AGC ACTION FORM – PREREQUISITES
Attachment A
Background Information
Internal Data – History, Current Practice, Data
Prerequisites have a long history of existence at GRCC; however, prior to Fall 2005,
there was no systematic enforcement of prerequisites at the College. Before this time,
some individual departments (e.g. Nursing, Child Development, and Music) took
responsibility in their own offices to ensure that students had met appropriate course
prerequisites. Also, individual instructors might have tried to enforce prerequisites, but
they lacked institutional policy to bolster their efforts.
In Fall 2005 and Winter 2006, a prerequisite pilot project was undertaken at the request
of the Academic Senate. This pilot was undertaken for several reasons, one of which was
to see if GRCC’s technology could successfully be used as a tool in prerequisite
enforcement, and another of which was to identify issues of concern associated with
enforcement. The pilot was successful, and expansion of the pilot was recommended. In
Winter 2006, the AGC delayed expansion of the pilot pending the completion of the work
of this subcommittee and its subsequent recommendations.
Institutional Research has compiled data on success rates before and after implementation
of prerequisite enforcement in the courses identified for the pilot project. See Attachment
C. Those data are inconclusive, and frankly do not provide strong arguments for or
against prerequisite enforcement (especially when one considers that the health
departments already enforced prerequisites themselves before they were part of this
institutional pilot).
For several reasons, conclusive data about the value of prerequisite enforcement at
GRCC would be difficult to garner. Since the College has never had a period of
institutional prerequisite enforcement, direct comparisons of pre- and post-enforcement
(beyond the one made by IR and mentioned above) cannot be made. Furthermore, even
in such direct comparisons, it is difficult to control for other variables impacting student
success. Also, because the College does not have consistent intake assessment (or
mandatory placement), it is difficult to look at success rates in single courses (say EN
102) and be able to attribute success or lack thereof to whether or not a student has taken
EN 101; we do not know if the student was supposed to take that course or not.
Research Data
A comprehensive literature review of the research on prerequisites is not possible in this
context. However, several points need to be made.
Quantitative research on prerequisite enforcement has been undertaken at other colleges,
both two-year and four-year. A search of the ERIC (Education Resources Information
Center) database finds numerous articles on prerequisites and student success. Studies
that clearly link prerequisite enforcement with increased student success have been
undertaken, for example, at Muskegon Community College (ERIC EJ536331) and the
San Jose/Evergreen Community College District in California (ERIC ED354978).
Scholarship by nationally recognized educators clearly supports prerequisite
enforcement, and, even more strongly, its closely related counterparts, mandatory intake
assessment and placement. For example, Hunter Boylan, Head of the National Center for
Developmental Education at Appalachian State University, considers mandatory
assessment and placement to be two of the essential components of a successful
developmental education program and cites research to support his assertion that
mandatory assessment and placement clearly correlate to student success (What Works:
Research-Based Practices in Developmental Education 35-38).
Mandatory placement does not differ in nature from prerequisite enforcement. Edward
Morante, noted statistician and assessment scholar, and former Director of the New
Jersey Department of Higher Education, has famously written: “Placement must be
mandatory since it borders on the unethical to know that a student lacks basic skills but is
still allowed to enroll in college courses requiring that skill” (“Selecting Tests and
Placing Students,” Journal of Developmental Education, vol. 13, no. 2, 1989, p. 2).
Finally, in High Stakes, High Performance: Making Remedial Education Work, John E.
and Suanne D. Roueche, prolific authors on community college education issues, and
leaders in the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at
Austin, write: “Universities do not hesitate to prohibit students from enrolling in courses
for which they are not prepared or have not completed prerequisites; community colleges
should do no less” (30).
Benchmarking Data
Michigan Community Colleges that enforce prerequisites
At the January 27, 2006 meeting of the Michigan Community College Registrars,
Howard Shanken conducted a survey of all colleges present. 17 out of the 20 Michigan
community colleges in attendance enforce prerequisites. GRCC is included as one of
the 3 schools that do not enforce prerequisites. Other large institutions, such as Macomb
and Lansing, are among the 17 schools that do.
League for Innovation Vanguard Learning Colleges that enforce prerequisites
For this recommendation, Laurie Chesley researched (consulted websites and made
phone calls) whether or not the 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges enforce prerequisites.
All 12 enforce prerequisites. These institutions include Cascadia Community College,
the Community College of Baltimore County, the Community College of Denver,
Humber College, Kirkwood Community College, Lane Community College, Madison
Area Technical College, Palomar College, Moraine Valley Community College, Richland
College, Sinclair Community College, and Valencia Community College.
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