INSIDER VIEW: Daytona State unveils its Developmental Education Implementation Plan

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.