seen with cohort models because
students are able to support each other through
the learning process. Another of their
observations was that many schools are having
developmental education issues similar to the
challenges at our institution, and finally that
schools that have worked with RAND were
also present at CASP.
with the Dev. Ed. meeting minutes so everyone
is up to date on what was discussed at the
meeting.
Claude Mathis would like to explore creating a
curriculum that would serve specific
populations of Developmental Education. He
also noted that some institutions use the sub
score to make student placement decisions.
V.
Next Meeting/Adjournment
The next meeting will be announced at a later date.
This session was adjourned at 4:10 p.m.
G.
Developmental Education Council: Roberto
Santos updated the committee on a previous
Developmental Education Council meeting by
noting what the different Dev. Ed.
representatives presented to the Council. He
also mentioned that he would provide the
Developmental English Standing Committee
Minutes taken by Roberto Santos
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
For College Procedure
2.01.01.14: Committees
MINUTES FOR 2014-2015
(Note: The chair must email the approved minutes to the IE Office for placement on the College web page.)
September 10, 2014
VV B241
How can we grow it to now include INRW?
Suggestions were made to have testimonials of
students who were in the program, try to get Learn
Communities listed in the catalog under the
disciplines they include.
Members in attendance: Margie Nelson Rodriguez (chair),
Terri Mann, Roberto Santos, Francisco Carrasco, Caroline
Woolf-Gurley, Brian Kirby, Michael Duncan, Angelina
Arellanes-Nuñez, Kathleen Bombach, Lucia Rodriguez, and
David Henry. Absent: Baldemar Perez, Claude Mathis, and
Richard Yañez.
Election of Chair and Secretary: Margie will continue as
president, Michael Duncan was elected to be president elect.
Caroline Woolf-Gurley was not nominated but offered to be
Secretary.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from April 2, 2014 were
approved unanimously.
Year-End Report was submitted by Margie to
Institutional Effectiveness for 2013-2014. Margie will
forward that report to the committee.
B.
NCBW will need to expand the bubble student.
Meeting will occur after completion of this meeting.
C.
INRW English Committee will be chaired by Margie
and Mike Coulehan from Reading. Spring 2015 will
have full implementation of this course, schedules are
set. We will hold off forming the INRW for the lower
levels of English and Reading; it is not required yet by
the state.
D.
HB5 is requiring INRW be offered to high school
seniors. Brian, David, Margie have put together
training materials for the high school teachers that will
be teaching this. Students will meet every day and
have it for 1 full year, not just one semester. They are
still working on end of the course testing. The schools
are using our textbooks but are not sure yet how
students will be identified for this course.
Angelina wants to have EDUC 1300 added to
the current ALP to increase student success.
She is willing to do a pilot at TM.
2.
Kathleen was interested in making STEM ALP
connections with Math and 1301 and 1302.
She will take this up with the English
curriculum committee.
B.
THECB Webinar is Sept. 17 from 1-3 p.m. If you
want to participate with other EPCC faculty and staff
you can go to C201.
C.
INRW Portfolio Workshop will be Sept. 18 from 2:00
p.m.-2:50 p.m. in A2122.
D.
CASP Conference is Sept. 24-26 in San Antonio.
Lucia will be attending. Kathleen and Margie will try
to attend.
Old and New Business:
A.
1.
Other:
Oct. 4 is the next INRW Training Session, Angie will add in a
mini training on sensitivity to set students up for success.
Strengthening Student Success Conference was mentioned,
Angie will bring in more information to the next meeting.
EPCC was asked to participate in the RAND Study. The
THECB has partnered with the RAND Corporation to study the
impact of recent changes to the Texas Success Initiative (TSI).
Lucia will keep us updated on this study when it happens.
Next meeting: Wednesday, October 22 at 3:00 p.m. at VV in
MV 12A.
New Business:
A.
ALP (Accelerated Learning Program) has had good
success in the past putting 0310 and 1301 together.
Respectfully submitted,
Caroline Woolf-Gurley
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October 22, 2014
VV MV12A
It was decided that training for the ALP/NCBW and
description, format of official syllabus, and activities
need to be put together to show deans what actually
happens in these courses. This would clear up any
questions and help recruit and train for this course.
Members in attendance: Margie Nelson Rodriguez (chair),
Roberto Santos, Francisco Carrasco, Caroline Woolf-Gurley,
Brian Kirby, Michael Duncan, Kathleen Bombach, Lucia
Rodriguez, Claude Mathis, and David Henry. Absent:
Baldemar Perez, Terri Mann, Angelina Arellanes-Nunez and
Richard Yanez.
It was also decided that a training for the ALP/NCBW
would be put together for Faculty Development Week
in January. Margie will set up an informational
workshop for deans and then a training session for
Faculty as a separate meeting.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from Sept.10, 2014 were
approved unanimously.
Old and New Business:
E. / F.
A.
NCBW: District-wide faculty compensation needs to
be the same for teaching these courses. Even though
this course is 1 credit for students, since it is
individual curriculum it is more than 1 credit worth of
work for the instructor. If/When we change the cut
scores more students will be enrolled at all campuses
and so the compensation issue needs to be solved
before then.
B.
INRW: VV schedule is getting fixed, more are going
to be added. Claude assured us it was being worked
on. INRW committee meeting Monday, Oct. 27.
C.
New Business:
HB5: Topics are being chosen for all and it was
discussed at the last meeting that the article on
“sexting” was not approved for high school students.
So they will be using the Ebola topic which was tried
in the MM1. It will be modified a bit for the 16 week
courses. Other topics being discussed are Walmart and
Police Brutality/Profiling.
It has also been noticed that the Common Essay needs
more instructions and clarity and that the Portfolio
Training is solid. A training meeting will be set for
the Common Essay for those teaching now. Margie
hopes to post sample essays from the MM1 on
Blackboard.
D.
ALP LCs with INRW: David brought in some
questions from Dean Eveler. Why are some students
getting to have such a short route through these
courses and others have to take all of them? What do
the INRW students actually do differently than others
taking regular 1301?
THECB Webinar and CASP Conf: We are not
required to integrate lower levels. It was suggested
but not required that colleges integrate their lower
level reading courses into the INRWs. This might
change with the new legislative session in January.
Our administration is not pushing towards this yet. To
help out success getting our INRWs going strong, VP
of instruction, Steve Smith, will not allow Reading
0309 to be offered separately in the Spring, only
INRWs will be offered.
ABE: There were 240 students who placed at the bottom. For
these students it is suggested that they go to our Workplace
Literacy Program. This program is getting some grant money
but students still have to pay.
DE Council is working on this with Math and Reading too.
Student could be referred to ABE programs funded by the state
at local high schools. This program is free. EPCC did apply
for more grant money for this program but the ISDs got it since
they already have the facilities, teachers, etc. established.
Other:
Writer’s Work Bench is getting on all computers and we do
want the ABE people to be able to use it too.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 17 at 3:00 p.m. in
MV12A.
Respectfully submitted,
Caroline Woolf-Gurley
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February 17, 2015
VV MV12A
they know what is needed on the writing
curriculum.
Members in attendance: Roberto Santos, Francisco Carrasco,
Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Brian Kirby, Michael Duncan,
Kathleen Bombach, Lucia Rodriguez, Claude Mathis, David
Henry, Baldemar Perez, Terri Mann, and Angelina ArellanesNunez Absent: Margie Nelson Rodriguez and Richard Yanez.
-
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from Oct.22, 2014 were
approved unanimously.
V.
Old and New Business:
I.
II.
NCBW:
-
Compensation memo for teachers has gone to
Steve Smith from Claude Mathis. The memo
calls for a per student payment, for example 3
students would be $750. This would go up to 5
students per instructor. Claude will take it up at
the next leadership meeting and will request that
this be the model used not only for English but
for Math and Reading as well.
-
Each campus will have designated teachers for
this in the Fall
-
Blackboard will have sample exercises for
different aspects of teaching unique deficiencies
in students.
INRW:
-
Reading discipline wants a readability
examination of Common Essay
-
Most of problems have been ironed out, training
is still needed
VI.
III.
-
IV.
Final exam is being chosen, meeting with high
schools on March 21, the topic is Walmart.
TSI:
-
-
My Skills Lab Demo:
-
They will be revising to an integrated reading and
writing format by the fall 2015. Teachers don’t
have to have students do all the work, students
take a diagnostic and teachers tell students what
they need to complete. Can be connected to your
Blackboard course as Pearson My Lab link.
Pearson Tutoring is tied into this – a virtual
writing center using Smart-thinking tutors
available 24-7.
-
Cost: Students get an access code, if using a
Pearson book, code is $5. If using independently
it is $60 directly through Pearson, $70 through
bookstore.
-
Angie will be piloting this lab in the Fall 2015
and report back to the discipline.
-
Comparing My Skills Lab to our current lab
PLATO, it is better since PLATO does not have a
placement test for students.
New Business:
-
HB5:
Question: Is STAR test = TSI test? How do we
find this out?
Fall 2016 we will need an intervention for levels
3 and 4 students which are below our NCBO. We
might try independent study and/or tie it to
INRW. A task force of Kathleen, Margie,
Roberto, Michael, and Brian was formed to
research this and figure out our best options.
Kathleen brought in an email from Dean Rodarte
about holistic counseling. Her questions were
“Does PREP count as TSI compliant?” We say
no since they are not English teachers, but we
could have PREP students take the Common
Essay and have it graded pass/fail to comply.
Kathleen will take this idea to the larger meeting
about holistic counseling and propose it as a
solution.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, April 7 at 3:00 p.m. in MV12
TSI Academy is a program for the very bottom of
TSI results, level one and two with dedicated
reading/writing/math teaching in all day sessions
getting the students to retake the TSI. Margie,
Hector, Angie, will mentor these instructors so
Respectfully Submitted,
Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Secretary
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April 15, 2015
VV MV12A
common essay to make sure they are at a 12th grade
level. Teacher training went well a couple weeks ago.
The reading exam will look like a college style/level
exam for this course. Next training will be April 30th.
Michael Duncan asked to join Margie, Brian and Mike
in these trainings. Mike has been working on changes
to the rubric for the Common Essay, if you want any
changes email Margie those ideas.
Members in attendance: Margie Nelson Rodriguez, Roberto
Santos, Francisco Carrasco, Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Michael
Duncan, Kathleen Bombach, and David Henry.
Absent: Brian Kirby, Claude Mathis, Baldemar Perez, Terri
Mann, Lucia Rodriguez, and Richard Yanez.
Approval of Minutes: Minutes from Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015
were approved unanimously.
D.
TSI: There was a handout for the catalog description.
David mentioned that ABE isn’t clear on what they
need to do yet. Margie will contact IT for the Alert
System and make sure it is in place for the NCBO
students. So that when students are enrolled, the
instructors will be notified. In Fall 2015 there will be
piloting at VV for BASE.
E.
ALP 1301/0311 and LCs: Margie went to ALP
institute and saw examples of INRW 0311 and 1301
Learning Communities. We would like to start a
couple in the Fall 2015 and see how they work. Susan
Silva is having a LC training session on April 22,
2015.
F.
Next Fall’s Committee: Michael Duncan will call the
first Fall 2015 meeting and co-chair and secretary will
be appointed at that first meeting.
Old and New Business:
A.
B.
NCBW: The new flyer was passed around at each
campus to advertise for the course. Brian and
Kathleen have a Blackboard shell of curriculum for all
instructors to use. Will be offered at all campuses for
Fall 2015. Claude is presenting to leadership today on
the compensation for this course.
INRW: Training will be this Saturday. “Watching
Walmart” is the topic for the common essay. Danielle
will again compile essays from each campus as our
examples for norming. Training will also hold a
session in FDW in August and Training Part II will be
coming up shortly to help those who have taught
already and still need and want improvements in their
courses. One area not decided yet is who will be
doing the classroom evals for the Reading faculty,
should it be English faculty or Reading faculty who
are trained and teaching the course too. Also in
question is which dean will be responsible for those
evals since Dean Rodarte is Reading dean and Dean
Mathis is the English dean.
Next meeting has not been set.
Respectfully Submitted,
Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Secretary
C.
HB5: Reading discipline has a Readability
Committee who can rate readings to use for the
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2013-2014
September 23, 2013
TEA to the Texas Work Force Commission,
and adjustments are still being made.
Hopefully, a floor can be set after TWFC has
presented guidelines for their offerings.
However, it was noted that Texas spends
minimally on ABE students compared to other
states so we shouldn’t get our hopes up too
high. Tony mentioned that the updated Writer’s
Workbench software (successfully used many
years ago at EPCC, although it was
cumbersome) will be used as a feature of the
NCBW offerings as an add-on to Microsoft
Word. The software is currently being piloted
at VV and NW for some INRW courses. If
successful (which is anticipated), it will be
available to all writing students across the
college. YouTube videos provide tutorials
related to this program. The cost of a site
license is relatively cheap compared to other
software. (Note: If a student passes the NCBW
component but fails 1301, he or she will have
to retake 1301, but if he or she fails the NCBW
but passes 1301 anyway, he or she will be
eligible to take 1302.)
Members in attendance: Robin Russell, Ted Johnston, Brian
Kirby, Tony Procell, Robert Yarbrough, Kathleen BombachMuro, Claude Mathis (admin liaison), Richard Yanez (English
Developmental Coordinator at VV), Hector Arriola (Interim
Director of Student Success), David Henry (new Districtwide
Coordinator of English), Margie Nelson-Rodriguez, Irma
Camacho (outgoing Director of Student Success)
I.
Special Welcomes: Messrs. Yañez, Arriola, and
Henry were introduced to the committee in their new
capacities.
II.
