Review of the Literature

Running Head: Literature Review Draft

Literature Review Draft

Cynthia J. Spence

California State University, San Bernardino

EDUC 790 Research Seminar Spring Literature Review Draft

Abstract

Bailey (2010), reports the annual national cost of community college remediation ranges from $1.9-2.3 billion dollars. Mills (2009), reports California, has allocated $33.1 million for remedial programs (p. 34). While financial outlay from academic institutions is sizable, remedial students also pay a price. These costs include accumulated college debt, loss of time and potential earnings, and the emotional disappointment associated with testing into remedial courses after receiving a high school diploma. Even with substantial funding and numerous support programs over 50% of remedial students drop out after their first semester. What reasons do remedial students give for leaving or staying? While there is a great deal of remedial student academic data, the actual voices of remedial students are not heard. Focusing on one community college, and using a mixed method research approach, this study analyzes the patterns and determinants of student progression or attrition through a sequence of remedial courses.

Keywords Basic skills, remediation, community college, learning communities

2 Literature Review Draft

Introduction

Long before they open the door and walk into their first community college class, students manage to complete the traditional academic obstacle course of assessment tests, application forms, financial aid questioners, student orientation, parking permits, course registration, registration fees, and mile long book lines. After enduring all this, why would a student feel compelled to drop the class they have just exerted so much effort to enter? According to one community college student, she just didn’t feel she could keep up with the academic game of “catch” her instructor threw at her. Sadly, after just a few days on campus, this student became a negative number on the college’s retention report.

College of the Desert was established in 1958 as a two-year college designed to meet the needs of Coachella Valley residents. Currently, COD’s student body is reported to be just over eleven thousand students. In 2008, a “Student Characteristics” report stated that student body consisted of 55.5% Hispanic, 28.8% white, 3.7% Asian/Pacific

Islander, 3.2% African American, 2.0% Filipino, 1.0% American Indian, and 5.8% “other.”

In 2008, COD reported that over 70% of their approximately 2000 new enrollments tested into what COD had classified as remedial levels. While retention rates for all community college students are a matter of concern, retention rates for Basic Skills students are particularly alarming. Only 46% of College of the Desert’s Basic Skills students persist to spring semester and only 34% of College of the Desert’s Basic Skills students persist to their second fall semester (Based on MIS data 2004-2007). According to the California Community Colleges Research & Planning Group’s 2007 report, more than one in every three students in California community colleges must enroll in a basic skills class (Boroch et al, 2007). According to College of the Desert’s 2009-2010 catalog,

3 Literature Review Draft the following are the remedial reading, math, and English classes that must be completed before the Basic Skills student can advance to college credit transferable courses:

RDG-050 BASIC READING

This course is designed to provide extensive study and practice of basic reading

skills including vocabulary development, comprehension improvement, and oral

reading ability.

RDG-051 ANALYTICAL READING

This course is for students who have a vocabulary base for college-level reading

but need practice in analytical reading and critical thinking skills. The focus of this

course is on improving comprehension. Students read college-level selections

from different disciplines and content areas.

MATH-067 WHOLE NUMBERS

This course provides an understanding of and competency in the basic operations

of elementary arithmetic. Topics include adding, subtracting, multiplying, and

dividing whole numbers, with an emphasis placed on memorizing basic number

facts.

MATH-066 INTRODUCTION TO INTEGERS AND FRACTIONS

dividing integers and proper fractions.

MATH-057 COLLEGE ARITHMETIC

dividing whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. Other topics include: arithmetic

with signed numbers, percents, and its applications, rations and proportions, the

metric and American system of measurement, including the conversion of units,

and elementary geometry concepts such as perimeter, area, and volume.

MATH-054 BEGINNING ALGEBRA

This course is an introduction to the real number system and to the use of variable

expressions and equations in problem solving. Topics include properties of the real

numbers, square roots, arithmetic of variable expressions including polynomials

and algebraic fractions, solving linear equations and inequalities in one variable,

factoring, and an introduction to the Cartesian coordinate system and the

equations and graphs of linear equations in two variables. Also, the proper use of

math notations is emphasized along with an introduction to Pythagorean Theorem

and basic geometric formulas, some dimensional analysis with modeling

applications is included.

