Marcia Corcoran, Dean of Language Arts mcorcoran@chabotcollege.edu
Katie Hern, Instructor, English khern@chabotcollege.edu
Ming Ho, Instructor, Math mho@chabotcollege.edu
Matthew Kritscher, Dean, Counseling mkritscher@chabotcollege.edu

 Chabot’s Basic Skills Initiative
 Designing Jumpstart and program components


Literature consulted
Data used to inform program design
 Window into a Jumpstart classroom
 Emerging findings
 Faculty Inquiry Group of English instructors
 Math Workshop
 Next steps
 Challenges and lessons learned

 Senate-approved process and charge to committee
 Multi-disciplinary group of faculty from senate, FA, and “other suggested faculty based on roles” (e.g. CTE faculty, DSPS, EOPs, ESL Coordinator, Learning
Connection Coordinator, and 2 administrators)
 Met twice a month with a retreat each semester
 Similar membership to Title III grant, “Improving
Basic Skills Across the Curriculum to Increase Student
Success, Persistence, and Institutional Effectiveness,” running simultaneously, bringing together Learning
Support Services and faculty development

 Develop and adopt an institution-wide, integrated basic skills philosophy and unifying framework
 Increase professional development opportunities in relation to basic skills education
 Expand and strengthen supplemental academic and counseling support in basic skills
 Carefully review data on student performance and literature on effective practices in developmental education
 Develop and implement curricular changes to improve student outcomes

 Target group:
 First-time college students applying after July 17
 Population identified as at-risk:




Low Fall to Spring persistence
Typically does not receive matriculation services
Typically does not have access to developmental English and
Math in first semester (all sections closed)
Typically are late to apply for financial aid
 Intervention:
 Provided assessment, orientation, group counseling, and financial aid workshop
 Reserved sections of developmental English
 Provided math workshop, allowed students to re-assess

August 1-17
PSCN 25: Orientation
After assessment,
Counselors direct students to course package. Incentive: all other English &
Math sections full
College Success
Workshop
(1 unit)
English 102: Reading,
Reasoning, and Writing
(Accelerated)
Open-access 1-semester course leading to transfer-level English
Math Workshop:
ALEKS
Learning/Assessment
System (1 unit)

 Cost of sections: 2.33 FTEF X $25,000 = $58,250



5 sections of College Success @ .066 FTEF each = .33
FTEF (1 hour lecture per week)
5 sections of ENGL 102 @ .35 FTEF each = 1.75 FTEF
(3 hours lecture and 2 hours lab per week)
5 sections of Math workshop @ .05 each = .25 FTEF
(1 hour lab per week)
 Cost of Math software: $63.00 X 160 = $7,875
 Faculty Inquiry Group costs: ($750.00 X 5) + ($300. X
4) = $4950
 TOTAL: $71,075.00

 Students receive early assessment and advisement (A4)
 Students encouraged to take foundational English and
Math early in their college careers (A4)
 Faculty who are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about developmental education are recruited and hired to teach in the program (A6)
 Counseling support provided is substantial, accessible, and integrated with academic courses/programs (B3)
 *Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges (2007, July) (2 nd ed.).
The Center for Student Success, the Research and Planning Group of the California Community
Colleges, under contract from the California Community Colleges System Office, sponsored by USA
Funds.

 Reading/writing curricula integration (D2)
 Development of the whole person - Social and emotional as well as cognitive growth (D3)
 A high degree of structure is provided in developmental education courses (D5)
 Instructors share strategies (D8)
 Faculty and advisors closely monitor student performance (D9)

 Higher persistence rates among students receiving matriculation services
(Persistence rates measure the percentage of students enrolled as of Census Day in the first term who are subsequently enrolled as of Census Day in the following term.)

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Fall 01/ Sp 02 Fall 02/ Sp 03 Fall 03/ Sp 04 Fall 04/ Sp 05 Fall 05/ Sp 06
Did Not Receive
Matriculation
Orientation
Assessment
Counseling
E.O.P.S.

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
82%
Non-Accelerated Eng 101A/B, 04-09
82%
Accelerated Eng 102, 04-09

70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Developmental English Success Rates by Accuplacer Reading Score
Fall 2007-Summer 2009
52%
47%
45%
51%
52%
54%
49%
60%
52%
62%
56%
66%
54%
66%
62%
Eng 101A: Non-Accelerated
Eng 102: Accelerated
42%

 Video footage from Katie Hern’s English 102, Fall 09
 Students are working collaboratively to understand the assigned reading, an excerpt from Paolo Freire’sPedagogy of the Oppressed.
 It is the fourth class session. The discussion builds on earlier readings about education by Malcolm X,
Krishnamurti, and Mike Rose, along with a study by Anyon documenting serious differences between schools in different socio-economic communities.

1) What does Freire mean by the term “banking model” education? Why does he say it is
“oppressive” or “dehumanizing”?
2.) What does Freire mean by “problem posing” education? Why does he say this is “liberatory”?