Committee Chair and Secretary: Margie NelsonRodriguez and Ted Johnston said they would continue
in these respective capacities.
III.
April 16, 2013 Minutes: The minutes for the April
16, 2013 meeting (taken by Brian Kirby) were
approved with one substantive change: “III. Old
Business A.” should state that Robin Russell reports
she is currently gathering information from
Institutional Research related to the movement of
misplaced ESL students because previous data
received from IR proved to be unhelpful.
IV.
Updates:
V.
New Business
A.
A.
B.
INRW: Rich is developing training (based on
the Puente model). A handout announcing the
Spring 2013 INRW sections will be
forthcoming. The course will probably have a
common essay instead of an exit exam that will
count a certain percent of the student’s final
grade (but it will probably be less than 20% as
in 0309). The optimum of the course will be
capped at level much lower than for 0310.
Administrative leadership for INRW will be
determined this semester: English, Reading, or
a combination thereof. Even if English is at the
helm, that does not mean that Reading faculty
will not be involved.
TSI Assessment: The new tentative cutoff
scores have been determined (but will need to
be tweaked after more experience with the
test). David presented the new scores as
approved by the coordinators. There is still no
floor for 0309, as there is no ABE program.
The administration of ABE has moved from
NCBW: Margie noted that an NCBW
workshop would be scheduled for Spring 2014
Faculty Development at a time that will
piggyback with the District-wide discipline
meeting to maximize attendance. Claude
suggested that mentoring for teaching in this
lab-based program should be a required
component. Issues related to facilities and pay
have yet to be resolved.
The NCBW syllabus was presented for
consideration by the committee. David moved
to approve, Tony seconded, and the committee
gave unanimous approval.
Kathleen and Tony would like to develop a
Blackboard platform to use in conjunction with
NCBW as a released time project. Ted moved
to approve, Rich seconded, and the committee
gave unanimous approval.
B.
Other: Hector Arreola has set up an online
prep site for students wanting to retest on the
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TSI placement test (as opposed to the Testing
Center prep system to get students ready to
take the exam). Hector is soliciting materials
from faculty that can be used as part of
intervention practice modules for this purpose.
Practice tests need to be accompanied with an
answer key. These materials can be turned into
interactive exercises. However, although any
faculty members can use these materials in
their classes, exclusive rights to the material
that faculty have produced will be relinquished.
This material can be found at online.epcc.edu.
To sign in, simply use this term for both the
username and password: prep.
VI.
Next Meeting: October 21, 2013 (Monday) at 3:00
p.m. in MV-12 at VV.
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October 21, 2013
At this point, the DE: ENGL committee will
report to the discipline that we need
counselors’ input about the cut-scores before
making any recommendations.
Members in attendance: Hector Arriola, Rich Yañez,
Kathleen Bombach, Margie Nelson-Rodriguez, Terri Mann,
Tony Procell, Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez, Claude Mathis,
David Henry, and Brian Kirby.
B.
I.
Welcome, review of minutes from September 23,
2013 meeting.
II.
Minutes were approved.
III.
New Business:
A.
TSI Cut-scores for ENGL 0309 and NCBW: It
was brought to Margie’s attention that there
could be an unintended overlap in cut-scores,
leaving our counselors in an awkward position
with students. If, for example, a student scores
a 4 on the Essay portion of the exam but under
a 354 on the multiple choice section, s/he could
(technically) be placed in ENGL 0309 and
ENGL 0310. The committee, after much
discussion, moved to recommend to the
discipline that, should such an occurrence take
place, the counselors should consider the essay
score and place the student in ENGL 0310.
Additional discussion ensued about the
distinction between the use of “and” and “or”
on the TSI Cut-scores sheet.
Kathleen Bombach noticed that the current
NCBW cut-scores have a standard error of
measure of 5.1% and that the scores of 356 to
363 on the multiple choice section of the TSI
does not provide much room to identify a
“bubble student.” Discussion ensued and the
NCBW committee decided to call a meeting as
soon as possible with the college’s counselors.
INRW Update and Proposal: Rich reports that
his training in Austin provided him with the
insight that EPCC’s INRW instructors from
within the English discipline are a bright and
talented lot and know how to approach
teaching this hybrid model of a course. Rich
continued that he remains steadfast in his belief
in the value of writing, journaling, and online
journaling. Tony and Rich agree that the
biggest burden for the course is the inherent
constraint of the current textbook.
Margie circulated a draft of a document,
“INRW Proposal,” for which she sought input
from the committee. She asked that the
committee consider the larger picture of the
document and leave line-by-line editing for a
later version. Discussion ensued, some
valuable points/suggestions were made, and
Margie will now take those into consideration
before revising “INRW Proposal” for
circulation at the next discipline meeting.
IV.
Other: There was no need to discuss other or new
business.
V.
Next Meeting Time is scheduled for Tuesday,
November 19, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. in MV12A on the
Valle Verde campus.
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November 19, 2013
support materials for the course on to
BlackBoard requires release time for the
responsible instructor. A “scope of work”
qualifier is in the works and will be presented
to campus deans and VP of Instruction for
approval.
Members in attendance: Hector Arriola, Robin Russell,
Kathleen Bombach, Margie Nelson-Rodriguez, Terri Mann,
Tony Procell, Claude Mathis, David Henry, and Brian Kirby.
I.
Welcome, review of minutes from October 21, 2013
meeting.
II.
Minutes were approved.
III.
Old Business and Updates:
C.
A.
B.
TSI Cut-score: Discussion about David
Henry’s recent memorandum about the
discovery of the potential implications of
current TSI cut-scores and the overwhelming
placement of students in ENGL 0309 and
ENGL 0310.
INRW Update and Proposal: Discussions on
the need for cohesion of Reading and English
departments and training for all participating
instructors. Textbook-reviews are under way
for “Models for Writers,” “In Tandem,” and
“Fusion.” Piloting individual textbooks could
lead to further indecision about adopting a
course-wide textbook.
Concerns about departmental differences,
especially of those centered around textbook
adoption. Some DE: ENGL members believe
the Reading Dept. is in a constant state of
“piloting” textbooks and no textbook (as of this
meeting) has been adopted.
NCBW definition of the Bubble Student
remains the same. Over 1,000 students from
EPCC have now been tested using the TSI.
Early enrollment numbers remain the same for
the NCBW course. Discussion, concerns over
the vague and open-ended “range of
placement” counselors have. Tracking some
students could prove problematic.
Further discussion ensued about the VPI’s
decision about the integration of the Reading
and English departments, House Bill 5, SAS
Dashboard, and the upcoming NADE
Conference
Writer’s Workbench software District-wide
purchase requires approval at an upcoming IT
Committee meeting. Through Tony Procell’s
hard work, an extension has been granted by
the ownership of the Writer’s Workbench.
NCBW instructors are hopeful enrollments will
improve with more promotion and realization
of the courses’ existence. The upload of
IV.
Other: There was no need to discuss other or new
business.
V.
Next Meeting: Scheduled for Tuesday, February 4,
2014 at 3:00 p.m. in MV12A on the Valle Verde
campus.
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February 4, 2014
Members Present: Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez, Hector Arriola
(Director of Student Success), Kathleen Bombach, Ted
Johnston (secretary), Brian Kirby, Terri Mann, Claude Mathis
(admin liaison), Margie Nelson-Rodriguez (Chair), Tony
Procell, Robin Russell, Richard Yañez, Robert Yarbrough,
Caroline Woolf-Gurley
NCBW: Margie reported that there was one NCBW section
this semester, which she is in charge of and which has a total of
4 students. These students are working on Writer’s Workbench,
which could also be used as one part of the INRW lab
component. A released time project is underway to develop
NCBO for use on Blackboard. Brian and Kathleen are working
on this project.
Minutes of November 19, 2013 were approved (with minor
technical changes). These minutes were taken by Brian Kirby.
New Business:
DEVELOPMENTAL STUDENT REGISTRATION FAIRS:
Three fairs were planned in anticipation of the summer and fall
semesters: one for Mission del Paso on Mon. Mar. 3 and two,
one at Valle Verde and another at Northwest, on Thurs. Mar. 6.
[Follow-up: Did these events come to fruition?] Fall
registration begins May 1. [Follow-up: The date has been
changed to April 1.]
Old Business and Updates:
TSI scores: These are set up and operational, but will probably
need to be tweaked based on how well students are being
placed. [Follow-up: Adjustments were approved at the districtwide discipline meeting held March 26].
INRW: Although INRW0311 must be 100% up and running in
the Spring 2015 semester, the committee believed that we
should begin in the Fall 2014 semester. [Follow-up: Fifty
percent of Engl0310 and Read0309 will be replaced with the
new INRW in the fall.] Training needs to be developed and set
up. [Follow-up: The first training is set for Sat. Apr. 26 at TM.]
All faculty teaching INRW will have to go through training and
be credentialed to teach the new course (a simple bureaucratic
process for all existing faculty). The discipline hopes to obtain
an optimum of 18 for INRW. [Follow-up: Getting the
administration to agree to this optimum seems highly unlikely
although at the Mar. 26 meeting the discipline unanimously
agreed that we ought to make a coordinated effort to make the
optimum as low as possible.] The all-or-nothing exit exam used
in ENGL0310 might be replaced by a common essay and a
portfolio for the final assessment. [Follow-up: This change was
approved Mar. 26.]
Procedural changes in the management and operation of the
Writing Center are still under consideration but should be
approved before the end of this semester.
Hector Arriola announced that he is designing a SAS
dashboard online. An announcement should be forthcoming
this semester.
Several people will be going to the NADE conference in Dallas
during the first week of March: Ted Johnston, Joe Old, Sue
Silva, and Hector Arriola.
Next Meeting: Our next meeting will be held at VV in B241
from 3:00-5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2.
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April 2, 2014
Valle Verde, MV-12a
and well-planned conferences they had ever
attended.
Members Present: Hector Arriola, David Henry, Ted
Johnston, Brian Kirby, Claude Mathis, Margie NelsonRodriguez (chair), Tony Procell, Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Rich
Yañez, Robert Yarbrough
I.
Welcome, review of minutes from February 4, 2014
meeting
II.
Minutes were approved (two minor items fixed and
the final has already been submitted to Dr. Stroud)
III.
Old Business:
IV.
A.
NCBW: Margie recommends that having the
same instructor for both Engl1301 and the
NCBW extension would be more efficient for
both student and instructor. Otherwise, the
NCBW instructor would regularly need to
coordinate with the 1301 instructor. Margie
was the instructor of record for the only
NCBW option offered in the Spring semester.
B.
INRW: At this point the April 26th Saturday
training session is on target (follow-up: it was a
huge success). On Saturday June 21, there will
be another similar training, perhaps at Rio
Grande. Rich stressed that it needs to be made
clear to deans and instructors that this training
is required in order to be credentialed to teach
INRW. The class size issue still needs to be
addressed, first by following the proposal made
by Steve Smith (per Claude’s
recommendation). Some class-size numerical
data could be retrieved from Dale Hougham.
Furthermore, the start-up INRW syllabus needs
to be made more specific and indicate a
minimal number of varying assignments, to
stress that reading and writing are to be truly
integrated (vs. the unacceptable two weeks of
reading and then two weeks of writing), and to
formalize other options such as the lab
component. Some technical issues related to
the online drop box, which contains INRW
related materials, were also reported.
C.
Hector indicated that at the NADE Conference
held in March in Dallas there was a lot of
frustration expressed in the sessions attended
with the TSI placement system vis-a-vis this
course. Ted and Joe Old also attended this
conference, as well as Sue Silva from reading.
Everyone felt it was one of the most practical
New Business:
A.
EPCC Data Summit Report. Margie attended
this event (with Dr. Serrata and consultant
Diane Troyer officiating) and reported that it
was an interesting session with a lot of out-ofthe-box thinking going on. However, one issue
of concern that statistical evidence seems to be
trumping purely logical arguments. If logic
can’t be backed up by hard institutional data,
then it will not be given much weight. The
issue with this is the component of getting the
data. It’s a timely process and the retrieval
system cannot be directly utilized by faculty.
This process needs to be streamlined. Also,
when new programs or offerings emerge, there
may not be any initial data to work with. It
would seem that some place for support for
changes based on what the preponderance of
other institutions are doing and what qualified
experts have to say should be serious
consideration, even if we don’t have hard
numbers or enough numbers based on our own
students. In the future, similar “data” sessions
will be held involving more faculty.
B.
The Alignment Summit to be held on Friday,
April 4, was announced. Committee members
were urged to attend.
V.
Other: Ted asked if the option of allowing advanced
students taking 0309 to test out of 0310 still existed so
that they could perhaps skip 0310 and go directly into
1301. Claude indicated that the option was still there
and that information about such students should be run
through his office so that students who passed would
be allowed to enroll directly in 1301. (Follow-up:
Three 0309 students tested out of 0310 in this fashion
at RG and with a memo from Ted, RG Coordinator,
such students were able to sign up for 1301 without
the involvement of Claude’s office.)
VI.
Next meeting time is scheduled for Wednesday,
September 10, at 3:00 p.m. on the Valle Verde
campus.
Respectfully submitted by Ted Johnston
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2012-2013
October 23, 2012
the word “Option” because such offerings
may not, in fact, be optional.
Members in attendance: Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez, Ted
Johnston, Brian Kirby, Terri Mann, Margie Nelson-Rodriguez,
Tony Procell, Robin Russell, Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Robert
Yarbrough (Kathleen Bombach VV, Danielle Hinseley TM?,
and Zaira Crisafulli TM will be asked if they want to join this
committee. Ted is waiting for a response from Kathleen.)

