As with all Florida College System institutions dealing with
legislative changes that alter the traditional way developmental courses are
delivered to a wide swath of students, Daytona State College is embarking on a
grand experiment officials hope will prove to be a viable alternative for
students needing academic intervention and support.
During its last session, the Florida Legislature changed the
requirements for developmental education at all post-secondary institutions,
resulting in thousands of students no longer being required to take
college-prep or non-college-credit developmental courses. Exempt students include active duty military
personnel and students who were enrolled in a Florida public high school in the
9th grade in 2003 or after and graduated. While these students may be
encouraged to take an assessment test such as PERT or TABE, they are not
required to do so or to take remedial courses.
A Developmental Education Implementation Plan was approved
by the college’s District Board of Trustees at its January meeting, produced by
a committee of faculty and staff after months of research and collaboration.
The plan takes a three-pronged approach that includes advising and new course
options for students that will help prepare them for college-level English and
math studies.
Each institution’s plan must be submitted to the FCS
chancellor by March 1, with implementation no later than fall semester 2014.
We’ve asked the plan’s authors to provide a brief synopsis
of its three main components:
Comprehensive
Advising Plan
by LeeAnn Davis,
director of Academic Advising
To meet the requirements of FS 1008.02, academic advising at
Daytona State will move from a prescriptive to a developmental method of
guiding students, meaning advisors will spend more time and emphasis talking to
students about their educational and career goals and how to reach them.
Our advising strategy incorporates multiple checkpoints and
interventions with students throughout their college careers, beginning with
orientation. Registration holds will be placed on students during various
waypoints to ensure they meet with their advisor, including students who have
been exempted from taking developmental courses via the statute but who do not
successfully complete their initial college-level English or math courses.
During their first meeting with an advisor, course placement
will be recommended to exempt students based on high school measures such as
assessment test scores, GPAs in English and math, end-of-course math scores and
each student’s previous work experience. Rubrics have been developed by the
English and Math departments to ensure that advising is appropriate and
consistent.
Advisors will encourage Associate of Arts students to
consider their intended bachelor’s degree major and university transfer early
in their college studies so they can be provided information about appropriate
pre-requisite courses they will need. Registration holds will be placed on
undecided students after they complete 15 credit hours, when they will be
required to again meet with their advisor and encouraged to research possible
careers based on their interests, strengths and weaknesses, and take advantage
of the tools available in Career Services. Advisors also will recommend that these
undecided students enroll in one of the college’s two career class options or
SLS2301 (Career Development), which has a built-in career exploration option.
Daytona State also has in place an early alert system called
“TRACS” that allows faculty to notify advisors of students who are having
difficulty in a course. Once notified, the advisor will contact the student to
explain his or her options.
Revisions to Developmental
Education in English
by Dr. Evan Rivers and Elizabeth
Barnes, chair and assistant chair of the School of Humanities and Communication
The English Department has taken a comprehensive approach to
meeting student needs within the framework mandated by the state. This involves
the creation of new courses, providing non-college credit development options
as well as some college-credit options, and new policies that will enhance
support for students and improve their likelihood of success.
Among the options are accelerated or modularized, 7 ½-week
developmental courses in reading (REA0017) and writing (ENC0025). Students who
are significantly weak in these areas may take these courses prior to enrolling
in Freshman Composition (ENC1101).
ENC1101 faculty will evaluate each student’s skills the
first week of class and may advise them to co-enroll in new non-college credit
reading (REA0055L) and writing (ENC0055L) labs. The labs will be comprised of
small group discussion contextualized to the work the students are doing in
their ENC1101 class. The labs are facilitated
by trained faculty and Academic Support Center staff. . Grading will be pass or
fail depending on the grade students achieve in ENC1101 as well as attendance
in the lab.
Another option for students is a new course that is a
product of Daytona State’s Quality Enhancement Plan. SLS1101 (College
Resources) is a one-college-credit-hour course that focuses on teaching
students to use and value the academic resources available at the college, such
as the Academic Support Center, Library and College Writing Center. Students
enroll in a full-term of ENC1101 and co-enroll in a 7 ½-week term of SLS1101.
Other new college-credit courses include Traditional English
Grammar and Composition (LIN1670) and Critical Reading (REA1105). LIN1670 is a three-hour course that focuses
on grammar, usage and mechanics; basic sentence structure; and effective
writing strategies. REA1105 is a three-hour course that emphasizes effective
reading strategies and skills development contextualized for the reading matter
students need for other courses they take during their college studies.
These course are designed primarily for students who take a
developmental education accelerated course during an A term and may need
additional preparation during a B term to be ready for ENC1101. Students also
may take the course during a full term concurrently with ENC1101.
Also included in our comprehensive English readiness
strategy are Adult Education courses designed to address the lowest proficiency
levels and a free, non-credit refresher or “boot camp” option called “Word Up,”
which is offered prior to the start of each semester by the Academic Support
Center. Those who complete Word Up may have a better start in ENC1101 since
they do so with clearer expectations.
Revisions to Developmental
Education in Mathematics
by Marc Campbell, chair of
Mathematics
In anticipation of the statutory changes handed down by the
Florida Legislature, the Math Department’s comprehensive plan for developmental
education includes strategies that have been implemented for some time, as well
as new approaches to ensuring that our students are prepared for success in
college-level coursework. Among these strategies are a modularized curriculum
that focuses on student deficiencies, compressed or accelerated course options
and co-requisite courses that allow development and college-credit courses to
be taken at the same time.
Among our compressed options are Pre-Algebra (MAT0018),
Elementary Algebra (MAT0028), and Integrated Arithmetic and Algebra (MAT0022).
These are non-college-credit, immersive 7 ½-week courses that also carry a lab
component. Success in mathematics is dependent on the time spent practicing
math skills, and we believe the structure of these courses can prepare
motivated students to enter college-credit mathematics courses after just one
semester.
MAT0056L is a modularized lab option that allows students to
start anywhere in a course sequence based on their learning needs and progress.
The goal of this self-paced course is to raise the student’s skills to the
point where he or she can advance to college-level math courses.
Similarly, MAT0055L is a co-requisite lab students may take
in conjunction with a college-credit math course in which they may need
additional academic support and preparation.
Like our English Department colleagues, the Math Department
also includes in its readiness strategies Adult Education courses designed to
address the lowest proficiency levels and a free, non-credit refresher or “boot
camp” option called “Math Up,” which is offered prior to the start of each semester.
Our research on this award-winning program has shown that students who
participate in Math Up are more successful in their college-credit math studies
than those who do not take advantage of the program.
“This is a huge time of change,” said Dr. Amy Ringue, a
faculty member and director of assessment for the College
of Education at Daytona State. “We are working with the local school
systems to implement best teaching practices and bridge the students’
transition from high school to college.” 
