Basic Skills Indicator Report

BOARD OF TRUSTEES' EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1998-99 Basic Skills Indicator Report

Goal 3: DCCCD students will acquire basic literacy skills and developmental education to live more functionally and become ready to participate successfully in college-level curricula.

This report addresses student outcomes related to developmental math, reading and writing. Differences in developmental student levels by college are also noted.

The following District-wide measures are reported:

success of developmental course completers in college level courses,
graduation and transfer of developmental students,
number and percent of students who pass TASP after remediation, and
percent of developmental course completers.

Findings

College Level Course Performance

As detailed in previous reports, students who successfully complete a developmental course and then enroll in a related college-level course have higher success rates than their classmates who had not completed the developmental course. By developmental subject area comparisons are as follows:

-- 52% of former developmental math students received grades of A-C in College Algebra compared to 42% of non-developmental students, and

-- 63% of former developmental reading students and 61% of former developmental writing students received grades of A-C in English Composition I compared to 55% of non-developmental students.

Developmental Student Achievement

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) has performance standards for developmental student graduation and transfer rates. All DCCCD colleges meet or exceed the separate standards established for full-time and part-time students.

Percent of Developmental Students Who Graduate/Transfer And THECB Performance Standards Part-time developmental students who graduate or transfer, by college

Part-time developmental students who graduate or transfer, by college

Part-Time Cohort

Full-time developmental students who graduate or transfer, by college Full-Time Cohort

Note: THECB Standards =30% for Full-Time Students and 15% for Part-Time Students

TASP Performance

Almost 2/3 of fall 1998 credit students were subject to the Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) legislation which requires students deficient in math, reading or writing skills to enroll in developmental course(s). Of those students, 55%-57% had passed TASP-Reading/Writing sections and 45% had passed TASP-Math.

Analysis of an earlier cohort (fall 1996 to fall 1997) specifically addressed student TASP performance after completing developmental course work. Of those students who then retested for the corresponding TASP section

-- 56% of developmental math students passed TASP-Math,
-- 70% of developmental writing students passed TASP-Writing, and
-- 56% of developmental reading students passed TASP-Reading. Developmental Enrollment Trends

Approximately 34% or 15,903 fall 1998 credit students were enrolled in developmental instruction and an additional 22% had done so previously. However, developmental enrollments accounted for approximately 13.5% of all enrollments. Thus, many developmental students are also taking college-level courses.

The most recent completed academic year was similar to prior year enrollments and completion grades. (Due to TASP changes effective fall 1998, developmental enrollments have increased during the current academic year though.) The majority of developmental enrollments continue to be in math (64%) followed by writing (21%) and reading (16%).

Acad Yr 1997-98	BHC	CVC	EFC	ECC	MVC	NLC	RLC
Dev Math Enrollments	3,837	1,256	4,695	2,696	3,046	2,759	5,757
% Completion Grades	77.5%	75.8%	74.0%	69.7%	73.9%	68.9%	73.5%
Dev Writing Enrollments	984	673	1,385	1,063	1,171	793	1,748
% Completion Grades	81.6%	82.0%	80.1%	79.9%	79.2%	80.8%	78.3%
Dev Reading Enrollments	823	555	1,095	1,103	664	434	1,232
% Completion Grades	83.7%	83.8%	83.4%	80.9%	82.5%	85.7%	80.4%

Data Source: Student Master File, departments = 484, 485, 486
Enrollments is the number of courses in which students are enrolled not a student count. For example, one student taking two classes would be equivalent to two enrollments.
% Completion Grades is the ratio of non-withdrawal grades to total grades awarded.

Developmental Enrollment Differences

The extent of remediation needed by developmental students varies by college. For example, a greater percentage of ECC students require extensive remediation than students at any other DCCCD college.

% Fall 1998 Developmental Students in Lowest Level (090) Developmental Courses

	BHC	CVC	EFC	ECC	MVC	NLC	RLC
Math	27%	39%	33%	46%	23%	30%	29%
Reading	16%	43%	39%	48%	49%	40%	38%
Writing	11%	19%	24%	38%	29%	20%	18%

Discussion

Although a significant number of students arrive at college with less than college-level skills, many obtain those skills and subsequently graduate or transfer to a 4-year university. Over one-half (56%) of DCCCD graduates and certificate completers are former developmental students as well as more than 25% of those who transfer to a university.

Colleges continue to seek new ways to provide and enhance developmental instruction. The following examples illustrate a few of the various approaches and on-going research.

Faculty at BHC keep in close contact with developmental reading and writing students by phone and sending postcards to those absent from class. Data are collected on students to determine if those who withdraw have common factors.
The CVC Quest program places high-risk students (those with very low assessment scores) into a cluster of courses where students attend classes as a cohort. These students have retention rates comparable to students with higher assessment scores.
ECC is participating in the League of Innovation's "National Study of Community College Remedial Education" project. The educational and life achievements of former developmental students will be analyzed to determine the effectiveness of community college developmental education.
A dissertation recently completed by a RLC faculty member compared the effectiveness of developmental math instruction using lecture, lab and a computer mediated delivery approach. Lecture followed by computer delivery were found to be most effective.

Notes:
College Level Course Performance
Data reflect fall 1998 dev student performance in spring 1999 college level courses
Math comparison based on 526 dev and 1,591 non-dev students
English comparison based on 396 dev writing, 296 dev reading, and 2,975 non-dev students.
Developmental Student Achievement (THECB cohort definitions)
Full-time cohort = Fall 1993 First-time-in-College students; Standard: 30% receiving remediation receive a degree or certificate or transfer within 4 years.
Part-time cohort = Fall 1990 First-time-in-College students; Standard: 15% receiving remediation receive a degree or certificate or transfer within 7 years.
Prepared by District Office of Research, June 1999

1998-99 Board Indicator Reports