Liaisons: Irma Camacho, Cladue Mathis
The meeting began at 3:00 p.m.
I.
II.
Terri Mann volunteered for and was unanimously
proclaimed chair of the committee. Ted Johnston
volunteered as note-taker.

OLD BUSINESS:

A. Discussion of the conference call with DE people
at Amarillo Community College concerning their
NCBO:








They have one and two hour course options.
Full-time faculty are in charge and are paid
by the state. Adjunct faculty are also eligible
to work in the program.
Students are placed in small groups.
Faculty work in a cross-curriculum setting
assisting students with reading, writing, and
math issues.
However, do we at EPCC want an integrated
program or a separate program?
What about venues? The old SSC at VV was
mentioned as a possibility, as was the Math
Emporium and Stanton Bldg. at RG. Mission
del Paso, however, would be the most
challenging campus because there is no space
there (there isn’t even a Writing Center!).
A couple of DE faculty should visit Amarillo
to observe directly the operation of their
program in action. A conference call was
informative but not sufficient. The problem is
who would go and how would the trip be
paid for? Claude Mathis and Irma Camacho
said they would look into funding options.
Our EPCC title for this initiative will be
NCBI rather than NCBO: Non-Course-Based
Instruction to avoid ambiguity surrounding
Who would be required to take NCBI? It was
recommended that we follow UTEP’s
guideline for 1301 with lab component.
Students can go into ENGL1301 with a 5 on
the writing sample and less than 80 on the
sentence structure component but will be
required to sign up for an NCBI component,
which will be a much more structured and
better managed component than UTEP’s lab
component.
NCBI work will also be included on student
transcripts and count toward financial aid
credit hour totals.
Specific curricula need to be devised for
NCBI components (one for 0309 for 0310
students and one for 0310 for 1301 students).
The Special Projects Committee will take the
lead in this effort. PLATO and audio
components could also be incorporated into
the NCBI offerings.
B. ESL Placement Procedure was presented for
consideration. With guidance from Dr. Kathleen
Kelly and Daryle Hendry, this procedure was put
together by Myshie Pagel (ESL), Maria Gomez
(Reading), and Robin Russell (English). Claude
Mathis thinks it would be better to incorporate
these plans as rubrics under TSI (Texas Success
Initiative) to avoid all the red tape involved in the
time-intensive procedure approval process.
Margie Nelson-Rodriguez said that Austin CC
and several other CC’s have similar ESL
procedure, and she would need to check to see if
this content could be included under the TSI
umbrella or not. It was noted that late-start ESL
classes will be available for students misplaced in
regular classes who really need to be in ESL (as
indicated by the required writing sample at the
beginning of a non-ESL developmental class). It
was noted that taking 9 hours of ESL can make a
student eligible for full-time financial aid (as
opposed to 12 hours in a non-ESL courses).
C. Setting a floor for English 0309 was discussed.
Claude Mathis indicated that this concern impacts
a very small number of students, and since we’ve
waited this long, it would probably be advisable
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C. A discussion of English and ESL concurrent
enrollment was tabled until next meeting.
to wait for TSI academic year 2013-2014
directives, which would establish a statewide
0309 floor.
D. Margie Nelson-Rodriguez provided a copy of the
Office of Student Success Summer 2012
document entitled “Developmental Education
Demonstration Program: Accelerated Learning
Program Focus Group Session Results and
Quantitative Analysis” and urged the committee
members to peruse it.
D. Placement procedures for English 0309 and 0310
were discussed, but again, Claude Mathis
indicated these could be best incorporated as TSI
plans rather than working through the more
onerous procedure process.
III.
NEW BUSINESS
A. It was noted that some of the accelerated Learning
Communities (0309 with 0310) were not
piggybacking together very well because some of
the paired instructors were not even
communicating with one another on regular basis
or at all. This lack of communication defeats the
purpose of the learning communities! Claude
Mathis noted that ideally the same instructor
should teach both.
E. Tony Procell provided a copy of the INRW
(Integrated Reading and Writing) course syllabus
and suggested that it might give us some ideas
about how we can interface curriculum between
paired courses. He also said that the Cengage
publishing company has designed
an excellent integrated textbook and program for
this course.
IV.
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday November 20 in MV-12
at VV from 3:00 to 5:00.
B. A discussion of the vetting and training of
developmental faculty was tabled until next
meeting.
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November 20, 2012
addressed in the TSI guidelines. As of now, there
is nothing official to disallow such concurrent
enrollment, but since the last level of ESL is the
gateway course into English 0310, it doesn’t
make sense for ESL students to be taking both
English 0309 and ESL at the same time.
Members in attendance: Ted Johnston, Brian Kirby, Terri
Mann (chair), Margie Nelson-Rodriguez, Tony Procell, Robin
Russell (in absentia but excused: Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez)
Also present: Kathleen Bombach
Liaison present: Irma Camacho (in absentia due to another
commitment: Claude Mathis)
C.
IV.
College-Level English Placement for English
0309 Students: See B above.
NEW BUSINESS
I.
Welcome and Introductions
II.
Approval of minutes from October 23, 2012 with one
change: Students carrying only nine hours, consisting of
ESL only, cannot get full-time financial aid. Their
financial aid is pro-rated. (The original minutes
erroneously indicated that a student carrying nine ESL
hours could get full-time financial aid.)
A.
INRW Discipline Committee Proposal: As of
2014-2015, all 0310 and developmental reading
course offerings need to be integrated. The
reading exit and the writing exit need to be piggybacked together in one test that incorporates both
reading and writing.
III.
OLD BUSINESS:
B.
The grammar test will also remain a requirement,
and grammar issues should be addressed in both
components of the course wherever possible.
Because the College sets limits on the size and
make-up of all standing committees and because
the workload related to developmental issues is
excessive for such a small committee in light of
the short turn-around periods for completion, it
was recommended that the DE English
Committee become a clearinghouse for delegating
and coordinating nuts-and-bolts work to other
committees at the disciplinal level. For example,
the large Special Projects committee could be
dissolved and divided in two to form a separate
INRW and a separate NCBI committee. This
organizational change should be implemented
beginning in the Spring 2013 semester.
C.
The coordination of Writing Centers across the
College, which are all currently autonomous
units, should be undertaken to enable their role in
the NCBI delivery process in particular and in
meeting the objectives of the TSI in general.
More consistency in Writing Center services is
needed across the College, and the English
Discipline should be the leader in this process.
D.
Vetting and Hiring of Developmental English
Faculty: This topic was tabled until our first
meeting next semester. This is the second time
this topic has been tabled.
A.
Discussion of the visitation Amarillo Community
College to observe their NCBO program in
action: Although money was identified for travel
to observe the NCBO system as it works at
Amarillo Community College (thanks to Irma
Camacho), it was decided that it was already too
late in the semester to make such a visit. Irma
already asked if anyone in the Math Discipline
was interested in going as well, but no one
expressed such an interest. From the Reading
Discipline, Maria Gomez indicated that she would
like to attend. A small cohort of English faculty
could thus attend such a visitation (up to five?). If
you are interested in attending, please let Terri
Mann know. The projected date of this visitation
would be the first week of February.
B.
ESL Placement Procedure Update: After
investigation, it was learned that procedures
related to developmental classes can be directly
incorporated into TSI guidelines without having
to go through the College procedure approval
system, which can result in lengthy delays.
Directives for placement into ESL can also be
incorporated into TSI. Thus, the content
contained in the ESL placement procedure
presented at the Oct. 23rd meeting does not need
to go up the College procedural pipeline for
approval, and of course, this would apply to any
anticipated changes in English 0309 as well
(which will be made by the state beginning with
academic year 2013-2014). Indeed, for purposes
of consistency, all placement guidelines in the
three developmental course areas should be
included under the TSI umbrella. English and
ESL concurrent enrollment could also be
V.
Anything Else?
A.
It was decided that FAQs and a general calendar
for “due dates” should be prepared for all faculty
teaching developmental English to be sure that
everyone is on the same page. There are too many
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NCBO, and DE course outcomes (the latter of
which were also shared with the committee by
Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez). On December 3rd,
Margie also sent instructions on how to sign up
for the CASP listserv. To quote from her e-mail,
“I highly recommend that you all join the CASP
(College Academic Support Program) list serv.
Important updates and information on all facets of
Texas Developmental Education are announced
and discussed on this list serv, especially NCBO’s
and INRW. All you need to do to join is send an
email to the following address: caspforum@groups.txstate.edu. Thanks, Margie!”
faculty members who are wandering around in the
dark about some of these requirements.
B.
C.
How NCBI enrollment would impact financial aid
is a pressing concern. The state sets a limit of 27
hours for the total financial aid allowed for
developmental enrollment. However, what about
federal financial aid? Could it pick up some of the
slack? After some discussion, we all realized in
general we were all unclear about all the ins and
outs of financial aid restrictions and requirements
across the board. To bring clarity to the matter,
Ted suggested that Raul Lerma, the director of
financial aid, be invited to our District-wide
discipline meeting during Faculty Development
Week. Margie said she would invite him.
VI.
NEXT MEETING: Tuesday January 29 in MV-12 at
VV from 3:00 to 5:00. On November 21st, Margie sent us (via e-mail)
THECB documents related to related to TSI and
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January 29, 2013
Members in attendance: Margie Nelson Rodriguez, Robin
Russell, Ted Johnston, Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Brian Kirby,
Tony Process, Robert Yarbrough, Claude Mathis
A.
Total integration of the reading and writing
areas still hasn’t been achieved in IRW. Ideally,
the two courses should overlay one another
rather than running parallel to one another. One
big challenge is that there are still two separate
exit exams in the course, and something needs
to be done because doing both exams as they
currently exist takes up too much time.
Obviously, the curriculum for this course still
needs to evolve. Fortunately, we have a
committee working on this course. The Fusion
text and program still is the best text for this
course, even though it also needs to be better
integrated.
B.
Both reading and English faculty are qualified
to teach this course. Required cross-training of
faculty who teach the course is definitely going
to be needed. The type of training needs to be
planned well before the course is finally
officially implemented.
C.
Reading 0308 and English 0309 would also be
another logical DE integration for down the
road.
D.
Another logical step would be to integrate the
reading and writing centers/labs. If the courses
are to be integrated, then why not the labs?
Turf mentality could prove to be a major
obstacle, but it must be overcome.
E.
A IRW Kick-off Institute on this integrated
course, planned for Feb. 7 and 8 in Dallas, will
be attended by Angelina Arrellanes Nuñez and
Mike Coulehan. It was noted that probably the
best session to attend would be the Houston
Regional Workshop to be held next November
1 (Friday) because, as the last workshop, it will
provide a comprehensive summary of all the
other workshops. As many faculty as possible
should be sent. There also will be a workshop
in El Paso for EPCC, UTEP, Sul Ross, Odessa
College, and Permian Basin to be held on
Friday, April 12. Our whole committee should
try to attend this meeting. Registration
information should be forthcoming soon
F.
There is also an issue related to students who
are confused what they getting credit for when
they take this integrated course. Some from the
pilot have enrolled in one of the individual
reading or writing courses that was included in
the integrated course they just completed!
Banner should be programmed so that such
erroneous enrollment will be disallowed.
Unable to attend: Terri Mann, Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez,
Kathleen Bombach-Muro
OLD BUSINESS
I.
The meeting was called to order. The committee learned
that Terri Mann is stepping down from her position as
chair for personal reasons. Margie Nelson will be the
new chair. Ted Johnston will remain as secretary.
II.
Minutes of November 20, 2012 meeting were approved
with only minor technical emendations.
III.
The visit to Amarillo, TX, was arranged for Feb. 7 and 8
to see how ACC has set up its extensive NCBO
program, which is already up and running unlike ours
(which is barely in the planning stage). We need to learn
about lab set-up, software, staffing, administrative
issues, credit assignment, ongoing registration, fee
issues, flow-charting students through the program, etc.
Representatives from the three developmental areas are
going, including Margie Nelson and Kathleen BombachMuro from English. At our next meeting they will share
what they learned from this visit. Follow-up: They have
already sent several highly informative files and e-mails
to the committee.
IV.
It’s official! All the placement procedures for DE
courses will be incorporated into the TSI plan. The
approval of separate procedures via the standard slow
process will not be required. An initial draft of the
Academic Success Plan was provided at the meeting.
Suggestions were made for reorganizing the document in
a more logical way, with Caroline Woolf Gurley taking
the lead in this effort.
NEW BUSINESS
I.
IRW (short for INRW) is going to be required statewide,
probably beginning Fall 2014 at EPCC. Reading 0309
and English 0310 will be paired in one three hour course
(INRW 0310?). Pilot courses have already taken place,
and although class sizes are much smaller than
individual sections of these two courses (which will
continue to exist for those who don’t need both), Tony
Procell reports that meeting the objectives of two
courses in one means much more work for the instructor,
part of which he admits is “learning curve” issues. A
target optimum of 20 students currently being
considered for this course once finalized. Unfortunately,
the pilot INRW options for this semester did not make,
so better promotion is needed.
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II.
Vetting and hiring of DE English faculty remains a high
priority. Learning how to teach DE by trial and error
hardly seems the most efficient way to deal with the
problem, although so far that has been our MO for the
most part. Robin Russell is to be commended for the
four lessons she has set up (using SoftChalk software) in
