Volume 1, Number 1 December 1999
Plans are being made to hold the annual VADE conference on Thursday and Friday, February 10 and 11, in Virginia Beach. The program proposal is available, and registration forms plus other information will follow. See your campus contact.
VADE Executive Board Meets
Members of the VADE Executive Board met Friday, October 15, 1999 in Richmond to plan the year's activities and the annual convention. Attending were Ann Bartholomay, Sally Harrell, Christine Jennings, Glenda Lowery, and Bert Morrison.
The executive board decided to send out newsletters over email. Campus contacts received the newsletter and then should have send it on to appropriate developmental educators.
The board will also use the campus contacts to help with the membership drive. The campus contacts will be asked to encourage faculty, counselors, student support services staff, administrators, and ABE/GED staff to join VADE. This year, the membership drive was during December. Current membership will run through June 2000. Next year dues will be due October 1. Dues of $10 can be sent to Chris Jennings, TCC, 1700 College Crescent, Virginia Beach, VA 23456-1999.
The National Association for Developmental Education Conference is coming up March 15-19, 2000, in Biloxi, Mississippi. All VADE members are encouraged to register now. Information is available on the NADE website.
Several Virginia developmental educators attended NCADE’s (North Carolina Association of Developmental Educators) annual conference October 17-19 in Boone, NC.
Dr. Hunter Boylan, Director for the National Center for Developmental Education at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, opened the conference with information about "what we have learned from thirty years of developmental education." Boylan grouped his comments according to related quotes from Mark Twain. The best courses are defined as those that require student involvement and are applicable to what students are learning in other areas. Students are able to benefit from structured learning environments and tutoring programs; however, their success is highly dependent upon their self-efficacy. Boylan also noted that time to develop the necessary background is essential, for he quoted, "A round man cannot be expected to fit into a square hole right away. He must have time to modify his shape."
In other sessions, there was some discussion as to the origin of the 70% pass rate standard for developmental education courses. Robert McCabe, Senior Fellow for The League for Innovation in the Community College, shared evidence related to the importance of the community college in society’s future.
Concurrent sessions focused on a variety of teaching strategies. At the end of the conference, Dr. Boylan, Lizette Rodriques, and Joey Hinson presented research which described the developmental studies population. Some of the findings were as follows:
In July of 1998, Dr. Arnold R. Oliver, Chancellor of the VCCS, appointed Ann Bartholomay to work with a newly formed task force to develop and recommend standards for developmental education in the System. Dr. Oliver requested that the task force develop common systemwide guidelines for interpreting the results of the standardized test; systemwide measurable objectives and exit criteria for developmental reading, writing, and mathematics; and performance indicators and assessment methods to use systemwide for monitoring the success of the new procedures.
The VCCS Developmental Education Implementation Task Force began working during the fall semester of 1998. Task Force members included very experienced faculty members in developmental reading, writing, and math; counselors; and administrators.
Prior to the project undertaken by this task force, developmental education had been the focus for several projects. An initial project was a report completed in 1983 by a State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) Task Force. In January of 1987, the State Board for Community Colleges and the State Council of Higher Education directed their respective staffs to undertake a joint study of remedial education. Their report included competencies and skills needed to enroll and succeed in college-level courses.
In 1994, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College completed the 1992-1994 Funds for Excellence Project. The Project was a comprehensive study of students in developmental education in the Virginia Community College System. The literature search, as well as the data gathered and interpreted, established the growing need for developmental education. This expansive study was a contributor to several other statewide studies and to the faculty-in-residence project in 1996-1997.
During the spring of 1996, Chancellor Oliver selected developmental education as the topic for the 1996-97 academic year faculty-in-residence project. His charge was an analysis of student achievement data and collaboration with VCCS faculty in order to identify characteristics of the most successful developmental programs.
Ann Bartholomay served as Faculty-in-Residence in Developmental Education. Assigned the task of developing a document that would reflect the voice of developmental education practitioners throughout the VCCS, she developed a collaborative network designed to provide for the interactions needed to accomplish the goal. The review of prior work, data from assessment reports, college visits, and extensive collaboration led to the development of the Teaching-Learning Model: A Program with a Mind and Heart Attending to Students' Cognitive and Affective Needs*.
