Basic Skills Information
Mar 6th, 2008 by basicskills
Basic Skills:
Basic skills are those foundation skills in reading, writing,
mathematics, and English as a Second Language, as well as
learning skills and study skills which are necessary for students
to succeed in college-level work.
Effective Practices:
“ Effective practices” refer to organizational, administrative, instructional,
or support activities engaged in by highly successful programs, as validated by research and
literature sources relating to developmental education.
26 Effective Practices
A. Organizational and Administrative Practices
A.1. Developmental education is a clearly stated institutional priority.
A.2. A clearly articulated mission based on a shared, overarching philosophy drives the developmental education program. Clearly specified goals and objectives are established for developmental courses and programs.
A.3. The developmental education program is centralized or is highly coordinated.
A.4. Institutional policies facilitate student completion of necessary developmental coursework as early as possible in the educational sequence.
A.5. A comprehensive system of support services exists, and is characterized by a high degree of integration among academic and student support services.
A.6. Faculty who are both knowledgeable and enthusiastic about developmental education are recruited and hired to teach in the program.
A.7. Institutions manage faculty and student expectations regarding developmental education.
B. Program Components
B.1. Orientation, assessment, and placement are mandatory for all new students.
B.2. Regular program evaluations are conducted, results are disseminated widely, and data are used to improve practice.
B.3. Counseling support provided is substantial, accessible, and integrated with academic courses/programs.
B.4. Financial aid is disseminated to support developmental students. Mechanisms exist to ensure that developmental students are aware of such opportunities, and are provided with assistance to apply for and acquire financial aid.
C. Staff Development
C.1. Administrators support and encourage faculty development in basic skills, and the improvement of teaching and learning is connected to the institutional mission.
C.2. The faculty play a primary role in needs assessment, planning, and implementation of staff development programs and activities in support of basic skills programs.
C.3. Staff development programs are structured and appropriately supported to sustain them as ongoing efforts related to institutional goals for the improvement of teaching and learning.
C.4. Staff development opportunities are flexible, varied, and responsive to developmental needs of individual faculty, diverse student populations, and coordinated programs/services.
C.5. Faculty development is clearly connected to intrinsic and extrinsic faculty reward structures.
D. Instructional Practices
D.1. Sound principles of learning theory are applied in the design and delivery of courses in the developmental program.
D.2. Curricula and practices that have proven to be effective within specific disciplines are employed.
D.3. The developmental education program addresses holistic development of all aspects of the student. Attention is paid to the social and emotional development of the students as well as to their cognitive growth.
D.4. Culturally Responsive Teaching theory and practices are applied to all aspects of the developmental instructional programs and services.
D.5. A high degree of structure is provided in developmental education courses.
D.6. Developmental education faculty employ a variety of instructional methods to accommodate student diversity.
D.7. Programs align entry/exit skills among levels and link course content to college-level performance requirements.
D.8. Developmental education faculty routinely share instructional strategies.
D.9. Faculty and advisors closely monitor student performance.
D.10. Programs provide comprehensive academic support mechanisms, including the use of trained tutors.
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Addressing life skills in a basic skills world!
Regarding D.3.
I wonder, how can we ensure that our basic skills curriculum is consistent with this Effective Practice, which advocates for the student’s “whole life” development? I’d like help, for instance, specifically in the area of re-energizing and re-motivating students who feel “stuck” in Beginning 2. Would anyone else be interested, I wonder, in maybe a series of goal-awareness and goal-maintenance worksheets? Could our counselors help lead what I would call a form of “counseling across the curriculum?” So long as this doesn’t impede on our basic skills mandate of course! ^-^
Improving articulation to college!
Regarding D.7. -
I really don’t think it would be a bad idea to try to collect specific information about college-level basic skills standards for entry level students, and then to distribute and utilize this as we develop our noncredit curricula. In fact, I think this would be essential.
Since I am an ESL instructor with experience so far only on the noncredit side, I’m much less familiar with the standards and expectations governing credit. Can anyone make suggestions about what standards are used in these areas, say, over at SAC? How are these being addressed by our project?
Who might we involve on the credit side in our effort to fulfill this Effective Practice in a comprehensive way?
Vincent,
You are absolutely right, I think it would be a great idea if we discuss college level basic skills standards. I will ask the Studies Team to address this. What a wonderful observation!