a herculean effort to develop much-needed training
materials, as well as a list of FAQs about nuts and bolts
issues related to teaching 0309 and 0310 that should
prove very helpful to new faculty teaching these courses.
A mentoring system is also needed, pairing up veteran
DE faculty with newbies. Currently, due to lower
credentialing requirements, these crucial courses are
being taught primarily by adjunct faculty, who often are
the least informed and in some cases perhaps least
prepared to teach them. Ted and Claude suggested that
we should really look into NADE certification
requirements for faculty who teach DE courses. It is
ironic that the writing courses that are hardest to teach
(DE) have the lowest credentialing requirements.
NEXT MEETING: The next meeting is scheduled for
Monday February 18, 2013, at VV in MV-12.
Respectfully submitted,
Ted Johnston
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February 18, 2013
Members in attendance: Margie Nelson Rodriguez, Terri
Mann, Ted Johnston, Caroline Woolf-Gurley, Brian Kirby,
Tony Procell, Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez, Robert Yarbrough,
Kathleen Bombach-Muro, Claude Mathis
I.
At EPCC, the NCBO program could piggy-back on the
existing emporium model. All emphasis is currently on
math remediation in these labs, but they are called
Learning Centers and could be expanded to incorporate
the other two developmental areas. Currently these labs
are not being utilized to 100% of their capability.
Old Business
Writing Center re-evaluation process currently being
considered should also address what role, if any, those
centers should play in NCBO implementation.
The minutes of the January 29th meeting were approved
with two emendations: Angelina Arellanes-Nuñez was
listed as being in absentia when in fact she was in
attendance and a comment about stand-alone sections of
Engl0310 and Read0309 continuing to exist after the
full implementation of IRW is in fact false. Once the
College goes IRW across the board in 2014-2015, there
will no longer be separate Engl0310 or Read0309
sections. Even if a student needs only one but not the
other component, he or she will still need to take the
integrated course.
It was noted that the new Accuplacer will give
diagnostic results in addition to placement information.
The Accuplacer can also be used in conjunction with
other diagnostic instruments. Angie and Kathleen have
volunteered to do a report on the diagnostic instrument
with a view toward NCBO at our next meeting.
Angie reported that at the IRW Kick-Off Institute held
in Dallas in early February she learned that IR training
is up to the institution. Thus, we need to design that
training and soon. IRW overview, however, is not
necessarily going to end up being under the English
discipline at EPCC. The control of this course will
probably be based on some kind of shared arrangement
with Reading. We can also expect that eventually
Engl0309 and Read0308 will need to be implemented. It
was indicated that San Jacinto College has already
implemented Engl0310/Engl0309 integration across the
board.
The issue of the TSI Plan with all the college-level
English placement information for English 0309
students and ESL students was tabled due to Robin
Russell’s unavoidable absence.
Vetting and hiring of Developmental English faculty
was also not discussed.
The FAQs/Handbook for New Developmental English
faculty was discussed. The FAQ questions “so far” were
presented and assigned. A couple of additional
questions that were also suggested were “How often
should I check my College e-mail? My mailbox folder?”
The answers to the questions need to be submitted by
the various members (as designated at the meeting) to
Margie Nelson by March 11 before the District wide
discipline meeting to be held March 12. The idea of a
DE English handbook, which exists at Amarillo
College, was also embraced. Perhaps the FAQs could be
contained in such a document, which should be
available online.
II.
NADE training certification could be utilized for
training purposes. Claude suggested waiting on going
this route until more direction is forthcoming from the
administration. He indicated he would talk to Steve
Smith about the matter to get a sense of the general
direction in which we should be proceeding. Ted said
that some sort of compensation such as released time
should be provided to those doing the nuts and bolts
work needed to set up both the IRW and NCBO
programs.
New Business
Kathleen gave a report on the College visit to Amarillo
College. She indicated that it is a stand-alone
Accuplacer-oriented NCBO program and as such
creates a duplication of already existing disciplineoriented labs with NCBO. The program there is also not
connected to the curriculum but to a test. As such, it
does not emphasize higher order thinking. The Access
Lab is Amarillo College’s NCBO and is run by
bachelors level faculty. Amarillo College also has an
inviting writing center facility called The Writer’s
Corner with group areas and nice furniture. It is
attractively appointed.
IRW sections to be offered for Fall 2013 at VV need to
be requested ASAP. Kathleen Bombach, who has had
experience teaching reading at UTEP, says she would
like to teach a section due to her dual expertise. It was
noted that all Puente sections are already IRW sections.
Better IRW course promotion is needed because the
sections offered this semester did not make.
III.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held Weds. March 27, 2013 at
3:00 p.m. in MV-12A.
Respectfully submitted,
Ted Johnston
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April 16, 2013
concerns that a traditional Exit Exam
contradicts the spirit of the Individualized
Education Plan.
Members in attendance: Robert Yarbrough, Kathleen
Bombach-Muro, Margie Nelson-Rodriguez, Terri Mann, Tony
Procell, Angelina Arellanes-Nunez, Robin Russell, and Brian
Kirby.
I.
Welcome, review of minutes from February 18, 2013
meeting.
II.
Minutes were approved.
III.
Old Business:
Further discussion on Exit Exams:
scoring/readings are difficult to organize
simply because there’s nothing to compel
faculty to participate (other than the kindness
that exists in their hearts).
Assessment/Placement of the NCBO Student is
still rooted in ACCUPlacer scores until the
Texas State Initiatives (TSIs) are made
available.
Robin Russell reports she is currently gathering
information from Institutional Research related to the
movement of misplaced ESL students because
previous data received from IR proved to be
unhelpful. Chair Margie Nelson-Rodriguez reports
that the answers to the FAQs for adjunct instructors
have been submitted and compiled into one cohesive
document. Committee approved of the submitted
answers, and Robin Russell volunteered to put a copy
of the FAQs on EPCC’s BlackBoard platform.
Eventually a decision on how to distribute the FAQs
to New Developmental English Faculty needs to be
made.
IV.
Committee then discussed the NCBO’s
Implementation Timeline and its components.
First, read, review, and present to Dean Mathis
the NCBO Proposal. Then, present the
proposal at the NCBO District-wide meeting
scheduled for April 25, 2013. Coordinate with
Registrar’s Office, Scheduling, and Counseling
Offices. An additional meeting will be needed
to finalize curriculum and materials.
NCBO Course Description reviewed by the
committee: “Contact Hours” requires a more
clear explanation.
New Business:
A.
Committee then returned to discussion of the
Exit Exam and a large number of the members
believed that an article-based writing sample is
the best option.
NCBO Planning: Margie Nelson-Rodriguez
and Kathleen Bombach-Muro report their trip
to Amarillo Community College yielded some
useful suggestions for our own
implementation. Course description was
reviewed, discussed, editing suggestions were
offered. Discussion on finding dedicated lab
space, which is dependent upon the NCBOproposal’s reception by the administration.
There is anticipation of a single-campus
implementation but with the popularity of the
NCBO gaining momentum necessitating
offerings at additional campuses.
B.
Discussion ensued on the possibility of an Exit
Exam. Margie Nelson-Rodriguez explained
Amarillo Community College’s Exit process
and asked the committee to consider an ENGL
0310-like Exit Exam. Some expressed
APLIA Demonstration: Lisa Goodrich of
Cengage Learning provided the white paper,
“Improving Student Learning Using Aplia” and
an accompanying PowerPoint presentation to
extoll the virtues of the Aplia platform. She
also provided each committee member with
login and password capabilities so that we
could experience, test-drive Aplia on our
terms, at our own paces.
V.
Anything Else? The committee had nothing else.
VI.
Next meeting time: To be determined.
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2011-2012
September 21, 2011
member, instruct and inform the graders as to what
constitutes a passing paper and what does not.
The meeting began at 3:35 p.m.
I.
The first order of business was to elect a new chair
and co-chair. To that end, Robin Russell was elected
chair and Ted Johnston was elected as co-chair.
II.
The second item on the agenda was to discuss the cutoff scores and/or other prerequisites for English
0309/English 0310 and English 0310/English 1301
learning communities. The Committee decided to ask
the Discipline at its next meeting on October 13 if it
would be willing to approve a cut off score for
students wishing to take the 0310/1301 pairing at an
Accuplacer essay score of 5 with any sentence
structure score. The Committee did not come to a
conclusion about any cut-off score or other
prerequisite for the 0309/0310 pairing but will discuss
them at its next meeting.
III.
In regards to the collection of data related to the
English 0309/0310 and English 0310/1301 learning
communities, Claude Mathis volunteered to submit
the request to IR. The research questions posed are:
1) Do 0309/0310 English learning community
students succeed at a higher rate than students who
take English 0309 and English 0310 sequentially,
instead of concurrently; and 2) Do students who take
any developmental English classes, i.e., English 0309
or English 0310, succeed in English 1301 at a higher
rate than students who place into English 1301 by a
testing instrument such as Accuplacer or THEA; and
3) How many students taking the Accuplacer score a 5
on the essay and 40-79 on the sentence skill portion of
the test.
Irma Camacho will organize the qualitative data
collecting, i.e., surveys, student focus groups, and
others. Claude Mathis will speak to Jose Baltazar
about counseling errors and overwrites that incorrectly
place students.
IV.
The Committee voted in favor of the re-instatement of
a District-wide group grading of the English 0310 exit
exam. The members also discussed and supported a
plan to change the norming session (usually occurring
before breaking into groups for actual grading).
Instead of seeking group consensus as to whether a
sample student essay is passing or not, the Committee
recommends having a leader, an experience faculty
V.
The Committee discussed the two English
developmental classes offered at Dona Ana
Community College in Las Cruces, New Mexico and
concluded that there is a need to study them in order
to decide whether their approach would suit EPCC’s
developmental English classes. At Dona Ana, the
lowest level of Developmental English is a
reading/writing course that focuses on summarizing
college-level texts. The second and highest level of
Developmental English at Dona Ana teaches argument
writing based on text readings. The Committee
concurred that this is a better approach than the
current self-guided approaches adopted by each
developmental English instructor at EPCC.
VI.
The Committee voted in favor of returning to
argumentative topics (i.e., not personal narrative
topics) to serve as the prompts for the English 0310
exit exam.
VII.
Irma Camacho informed the Committee that grant
money is available for the training of instructors who
teach developmental writing via online classes from
Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. The
Chair will ask the Discipline at its upcoming meeting
on October 13, 2011, if there exists interest in these
classes. It was noted that at Alamo Community
College in San Antonio, all developmental instructors
are required to take continuing education courses
related to developmental writing during the semester
in which they teach. Tony Procell further mentioned
that at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces,
New Mexico, instructors are not allowed to grade their
own student exit exams.
VIII.
The issue of credentialing instructors with ESL
backgrounds (as opposed to English discipline
backgrounds) will be raised at the discipline meeting
on October 13.
IX.
Irma Camacho will inquire about funding for a
recruiter to call prospective students for enrollment
into the English 0309/0310 and English 0310/1301
learning communities (based on students’ test scores).
Terri Mann will inquire about the existing recruiter at
Dona Ana Community College.
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At the discipline meeting in October, the
discipline will be asked to approve the creation of
a writing emporium and whether anyone is
interested in becoming a member of a working
group whose purpose is to develop a curriculum
for said writing emporium. The first task of this
working group would be to gather information.
At 5:05 the meeting was adjourned.
.
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October 26, 2011
approved was to make summary writing of various
texts a primary component of 0309.
Members in attendance: Robin Russell, Claude Mathis, Terri
Mann (Absent), Tony Procell, Irma Camacho, Robert
Yarbrough, Ted Johnston, Margie Nelson.
IV.
The Committee also discussed the need to make the
English 0310 official course description more specific
by stating the rhetorical modes that must be covered
during the semester, i.e., cause and effect, argument,
compare and contrast, etc. As is, the 0310 official
course description leaves the choice of modes that will
be taught up to the instructor.
V.
Tony Procell announced that he and instructor Mike
Coulehan will be teaching two pilots of the State’s
proposed integrated reading and writing course
(INRW 0300) in the spring 2012 semester.
The meeting began at 3:00 p.m.
I.
II.
III.
Irma Camacho also reported on the availability of
grant money to fund instructor release time during the
spring 2012 semester to create an online training
module for all instructors of developmental English.
Robin Russell volunteered to create the module and
the Committee approved.
Robin Russell reported that she and Kathleen
Bombach are interested in taking the graduate-level
course in the teaching of Developmental Writing
offered by Texas State University and are willing to
share what they learn with our developmental
community. Irma Camacho said she would
investigate the particulars.
At 4:30, the meeting was adjourned.
The Committee discussed the need for rewriting the
curriculum of English 0309 in order to bring it into
alignment with the demands of English 0310 as well
as the rigors of English 1301. One idea that was
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February 22, 2012
IV.
Motion was made to approve the minutes with corrections.
I.
Memo to and from Dr. Kelley was discussed. Margie
Nelson will send an email directly to Dr. Kelley.
Claude suggested working with counselors more
closely to advise students whose scores fall below our
suggested guidelines.
II.
Irma confirmed that the grant from which monies
would be drawn to fund the development of an online
training module for developmental English instructors
will be extended through Summer 2012.
III.
Tony spoke about the Integrated Reading 0309 and
English 0310 class he is teaching. It was noted that
the course was not being offered at VV due to a lack
of interest from faculty. Tony then spoke about the
texts he chose for the course (not the state approved
text): Fusion 2 Integrated Reading and Writing from