After reviewing the teaching-learning model, Dr. Oliver requested policy recommendations on how the System should proceed in developmental education. The Advisory Committee of Deans and Provosts reviewed the recommendations and responded to Dr. Oliver with seven recommendations. The charges for the VCCS Developmental Education Implementation Task Force emerged from these recommendations.
In order to respond to the first charge -- recommending guidelines for placement in credit and developmental courses -- the Task Force selected target courses and requested research by ACT on placement and performance of students in those courses in Virginia community colleges. Members of the Task Force agreed that the recommendations for placement should appear as ranges, rather than "cut scores." They also decided that when students’ assessment scores fall within decision zones -- areas of indecision for placement -- advisors should use multiple measures to assure correct placement of students in courses. A related recommendation encouraged instructors to assess students’ placement at the beginning of courses so that rescheduling can occur when needed. The Task Force looked ahead toward the importance of continued monitoring of the guidelines via placement and performance research to provide for refinement of the placement ranges.
Due to the delay in receiving ACT’s research results, the Task Force’s collaboration in recommending placement ranges was limited to phone conversations and email correspondence. As Task Force members and other VCCS staff reviewed the scores and offered suggestions for changes, the Task Force chair has related them to the System Office for consideration.
As a response to the second charge--systemwide measurable objectives and exit criteria for developmental reading, writing, and mathematics-- subcommittees determined course objectives for writing, reading, and math. The subcommittees also recommended exit criteria with a focus on the importance of assuring students’ readiness for subsequent courses.
In order to develop recommendations for the third charge, the Task Force worked in two subcommittees, each of which had representation from all three subject areas. The charge was to recommend performance indicators and assessment methods to use systemwide for monitoring the success of the new procedures. The Task Force’s recommendations for assessment methods included both quantitative and qualitative methods. Vital to the implementation of the assessment methods, colleges will be using them systematically to assure continuous improvement of developmental studies programs.
Accepting this challenge
required very dedicated faculty, counselors, and administrators. They were
willing to work together, often at great length, in order to reach consensus.
Now, with this challenge shared by all of the System’s faculty, counselors,
and administrators, we face a much more difficult task. There’s much to
gain from coming together, even when total agreement is not present. By
standardizing our programs, there is considerable opportunity to maintain
continuous improvement and positively impact our students’ performance
in our courses and throughout their college careers. Not only can we learn
much from each other, we have the opportunity to provide leadership for
others working to achieve a similar goal in their states. By continuing
to collaborate, research, document our findings, and continuously improve
our systemwide program, we can maintain focus on the overall vision --
to increase opportunities for students needing developmental instruction
to experience success.
(*For a copy of Teaching-Learning
Model email Ann Bartholomay.)
The VADE Executive Board invites your comments and suggestions. This is your organization and we need your ideas to make it better. Send your suggestions to any Executive Board member.
VADE Executive Board Members
Ann Bartholomay, President, Southwest Virginia Community College, ann_bartholomay@sw.cc.va.us
Sarah Martin, Vice-President, Virginia Western Community College, smartin@vw.cc.va.us
Laura Powell, Recorder, Danville Community College, lpowell@dc.cc.va.us
Chris Jennings, Treasurer, Tidewater Community College, tcjennc@tc.cc.va.us
Sally Harrell, Program Chair, Two-Year College Member-at-Large, Tidewater Community College, tcharrs@tc.cc.va.us
Becky Eller, Program Chair, Blue Ridge Community College, breller@br.cc.va.us
Bert Morrison, Membership Chair, Photographer, Tidewater Community College, tcmorra@tc.cc.va.us
Glenda Lowery, Newsletter Editor, Rappahannock Community, glowery@rcc.cc.va.us
Rick Dollieslager, Journal Editor/Webmaster, Thomas Nelson Community College, dollier@tncc.cc.va.us