5 English instructors teaching in the program met twice a month, examined range of data together


Challenge of homogeneous sections of “late arriver,” first-time college group: All instructors reported higher withdrawal rates and lower success rates than is typical for them
Reasons behind low success rates:
For the majority of students who did not complete or pass course, the primary reason was not insufficient literacy skills for the accelerated track. Instead, it was either external life factors (sudden homelessness, death in family, need to travel to Mexico) and/or old “high school behaviors” (e.g. trying to get by without doing work)

1-Unit Course in computer lab setting. Students work with ALEKS software program, which assesses their existing knowledge and provides individualized curricula in their own zone of proximal development
Workshop provides
 Review of prerequisite skills
 Shift in expectation of math class at a CC
 Understanding of the college’s math offerings

 Workshop setting instead of regular math class is less overwhelming
 Low-stress environment & flexible pacing safely tests student discipline and commitment
 Computer system ALEKS works for all students





Builds solid foundation
Individualizes curriculum sequence
Focuses on learning, not points
Develops independent learning skills and strategies
Allows moving ahead; appropriately challenges all students

Students…
 Take initial assessment in ALEKS
 Attend weekly lab hour
 Log three hours per weeks on ALEKS
 Get support in drop-in tutorial
 Take frequent assessment to monitor progress
 Retake Chabot math assessment

Instructors…
 Review progress with students in lab
 Answer questions in lab/office hour
 Give help to individuals or small groups
 Explain Chabot’s math offerings

 132 students at census. Some are not in Jump Start.
 114 students in analysis
 Only 37 students had completed the 40 required hours on ALEKS
Histogram of Hours on ALEKS
30
10
5
0
0
25
20
15
20 40 60
Hours on ALEKS
80 100 120

 30 of those have Chabot Assessment data for both before and after workshop



15 students placed the same
9 students advanced


7 into one level above
2 into two levels above
6 students regressed
 Assessment placed most students in Prealgebra, Elem.
Alg., Int. Alg. Only 3 students placed in transfer-level
 Three ALEKS courses were set up: Prealgebra,
Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra

 Poor results in the previous course in ALEKS suggest a second look at the assessment instrument
 Students were placed in ALEKS at one course below their assessment level to brush up on prerequisite skills



No Int. Alg. Student assessed over 50% in ALEKS Elem. Alg. course
Only about 20% of Elem. Alg. Students assessed at least 50% in
ALEKS Prealgebra
In ALEKS Prealgebra assessment, the Q2 (37%) and Q3 (46.5%) for Elem. Alg. students are only 15% higher than those for
Prealgebra students

15
10
5
0
0
25
Histogram of ALEKS Initial Assessment in Elementary Algebra
Init Chabot Placement = Intermediate Algebra
20
15 30 45
% of Curriculum
60 75

15
10
5
25
20
0
0
Histogram of ALEKS Initial Assessment in Prealgebra
Init Chabot Placement = Elementary Algebra
15 30 45
% of Curriculum
60 75
15
10
5
25
20
0
0
Histogram of ALEKS Initial Assessment in Prealgebra
Init Chabot Placement = Prealgebra
15 30 45
% of Curriculum
60 75

 Consider other ways to effectively use individualized approach to expand students’ options within the math curriculum; possible options: shorten the workshop to, say, 5 weeks while keeping the same format…
 To reduce student procrastination




To give student a better sense of pace of regular math course
To identify students who can better benefit from self-paced format
To allow students who can advance the opportunity to be reassessed before registration
To allow multiple workshops through out the semester to catch dropouts from regular math courses

• Use insights from Jumpstart to reconsider English developmental sequence



How should we direct students toward the appropriate path – accelerated vs. two-semester track?
Which students need a longer sequence? What are their specific needs, and does our current sequence meet them?
Do we have the right balance of accelerated and nonaccelerated sections ?

 How might we support students confronted with external life challenges that pull them away from school? Are there alternative models of counseling that can be used to intervene in crucial moments?
 How might classroom faculty work with these challenges?
 How might we help students develop a stronger sense of intrinsic motivation to meet the demands of college?

Early Census data shows higher persistence rates among first-time college students in Jumpstart:
Fall ‘09 to Spring ‘10 Persistence
 New, first time Jumpstart students: 72% (N = 85)
 New, first time non-Jumpstart students: 65%

 Reflect on ongoing data from Jumpstart experiment
 Did taking English, math, and counseling in their first semester correlate with success in other courses?
How do Jumpstart students perform in English and
Math courses in future semesters?
 Continue to use basic skills committee to develop coordinated, institution-wide support for students

 As new initiatives are developed within one campus group, ensure that the representatives on that group are sharing information in an ongoing way with departments, other institutional groups, and other administrators to facilitate smooth implementation
 Be intentional about aligning new initiatives with existing campus structures and timelines





Directing students to enroll early in an accelerated
English curriculum that integrates reading and writing and provides a one-semester track to college-English
Developing systems to increase student participation in assessment, orientation, and counseling
Using ALEKS to develop workshops to address student math skills
Using the Basic Skills Initiative Committee to develop an institution-wide initiative that crosses academic and student services as well as multiple disciplines and combines Faculty Development with Learning Support