Cengage that comes with a web application called
Applia that is user-friendly, streamlined, professional,
etc. He said it’s basically a lab component; it has
graphs, reports, and other functions to help an
instructor keep track of a student’s progress. The
book costs $70.00. Terri pointed out that while the
cost is $70.00, the book replaces two separate books—
a reader and a writing rhetoric. Tony would
recommend Fusion 1 for English 0309 as well. Tony
said that he saw 9 out of the 10 students passing the
0310 part of the course, but only 5 or 6 of the students
passing the reading part (there are two separate exams
for the single course). The course meets three hours a
week plus a one hour lab, but Tony says the “lab” is
no more than regular old Plato. He much prefers the
Applia program (included in the text).
Irma mentioned that we shouldn’t advertise this class
as for every student. Claude would like to offer an
integrated class at VV this fall.
Margie that other discipline coordinators have asked
her about the integrated reading/writing class because
they didn’t understand it and how it would impact
their courses. Margie said she explained to them that
it was a pilot and how it worked.
Completion by Design – Margie briefly outlined the
project. Tony interjected and said that they had
already had the campus meeting at NW and that most
attendees’ belief was that counselors are not doing
their job in counseling students in what courses to
take. Margie then passed out two handouts—one a
description of Completion by Design and the other a
list of discussion questions about ENTRY (the
developmental population). Last question on list:
How would we characterize developmental education
at our College? Are the components of developmental
education communicated clearly across all program
and service units of the College? Our answer: No,
they are not communicated clearly. Problems: part –
time developmental faculty are not all on the same
page either; class sizes are too large and small classes
are not supported by administration. Irma says we
must keep pushing and not give up demanding smaller
class sizes.
Other ideas: The Developmental English Standing
committee should assume ownership of the working
group for the writing emporium. Terri: At another
college that has a writing emporium their focus is on
mastery. Students are self-paced. But evaluation of
their writing is done by faculty (every two weeks
faculty gather to read student work and evaluate it to
decide if students are ready to move to next level, i.e.,
from 0309 to 0310. Banner is an issue, but Irma
mentioned how our math folk have made an
arrangement so that the last week of the semester is
reserved for dropping and adding so that if a student
actually moves through two courses this can be
reflected on Banner. Irma said the math department
has already trail-blazed this issue. Margie ended by
encouraging the committee to send her any ideas.
V.
The Committee discussed the need for rewriting the
curriculum of English 0309 in order to bring it into
alignment with the demands of English 0310 as well
as the rigors of English 1301. One idea that was
approved was to make summary writing of various
texts a primary component of 0309.
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2010-2011
September 30, 2010
Members present: Hector Padilla, Tony Procell, Angelina
Nunez, Irma Camacho, Robin Russell and Gloria Estrada
meet on October 7 to better align the scores. If EPCC changes
the testing instrument to THEA, the alignment may not be a
relevant point.
The meeting started with approval of the February 9, 2010
minutes.
Members recommended that at least one pair of the
Accelerated Learning courses be offered in each semester.
These courses are learning community which pair 0309 and
0310 or 0310 and 1301. Students who register for one of the
courses will automatically register for the other course in the
pair.
There was discussion about the 0309 and 0310 scores.
Presently, those students that score 1,2, or 3 and a score of less
than 50 on the sentence skills portion of the Writeplacer are
placed in 0309. Students with a 4 and a sentence skill score of
more than 51 (check) and students with a 5 and a sentence skill
score of 20-79 are placed in 0310. UTEP does offer 0309; it
places students with a 5 and 20-79 in English 1311 (EPCC
equivalent 1301) with a lab. EPCC and UTEP faculty will
Projects for Fall 2010: Members agreed to wait for the results
of the October 7th meeting with UTEP before proceeding with
plan for future projects.
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March 2, 2011
Members present: Margie Nelson, Tony Procell, Robin
Russell, Claude Mathis, Irma Camacho, and Gloria Estrada
Members also talked about looking at how reading/writing
courses align and how they help students transition into other
English courses.
The first item of discussion was the possibility of returning to
Baltimore in June of 2011 for the Accelerated Learning
Program Conference, at which we would be willing to present
our current data reflecting the dramatic pass rate of students
enrolled in El Paso Community College’s own Accelerated
Learning Program (now called Accelerated English 0310). Ms.
Camacho will look into securing funding from the
Developmental Education Demonstration Project.
Members suggested that Dev Ed faculty should give a
diagnostic during the first day and evaluate it before the next
class meeting in order to help students with significant ESL
issues return to ESL.
There was also a discussion on a state mandated floor other
than an open door policy for entering students.
Margie Nelson joined the Committee.
Members also discussed the lack of continuity between making
0309 more challenging or requiring full time faculty to teach a
developmental course.
The next meeting is April 4 at 3:00 in MV 12 of the Valle
Verde Campus.
Claude recommended that members collect data on 0309 drop
rates.
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2009-2010
September 16, 2009
additional writing assignments to these accelerated students
and that these same students would then be allowed to take the
English 0310 exit exam at the end of the semester. Kelli took
responsibility for communicating with faculty at large in the
form of a memo about this decision.
Members present: Angelina Arellanes-Nunez, Irma
Camacho, Claude Mathis, Robin Russell, Tony Procell, Hector
Padilla, Kelli Wood, Gloria Estrada.
The meeting was called to order at 3:05. The first order of
business was to elect a new chair. Robin Russell, last year’s
co-chair, volunteered to chair the committee for the academic
year 2009-2010. Kelli Wood made a motion to nominate Ms.
Russell, and the motion was seconded by Hector Padilla. The
motion was then approved by the committee and Ms. Russell
was elected chair. She will assume the position beginning with
the next committee meeting.
Next on the agenda was a discussion of the 0-2 and 3-4
placement scores in light of the implementation of the
Writeplacer in fall of 2009, which apparently places students
lower than the Accuplacer once did. Kelli Wood questioned
whether the recommendation to Dr. Brown that the new floors
for placement in 0309 be adopted should be delayed, given the
fact that the current testing tool (the Writeplacer) is more
vigorous than the previous testing tool. (It was noted that in
some 0309 classes this semester, but not all, there are students
clearly capable of succeeding in 0310.) Because of this change
in rigor, the committee discussed waiting to submit the
narrative until this issue is resolved. The decision was to wait
until early October when the committee will have a clearer
picture of the exact number of students who were incorrectly
placed in 0309 and whether this was an isolated incident or
whether it is a continuing trend. If it is a continuing trend, then
the committee will recommend to the English department that
the floor to be placed in English 0309 be changed from a 4 to 3.
Then the committee discussed possible remedies for those
students misplaced in the current fall 2009 semester, and
Claude Mathis reminded everyone that the committee had
already agreed last year that if any student in 0309 or 0310
clearly had been misplaced and clearly belong in English 1301,
said student would be given an exit exam type prompt to write
which would then be read by the instructor and at least one
additional instructor to verify the student’s readiness. A memo
would then be signed by Dean Mathis for the student to take to
the counseling center to register for 1301.
Kelli Wood then made the motion (which was passed) that the
situation be handled by each individual instructor and that if an
instructor felt that certain 0309 students were capable of
passing the 0310 exit exam, that these instructors would give
Kelli will write the narrative of the steps and procedures that
guidance counselors will follow when working with students
who earn a 0, 1, 2 or 3 on the Writeplacer; this document will
be peer-reviewed via email and ultimately presented to Dr.
Brown with the expectation that our recommendation will be
adopted in time for Fall 2010 registration.
The next item on the agenda was a discussion of the case
management system to track and support students through their
first 30 college credits and the committee’s role in suggesting
strategies to accomplish this goal. The committee
acknowledged a general reluctance, on its and other faculty’s
parts, to take on additional responsibilities to the already
substantial workload shared by all English faculty. After much
debate, led by Claude Mathis, the committee resolved the
following:
That the Developmental English Committee will commit
to the case management of such students if the following
conditions are met:
1.
Basic necessities now lacking are procured, such as a
writing center and a computer lab at Mission.
2.
Existing writing centers at various campuses are fully
staffed by experienced writing instructors.
3.
Existing faculty course load is reduced from the
current five classes to four classes in order to assure
adequate compensation and fairness.
4.
English writing classes (both developmental and
freshman composition) are reduced in class size to
accommodate the national trend of instructing no
more than between twelve and eighteen students per
class. Further discussion of this proposal will
continue.
The meeting then came to an end and was adjourned at 4:50
p.m.
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February 3, 2010
who registered with them. Mr. Mathis mentioned that the
committee needs to re-invent the “list” and identify five or 6
student populations and what their paths might be to achieving
student success.
Members present: Claude Mathis, Robin Russell, Hector
Padilla, Tony Procell, Angelina Arellanes-Nunez.
The meeting was called to order at 3:00. The committee began
with a discussion about the proposed case management that
administration has asked faculty to assume. Claude Mathis and
Irma Camacho agreed to present the faculty demands to
Leadership if case management is implemented.
Ruben Ochoterena, Interim Manager of the PREP program,
began his presentation by speaking of his concern that PREP
could possibly be held responsible for serving all of the needs
of students who do not make a 4 on the writing portion of the
Accuplacer. He emphasized that the program has only a few
facilitators of the PLATO program (used to tutor students), and
wanted the English department to know that they do not have
actual tutors at PREP. Mr. Ochoterena was concerned that the
PREP program would also be asked to serve students with
disabilities; he was reassured by the committee that we had
already confirmed with the Center for Students with
Disabilities that they would help any differently abled student
The next item on the agenda was further discussion of the letter
the committee would like to send to Dr. Brown requesting that
the floor for placement into English 0309 be raised from 0 to 4.
Robin Russell and Hector Padilla agreed to modify Kelli
Wood’s original letter to be more informative as to how to
better serve the students whose scores were lower than 4. The
letter will be written in the next few weeks and presented to Dr.
Brown as soon as possible.
Next on the agenda was a brief discussion of the Texas Success
Initiative (TSI) and its requirement that EPCC (and other Texas
colleges) use other testing instruments besides the Accuplacer
to place students.
The meeting then came to an end and was adjourned at 4:55.
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2008-2009
September 2, 2008
Members present: Irma Camacho, Claude Mathis, Kelli Wood,
Baldemar Perez, Tony Procell, Angelina Arellanes-Nunez
 The meeting was called to order at 3:00.
 Members welcomed Kelli Wood as new English Discipline
District Wide Coordinator, and, at her request, discussed
her role in this committee. It was discussed that the role of
the Standing Committee is guided by Achieving the
Dream-Lumina Foundation. The committee’s role is
advisory. No changes or decisions are made without the
approval of the English Discipline.
 Approval of minutes was conducted; revisions were
recommended and applied for final review during the next
meeting.
 The committee was updated on Peter Maas’ proposal for
twined 0309/0310 classes. It has been approved by the
Discipline and will be piloted (tentatively) in spring’09.
 Those who piloted Criterion favored piloting it again in
spring of 09 before a recommendation to adopt it is made.
It was indicated that Criterion is a good supplement in
0309, 0310 and possibly worth piloting in more 1301
classes. However, those who piloted it in 1301 did not
find it very appropriate for this level. Nonetheless,
considering that different campus serve students with
different strengths and challenges, it was agreed that it
may prove helpful in some classes.
 Smarthinking was recommended as a more helpful CAI
tool for students in 1301 and 1302. The committee will
 It is imperative to identify instructors willing to pilot the
software and also have class section numbers available for
data gathering. It is recommended that at least two faculty
members pilot the software at each campus.
 It was also recommended that success rate for 031, 5+80
placement be tracked.
 It was also recommended that there be communication
between DE Standing Committee and Curriculum
Committee to avoid overlap of projects.
 Criterion representative will be invited to present the
software at the next English Discipline meeting.
 All members were updated on the status of the
recommendations made for 0310 and 0309. The
Curriculum Committee recommended 5+80 Writeplacer
score for placement into 1301 and the English Discipline
unanimously accepted it. It went into effect fall of 2008.
However, work still needs to be done regarding
dissemination of this information to all counselors. This
committee will continue to identify alternatives for
students who score 0-2 on the Writeplacer in order to make
this proposal effective by spring/fall 2009.
 There is great concern regarding the impact that the
recommended 3-4 placement to enter 0309 will have on
DSS population. It was recommended that Jan Lockhart
be invited to attend one of our meetings to discuss
alternatives that DSS may have for those students who
score 0-2.
look into the possibility of getting funds to pilot it in spring
09. Criterion, on the other hand, should be piloted in 0309,
0310 and 1301.
 Should both Criterion and Smarthinking be piloted, it is
highly recommended that those piloting keep data so that,
any recommendation made is based on compelling
evidence that use of this software is, in fact, conducive to
student success.
 New members to this committee are Robin Russell-VV,
Hector Padilla-RG and Kelli Wood-English Discipline
representative.
 Robin Russell was nominated and elected to serve as CoChair
 Explanation was provided regarding staggering of
members every three years; this three year rotation applies
to members appointed in 2008.
 Strategies proposed to assist student with 0-2 Writeplacer
Scores

Refer to PREP

One-hour Refresher Workshop-for how long?

Refer to PASS

Accuplacer Workshop
o
What would cause a student to score 0-2?
It was decided it is important to consider
possible answers to this question to better select
the needs of these students.
o
What will be the plan of action to disseminate
information to students?
Meeting Adjourned at 5:30 p.m.
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October 30, 2008
Members present: Angelina Arellanes-Nunez, Claude Mathis,
Hector Padilla, Tony Procell, Robin Russell

The meeting was called to order at 3:05.

The approval of the minutes was conducted; a few
minor revisions were suggested.

Smarthinking – The program was discussed, along
with the need to pilot the software. It was agreed that
Tony Procell, Hector Padilla, and Robin Russell
would pilot the program in a total of four sections
(1302 and 2342). Concern was expressed concerning
training and the committee approved Claude Mathis’
suggestion that he call the appropriate salesperson to
arrange such training.


Accuplacer (many students forgo this opportunity). If
a student’s score does not improve during the second
Accuplacer test, it was suggested that the student go
back to his/her counselor in order to discuss the
alternatives, such as returning to ESL classes,
undertaking an independent study of PLATO. The
Committee also considered the viability of offering a
one hour (per week) class for these students that
focused on areas such as verb conjugation, spelling,
and vocabulary.
A motion was made for Robin Russell to contact
Carolyn Buntyn in the Testing Center to inquire as to
what students are told, if anything, about the
importance of Accuplacer and how it will affect the
beginning of their college career. It was noted that
Joyce Ritchey is the head of the District-wide
counselors’ meeting.
The Committee discussed the upcoming floor
prohibiting students with Accuplacer scores of 0-2
from placing in English 0309 and possible solutions of
what to offer these students instead. The first step
agreed upon is that any student receiving a 2 or less
should retest. Prior to this retesting, however, it was
suggested that these students first 1) meet with their
counselors and/or go to PREP for an orientation to the

Next, the Committee discussed the need for an “even
drop/even add” policy to be adopted by the Discipline.
This policy would allow students to forgo having to
go through Registration in order to, for instance, drop
a 0310 class and add a 1301. This policy would
counter some of the placement problems encountered
by our use of Accuplacer.

Finally, a motion was made to track those students
who scored a 5 on the sentence structure portion of the
Accuplacer and an 80 on the writing section and
compare them to students who scored a 6 on the
writing portion but with a sentence structure score less
than 80 and students who scored a 6 on the writing
portion with a sentence structure score of more than
80. Robin Russell will call Carolyn Buntyn and Lucy
Michal to inquire as to how to set this study up.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.
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February 9, 2009
Members Present: Tony Procell, Baldemar Perez, Claude
Mathis, Irma Camacho, Hector Padilla, Robin Russell and
Angelina Arellanes-Nunez
o
The meeting was called to order at 3:30

Things to do:
Members were provided with
o
DE Standing Committee minutes for the meeting held
October 2008
o
Minutes were approved
Memo: Kelli
ACCUPLACER
The Committee was informed that Daryl Hendry had
approved an even add/drop policy. This
recommendation has been approved by the English
Discipline and is now ready to be presented to Dr.
Brown. The District wide Coordinator will write a
Memorandum informing Dr. Brown of this, and will
present this decision to the Developmental
English/ESL Coordinating Council.
Strategies/Alternatives for 0-2 placement were discussed;
alternative testing was removed from the list.
The even add/drop policy applies only to 0309 and
0310
o
The committee thought it necessary to consult with the
discipline regarding the development of an
information sheet/flyer explaining the even add/drop
policy
o
0309 & 0310 instructors should be provided with
information regarding identification, referral and retest
of students who might have been misplaced due to
unreliable Accuplacer scores.
The committee discussed the possibility of piloting a
pre-diagnostic writing sample to be graded by faculty
members using a 0-4 rubric. This rubric would have
to be discussed at length and approved by the
discipline. Tony will follow up on this. This would
be a process similar to what we do at the end of the
semester.
Counselor/Student Interview Questions: Hector
Rubric: Tony
o
o
Contact Literacy Center: Robin
Contact Jan: Claude
There was a brief update about CRITERION; some faculty
have indicated that the holistic scoring has turned into a
problem because students get 6/6 and think their essay is
perfect.
o
It was recommended that we collect data regarding
success rates of students who placed into 1301 with
new requirement of 5+80-how does their performance
compare to that of students who entered 1301 with a
score of 6 ( no record of sentence structure grade?)
Carolyn should be able to help us with this.

3-4>>>0309

0-2>>) Testing Staff >) Counselors- >>> interviewrecommend

PREP

ESL

Literacy Program

CSD

Alternative Testing -remove

Customized/Skill- Specific Modules
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
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March 23, 2009
Members Present: Kelli Wood, Irma Camacho, Robin Russell
and Angelina Arellanes-Nunez
The meeting was called to order at 2:30.

Alternative assessment has been removed as one of
the options given to students who score 0-2 on the
Writeplacer.

Another recommendation made was that if a student
with 0-2 score in writing places in Read 0307 or
higher, he/she should be encouraged to retest.

Not all instructors have felt comfortable using
Criterion, which was to be expected. The overall
feeling is that it will be a valuable tool for some
instructors/students, and we should continue to pilot it
in some classes

Smarthinking seems to be working better in upper
level courses

As discussed during the English Discipline meeting,
the idea of creating a student survey and asking
instructors to develop a brief evaluation of the
software was addressed. Committee members began
drafting a number of possible questions to use in the
student survey. Kelli will be sending an e-mail to all
requesting feedback and input.

Procedure to follow up on add/drop policy was
thoroughly discussed. Kelli will follow up on this.

Kelli will also find out more information about the
add/drop process during the first week of classes.

It was also indicated that it is imperative to develop a
rubric for the evaluation of final exams in 0309.

Irma shred with the Committee very important
information regarding best practices at the Community
College of Baltimore County. She provided all with
an informative brochure about the Accelerated
Learning Project being conducted there. Committee
members were also provided with contact information
since the pioneers of this project are looking for more
colleges/instructors willing to engage in a project that
emulates theirs.

The 40% attrition rate in 13012 classes from fall to
fall was also addressed. The possibility of having
smaller classes, which has already been implemented
and documented was brought up again as a way to
retain students

It was also mentioned that it would be interesting to
gather information that would allow us to find out
what the specific real reasons that students fail or do
not complete their 1301 class.

It was discussed that not all/not many students drop
due to inability to meet academic demands. Many
drop out for serious personal reasons.
Members were provided with:
o
DE Standing Committee minutes for the meeting held
on February 9, 2009. Minutes were approved with
revisions as shown below.
From 2/9/09 minutes:
The Committee was informed that Daryl Hendry had approved
an even add/drop policy. This recommendation has been
approved by the English Discipline and is now ready to be
presented to Dr. Brown. The District wide Coordinator will
write a Memorandum informing Dr. Brown of this, and will
present this decision to the English Coordinating Council. The
even add/drop policy applies only to English 0309 and
English 0310




Regarding the recommendation to develop an
information sheet/flyer explaining the even add/drop
policy, Kelli indicated that she would send an e-mail
to all Campus Coordinators to ensure that everyone
has the same information and to get feedback.
It was also recommended that the information sheet
regarding identification, referral and retest of students
be developed by the Discipline.
Regarding the possibility of piloting a pre-diagnostic
writing sample to be graded by faculty members using
a 0-4 rubric, it was recommended that the same
procedure followed to grade 0310 final exams be
used.
Regarding things to do, changes were made as
follows:
Contact Literacy Center: Angie
Contact PREP: Robin

Robin will also follow up with Carolyn Buntyn to
request her assistance in collecting data to track the
performance of 5+80 1301 as compared to 1301
students who entered 1301 with a score of 6. This is
for information purposes.

In order to make sure that 0-2 score students get
accurate information about the different resources they
can use before retesting, committee members will be
contacting the coordinators/directors of the different
programs students might be referred to after they are
interviewed by the counselors.
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April 21, 2009
discussed by English Discipline and all are in favor of
proceeding with it. Daryl Hendry indicated it can be
done. Kelli will meet with Daryl in the summer to
finalize details and to better understand how this
policy will work and how it will affect our DE
students.
Members Present: Tony Procell, Hector Padilla, Baldemar
Perez, Irma Camacho, Claude Mathis, Robin Russell and
Angelina Arellanes-Nunez
The meeting was called to order at 2:30
o
DE Standing Committee minutes for the meeting held
March 23, 2009 were approved
o
Info sheet and even-add… will be presented for final
comments at the Fall Discipline meeting.
o
Committee members reported findings after having
contacted the different College
offices/people/programs that provide services to
students, particularly academic services.
o
Dissemination of information should be a priority in
this process
o
Any changes/additions to College catalogue should be
submitted by Oct. 1, 2009
o
Site visits to Baltimore on Accelerated Learning
Institute were discussed. Possible attendees are Robin
Russell, Tony Procell, Hector Padilla, Claude Mathis
and Angelina Arellanes-Nunez. Number of attendees
will be determined based on availability of funds.
o
Meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
o
After committee members reported their findings, it
was determined that the College already has a system
in place to assist students who get a 0-2 score in their
Accuplacer.
o
An information sheet will be developed and will be
submitted for approval to the English Discipline.
o
The English District Wide Coordinator will follow up
on the Even-Add/Even-Drop policy. This has been
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2007-2008
September 14, 2007
Members present: Claude Mathis, Baldemar Perez, John
Lencyk, Ted Johnston, Irma Camacho, Tony Procell, and
Angelina Arellanes-Núñez
Have students attend Writing Lab on a regular basis
Use PLATO ( Level of computer literacy was brought
up)
Attend PREP Tutoring Sessions
Attend PASS program workshops
Develop an Integrated Approach Model for 0309
The meeting was called to order by Mr. Claude Mathis at 3:15.


Mr. Tony Procell was welcomed as NWC representative to
the DE committee.

Irma Camacho and Claude Mathis addressed the function
of the DE Committee.
Possible solutions:
 Highlights




Accelerated Learning Workshops
Develop one-hour refresher course(must meet SACS
requirements)
Open-entry refresher courses throughout the year
Portfolio Assessment (first six weeks of class) to
provide opportunities for early exit-How does this
affect Financial Aid eligibility?
Use UTEP’s model for 1301 placement (5+80
Writeplacer score)
Find out how this model is working for them, find out
if score is percent, percentile or scale score. (Ted
indicated he had a contact at UTEP and will find out
about their model, process for selection and other
relevant data.)
Oversee success of Dev. Ed.
Seek opportunities for improvement
Make recommendations to District Wide
Committees
Notion of a floor for 0309 was addressed and the following
alternatives/concerns were brought up.
 Should we consider SS (Sentence Structure) score for
placement?
 What should we do we do with those whose score is
0-2?
Comments:

Irma informed the committee about the availability of
Criterion, which is software to be piloted in some writing
classes. She also indicated that she would look into the
possibility of having a presentation of the software for the
committee and would ask if the distributor/representative
would be willing to facilitate our piloting the program at
all campuses.

The committee also decided to gather the following data
before the next meeting
UTEP sends them to EPCC
0-2 placement is perceived as a great barrier to success
Students who finish ESL program automatically place into
0309

Irma indicated that the committee can make
recommendations to address these issues

John and Claude suggested that we come up with
alternatives to assist students who are in 0309 but need
help to succeed.
The needs of students who are at the upper end of 0309 or
0310 should also be addressed.
 Which was the last level of ESL current students in
0309 finished?
 How many of those who took the Writeplacer placed
in 0309 with a 0-2 score?
Possible solutions:
If students need more ESL instruction, should/can we
send them back?
Some of them have already finished the ESL Program
It may be considered as an option
Students could be required to complete a number of
hours in a Language Lab.
Provide supplemental instruction

Committee members were invited to make
recommendations to visit Colleges/Universities which are
Models of Best Practices in DE.
 Virginia Tech
 La Guardia Comm. Coll.
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 Valencia Comm. Coll.

Committee Recommendations:
Study make-up of those who do not make the floor
Develop alternative plans for those who do not make
the floor
Set floor for 0309
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September 27, 2007
Members Present: Liz Carrillo, Tony Procell, Baldemar
Perez, Claude Mathis, Angelina Arellanes-Nunez
DE Council Feedback/Questions:

Ted Johnston, John Lencyk, Irma Camacho called to indicate
they were unable to attend
The meeting was called to order at 3:00.



Members were provided with:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
DE Council Minutes for the meeting held April 11,
2007
AtD at EPCC Progress Report on Proposed Actions
for Year 2
Criterion Webinar information
Reading Standing Committee 2003-2004 Data
reflecting Grade distribution
EPCC Success Initiative Developmental Education
Plan
Culture of Evidence Data Presented by Art Gonzalez
during DE Council Meeting
DE Council Action Agenda 2006-2007
DE Standing Committee Minutes September 14, 2007
minutes
Lucy Michal, DE Council Chair, emphasized the
importance of disseminating information; thus, copies of
minutes DE Council minutes and other documents were
distributed to all DE Standing Committee members.
My report to the DE council highlighted the following issues:




Recommend a 3-4 floor for 0309
Address the needs of those who place 0-2 on the
Writeplacer
Mention our concern for ESL students who are in
0309/0310 who are experiencing frustration because
(maybe) their command of the English Language is not yet
where it needs to be.
The greatest challenge may not be Writing Skills but
Listening Comprehension Skills
Do any English Faculty members teach ESL Writing?
MdP has begun exploring the idea. Also, they are working
with instructors in the different disciplines to allow ESL
students to audit their classes.
What alternatives can we offer students who do not make
the 3+ score?
What are faculty members doing, at present, to address the
needs of students who for one or another reason are not
being successful in class?
Lucy Michal really emphasized the need to share
expertise/best practices. Liz indicated that once the
Faculty Resource Manual is ready, it will meet this need.
On New Theories & Assessment:
NADE recommends smaller number of students per class.
Committee members mentioned the possibility of creating a
task force to write a proposal for a 0309 pilot program to be
presented to the Curriculum Committee.
The proposal would be developed to address the needs of
students currently experiencing many challenges in 0309. The
most important thing to keep in mind is to write the proposal
so it follows strict research design. Thus, we will be able to
work with a statistician who will help us gather data to prove
the effectiveness of implementing the proposed 0309 pilot.
The College does have a statistician who can work with us on
this.
Claude indicated he would communicate with John so our
recommendation could be put up for a vote within the English
Discipline.
Possible visit to La Guardia late October/early November.
Claude will follow up on this. Members interested in going..
RAISE YOUR HAND!
On this note, meeting was adjourned.
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November 16, 2007
Members Present: Liz Carrillo, Tony Procell, Baldemar
Perez, Claude Mathis, Angelina Arellanes-Nunez and Ted
Johnston, John Lencyk and Irma Camacho were unable to
attend
it was recommended that we try to have access to their
findings. It was considered very important that we explore
ways of truly creating a culture of evidence.

Committee members spent some time studying the data
provided by IR, and it was decided that we needed some
clarification. We will contact Art Gonzalez.

Committee members were invited to take the SS portion of
the Writeplacer to make a more informed decision in the
event this score is later considered to place students in X
DE courses.

Alternatives/strategies to address the needs of students
who score 0-2 were discussed.
The meeting was called to order at 3:00.

Members were provided with
o
o
o

Previous meeting minutes for approval (Sept 27)
Agenda for present meeting
Accuplacer 0-2 and 0-4 data obtained from IR.
Members made recommendations regarding
o
o
o
Minutes Format ( general format)
Process to arrange committee representation in the
event the Chair cannot attend a meeting (notify
Baldemar ahead of time)
Plan of Action for 2007-2008- charge of the DE
Standing Committee for this year
o
o




Start a Course redesign/review project
Recommend 3-4 score for placement in 0309
Promote documentation of Learning Outcomes
Have testing Center refer students in this category to
PREP for a two-three week intervention ( most
feasible)
Make CAI-PLATO part of this intervention
Possible site visits to learn more about e-portfolios were
also mentioned.
Meeting Adjourned at 4:40.
The plan of action is to be discussed in detailed in January.
Some Faculty members have conducted Action Research, and
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April 22, 2008
Members present: John Lencyk, Claude Mathis, Irma
Camacho, Ted Johnston, Elizabeth, Carrillo, Baldemar Perez,
Angelina Arellanes-Nunez

The score of 5+80 has been through all
channels/offices needed for its approval. This goes
into effect fall ‘08. There has been some confusion
regarding this information in the Counseling area, but
it will be addressed through proper dissemination of
information.

At Dr. Stroud’s request, committee members should
be staggered on a three year basis after having served
two years. This was discussed among the committee
members present. Hector Padilla and Robin Russell
will replace Ted Johnston and Liz Carrillo as campus
representatives in this committee.

It is essential to work on a plan of action for 0-2
placement students. This must be the goal in the fall
semester. We need to strategize, contemplate
alternatives and follow the necessary steps to
implement this plan in spring of 2009.

Adjourned at 4:45
Tony Procell called
Guest: Peter Maas


The meeting was called to order at 3:00. Mr. Maas
attended the meeting to present a course
pairing/twined class proposal which would affect 0310
and 0309 students. He indicated that one of the main
components of his proposal would be the support
provided by the faculty members involved in this
project, and the fact that, if paired/twined instruction
is properly designed , students would benefit from a
challenge-targeted instruction model. All committee
members agreed that his idea should be pursued and
presented to the English Discipline for approval.
Committee members who piloted Criterion shared
their experiences using this software. It was indicated
that a debriefing session should be set up if at all
possible. The possibility to pilot/purchase Criterion
should be explored.
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2006-2007
November 21, 2006
Agenda:






Ms. Nunez asked Mr. Mathis if EPCC's pilot is the same as
UTEP's, and Mr. Mathis confirmed that EPCC's pilot is
different because it is looking at enrollment of 18 students per
pilot class rather than the norm of 27 students per class, and
thus EPCC's pilot is an "Enrollment pilot."
Claude suggested that the committee members ask UTEP how
successful is their pilot program, and if EPCC wanted to it can
adopt UTEP's pilot.
Accuplacer Issue
Sentence skills component back in the placement exam
Reexamination of the objectives stated in the Official
Course Descriptions for English 0309 and English 0310
Changes for both or either syllabus
The Developmental English Resource Manual
Status of Resource Manual
Attendees:

Claude Mathis, Dean of Communication and Performing
Arts at Valle Verde; Sandra L. Shuya, guest; Angelina
Arellanes-Nunez, Baldemar Perez, chair; and Elizabeth
Carrillo, co-chair

Absent and Called: John Lencyk, Ruth Vise and
Theodore Johnston
Opening:
The regular meeting of the Developmental Education English
Standing Committee was called to order at 3:45 p.m. on
November 21, 2006 in MV10 Conference Room by Baldemar
Perez.
Approval of Agenda
The agenda was unanimously approved as distributed.
Open Issues:
Accuplacer Issue
Mr. Perez began the meeting by stating that the Developmental
Council Committee has been active this semester, and one of
the key concerns that came up at the last meeting was the
Accuplacer for Developmental English.
Mr. Perez stated that English faculty members have been
discussing bringing the "sentence skills" component into the
Accuplacer, and that this committee needed to decide if the
sentence skills test should be included. Mr. Mathis responded
by saying that the University of Texas is using the "sentence
skills" component and it is using it as part of a pilot program
where if students who score a "5" and a certain score on the
"sentence test" (exact score was unknown) then students get
placed in a college level course with a lab; the lab is considered
supplemental instruction.
Ms. Nunez commented, "Before we decide to include the
sentence skills scores, it is essential that we determine why we
(EPCC's English discipline) want to use them as part of
placement." Mr. Perez responded that many English faculty
members are concerned that many students in English 1301, for
instance, are not performing and successfully meeting the
course requirements. Mr. Mathis commented that it is a
complex concern with many dimensions and that the discipline
needs to ask what they should do with the results of the
sentence skills test. And, he emphasized that the committee
members ask UTEP faculty what they are doing with the
sentence skills scores (i.e. what is their evaluation packet?).
Mr. Mathis further emphasized that Accuplacer is not
completely accurate and that there are many dimensions to
readiness beyond skills readiness, and dual credit courses are
demonstrating that students are skills ready, according to
Accuplacer scores, but the scores do not demonstrate the level
of maturity readiness for a rigorous college course. And,
Accuplacer is never going to score other dimensions beyond
skills ready scores.
Before moving to the next item on the agenda, Ms. Shuya
commented that she also sees many students not writing
compositions successfully because of too many grammatical
mechanical errors. Ms. Carrillo added that critical reading and
thinking skills also contribute to a successfully written essay
and paragraph. In response to Ms. Sandra and Ms. Carrillo's
comments, Mr. Mathis suggested that the committee consider
what other skills besides writing are listed as course objectives
in the Official Course Descriptions for English 1301 and
English 1302. Then, members should look into incorporating
some of those skills. Unanimously, committee members and
Ms. Sandra agreed that course objectives stating critical
reading and studying skills (not included in English 1301 and
English 1302) should be included in the English 0309 and
English 0310 Official Course Descriptions as course objectives.
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results more reliable. Finally, Mr. Mathis informed the
members that the Accuplacer is one of the tests mandated by
the state of Texas and requires institutions to act on it, but that
institutions may employ additional means of placement such as
offering a standardized writing sample with a rubric to be used
at the beginning of semesters for every entry level English
course. In other words, the English discipline perhaps should
look into formalizing a diagnostic essay and making it a part of
the criteria for placement in addition to Accuplacer. This may
help to place students more accurately.
Reexamination of the Official Course Description Course
Objectives
Committee members agreed to propose to the English faculty
two additional course objectives in English 0309 and English
0310 Official Course Descriptions:
•
Identify and use various study skills to develop
independent and organizational skills
•
Develop critical reading and thinking skills
Developmental English Resource Manual
Ms. Carrillo reported that the last meeting with Valle Verde
faculty of developmental English was overwhelmingly
positive. Faculty members are enthusiastic and will be ready to
contribute materials for the Resource Manual in Spring 2007.
Ms. Carrillo also stated that she will openly invite other faculty
members from other campuses and who teach developmental
English courses to contribute materials for the Resource
Manual at the next English Discipline District-wide Meeting in
Spring 2007.
Mr. Perez stated that he will request that the ESL/English
Committee share its survey questionnaire results with the
Developmental Education English Standing Committee to
guide the members in its decision to propose that it should or
should not include the sentence skills test in the Accuplacer.
The ESL/English Committee is also looking into the sentence
skills text issue for its inclusion in the Accuplacer.
Agenda for Next Meeting:
List the items to be discussed at the next meeting:


New Business:
Mr. Perez asked the committee members to think of other
alternatives for the English discipline to include sentence skills
assessment. Mr. Mathis responded that the English discipline
may create a pilot study where one group of students could take
the Accuplacer with the sentence skills component and see
what would be the results to aid the discipline in its decision to
include officially the sentence skills component in the
Accuplacer. Ultimately, the committee needs to investigate
further and talk to UTEP about its sentence skills scores. Mr.
Mathis also suggested that committee members look into other
placement tests and compare them to the Accuplacer. Mr.
Perez and Ms. Carrillo commented that the Developmental
Council will also be looking at other alternative placement tests
and compare them to Accuplacer. Ms. Nunez indicated that
she had a conversation with Kay Lambert, and Ms. Lambert
had pointed out that Testing Services is working on making the
Accuplacer more student friendly, hoping that this would make




Textbooks for English 0309
Reexamine current textbooks and make
recommendations for new textbooks
Communication with other coordinators
Establish better communication with coordinators at
other campuses
Grade Issue for Students who take Accuplacer and test
into the next English level
Allow students to earn an "A"?
Adjournment:
Meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m. by Baldemar Perez, chair.
The next meeting TBA.
Minutes submitted by: Elizabeth Carrillo, co-chair
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DEVELOPMENTAL ENGLISH COMMITTEE
MINUTES FOR 2005-2006
November 9, 2005
Valle Verde Campus, Room MV10
concerned about the possibility that there may be some
ambiguity and an inconsistency about how the exit exam
is scored. The committee suggested some possibilities
to alleviate the problem: (1) Create a rubric (a scoring
guideline) which explains specifically how to score the
exit exam and (2) conduct “anchoring” sessions with the
instructors who teach English 0309.
Members Present: Chair, Baldemar Pérez; Chair-elect,
Elizabeth Carrillo; Ted Johnston; Ruth Vise, Claude Mathis
I.
The committee nominated and elected the chair and
chair-elect. After some discussion a decision was
reached unanimously and Baldemar Pérez was elected as
chair and Elizabeth Carrillo was elected as chair-elect.
II.
The next item discussed was the issue of the English
0309 final grade. Currently students receive a CR or NC
as their final grade. Based on feedback from instructors
who teach or have taught English 0309, formerly BASK
0303, there was great concern about not issuing students
an actual letter grade. Most teachers felt, as did the
members of the committee, that students lack a sense of
motivation since no letter grade is actually issued.
A decision was reached unanimously that starting next
spring; students should receive a letter grade with an
asterisk after completing English 0309. Irma Camacho
and Daryle Hendry will be informed about the
committee’s recommendation.
III.
IV.
The committee considered the possibility of improving
the communication and perhaps alignment between ESL
classes and English 0309. The committee recommended
contacting Karina Ramirez about the idea of improving
communication between the two departments in an
attempt to create a better “transitional bridge” between
ESL classes and mainstream English classes.
V.
Finally, a recommendation was made to provide training
for developmental education instructors. NADE and
TESOL were mentioned as possible alternatives. Claude
Mathis recommended that a TASK force be created to
look into the matter.
The committee then discussed the current status of the
exit exam for English 0309. Currently, the committee is
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January 12, 2006
Valle Verde Campus, Room A2518
IV.
Members present: Angelina Arellanes, Elizabeth Carrillo,
Ted Johnston, Baldemar Pérez, and Ruth Vise
I.
The committee first discussed the issue of the appeal
exam in English 0309. The issue needed immediate
attention because some instructors were offering an
appeal exam at the end of the semester while others were
not. This inconsistency needed immediate clarification.
The committee unanimously decided not to offer an
appeal exam in 0309. After a brief discussion, the
committee reasoned that since the final exam was no
longer an “exit” exam (it currently accounts for twenty
percent of the final grade), offering an appeal is simply
unnecessary since a student can still pass a class if
he/she fails the final exam. The matter was put to rest.
II.
A related concern was whether 0309 teachers should
take their final exams to the 0310 grading sessions. The
committee decided to instruct 0309 teachers to take only
those paragraphs for which they have doubt, paragraphs
that are commonly referred to as “borderline”
paragraphs. It was also decided that all full-time 0309
teachers should participate in the 0310 grading sessions
even if they do not have any borderline paragraphs.
III.
The committee also decided unanimously that students
must pass English 0309 with a “C” or better in order to
be eligible for enrollment in English 0310.
The following issues were discussed but not resolved:
a.
Should a more intensive workbook be offered in
0309?
b.
How much grammar should 0309 emphasize?
c.
Is there a better textbook for 0309?
d.
How do we improve our dialogue with Carina
Ramirez and the ESL department?
e.
Is it possible to revisit the placement exam
procedures, particularly the cutoff scores in the
writing sample?
In addition to revising the syllabus itself, such serious
matters were left for future meetings. (The committee
did not decide on a future meeting date.)
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April 4, 2006
Valle Verde Campus, Room MV10
Pilot Taskforce to do the planning, the follow-through,
and the gathering of data related to outcomes. The first
meeting of the Pilot Taskforce has been set by the
Developmental English Committee: Tuesday April 18,
2006 at 3:00 in Claude Mathis’s Conference Room
across from his office in MV-10 of the Americana
Village.
Members present: Angelina Arellanes, Elizabeth Carrillo,
Ted Johnston, Baldemar Pérez, Ruth Vise, and Claude Mathis
I.
The 0309 Syllabus
With significant input from full-time and part-time DE
faculty members, who met with coordinator Elizabeth
Carrillo, the following changes will be made to the 0309
syllabus:
a.
The syllabus will indicate that a student must pass
the class with a “C” or better.
b.
The syllabus will indicate that a student must
maintain a “C” or better in order to be eligible to
take the final exam.
During the discussion of the syllabus an additional point
was introduced—how exactly should we grade the final
exam. Because we are now applying numerical grades
to the paragraphs, including the final exam, we can no
longer realistically grade the final exams holistically.
Therefore, it was suggested by the committee to
construct some sort of rubric. It was agreed that we
would obtain feedback from the faculty before we create
a final rubric that will decide how we grade the final
exams. However, regardless of the rubric chosen, the
committee suggested that the final grade be in
increments of five, i.e., 100, 95, 90, 85, 80, etc.
II.
The Pilot Program
The 1301/0310 pilot has been approved for fall 2006. It
has not been decided how many sections will be
impacted at each campus, two sections per campus more
than likely. The fall pilot does not involve any changes
in placement scores, but it does involve setting all pilot
sections at 18, which should allow instructors to increase
the number of writing assignments and make
changes/improvements to their usual teaching methods
(early alerts, required conferencing, Accelerated
Learning or Supplemental Instruction strategies,
requiring PLATO work, etc). There also needs to be a
III.
The 0309 Textbook
With significant input from full-time and part-time DE
faculty members, who met with coordinator Elizabeth
Carrillo, the committee decided on the following texts
for next year: New Horizons, Destinations, and The
Writer’s World. New Horizons will continue to be the
default text and the other two books will be the
alternative texts.
IV.
Training for DE instructors
The committee decided that the training begin with a
handbook or manual designed for DE instructors. This
manual, the committee suggested, should be written
collaboratively by several DE instructors. Ideas for the
construction of the DE handbook will be shared on April
18 during the pilot program meeting.
V.
ESL update
An effort to work collaboratively with ESL instructors is
still ongoing. One suggestion was to encourage ESL
teachers and DE teachers to attend each other’s
workshops and trainings. For example, ESL instructors
and administrators will be invited to the April 18th
meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.
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