MATH-050 ELEMENTARY ALGEBRA

This course is an introduction to the real number system and to the use of variable

expressions and equations in problem solving. Topics include properties of the real

numbers, arithmetic of variable expressions including polynomials and algebraic

fractions, solving linear equations and inequalities in one variable, factoring, and

an introduction to the Cartesian coordinate system and the equations and graphs

of linear equations in two variables.

ENG-050 BASIC WRITING SKILLS

This course provides extensive study of basic writing skills in preparation for higher

level writing courses. Students write paragraphs and short essays and develop an

awareness of correct grammar usage, and mechanical skills.

ENG-051 INTRODUCTION TO EXPOSITORY WRITING

This course helps students improve their skills in expository writing, including a

review of grammar and sentence skills to prepare them for college level courses.

From the above course descriptions, these courses do not appear to be overwhelming.

However, these are the classes that nearly 50% of Basic Skills students are dropping.

Thomas Bailey (2010), a professor at Columbia University, discuses the financial and emotional costs of developmental education at the community college level.

According to Bailey, the annual cost of community college remediation ranges from $1.9-

2.3 billion dollars (p. 257). While the financial outlay from academic institutions is sizable, basic skills students are also paying a price. Bailey calculates these costs as accumulated debt due to additional course fees and books, the added loss of time and potential earnings, and the emotional disappointed associated with testing into high school level courses when the student has already graduated from high school (p. 257).

California currently has the largest community college enrollment in the nation and in 2004 “began a comprehensive strategic planning process for the purpose of improving student access and success” (Boroch, 2007, p. 3). In 2006 the Board of Governors of the

California Community Colleges unanimously adopted a strategic plan that includes the following five steps: “college awareness and access; student success and readiness; partnerships for economic and workforce development; system effectiveness; and resource development” (Boroch, 2007, p. 3). According to Kay Mills (2009), The state of

California, in order to provide support for the strategic plan, allocated 33.1 million dollars

“making it an annual program for research and for implementing changes” (p. 34). Fully funded, the Board of Governors of California Community Colleges is currently offering

6 Literature Review Draft resources to select community colleges in order to “ensure that basic skills development is a major focus and an adequately funded activity of the community colleges” (Boroch,

2007, p. 3).

College of the Desert was honored to be selected for inclusion into the state’s basic skills program and began receiving funding 2007. To date, COD has received funding in the amount of $1, 257, 039.00. A twelve member committee oversees the basic skills program and has set several objectives including requesting specific research focused on the retention and attrition rates of basic skills students. While the basic skills committee is interested in the quantitative data surrounding the subject matter, the committee has also requested a qualitative approach that includes gathering data directly from the students. In addition to researching retention and attrition, the committee also requests a current evaluation of the basic skills program already provided on campus and suggestions for implementing new programs currently finding success on other community college campuses.

Review of the Literature

The Introduction of Remediation to Community Colleges

Clark, B.R. 1960 The Open Door College

Brint, S. (1989) The diverted dream, the promise of education

in America

Casazza, M (1999) The GI Bill

Boylan, H. (1999) Terminology: remedial, developmental,

transitional, basic skills

Jenkins, D. (2002)State policies on community college

remedial education: Findings from a national survey

Past Programs and Practices

Cohen, A. (1960) Defining and tracking transfer in community

colleges

(2) McGrath, D & Spear, M (1991) The academic crisis of the community college

(3) Shaw, K (1997) Remedial Education as Ideological Battleground

Remediation Becomes Basic Skills

Delisi, M. (2001) First use of term referring to new reading

students

Today’s Community Colleges and the Basic Skills Student

College of the Desert just gave me all of their archival documents regarding basic skills on their campus.

Basic Skills Enrollment.

Boroch, D. (2007) Chancellor’s report - Recommendations for

Community College

Basic Skills Funding.

Community College

Basic Skills Courses.

Community College

Various community college remedial programs Northern

Virginia, Colorado, New York, Pasadena, Santa Ana, Mount

San Antonio

Basic Skills Programs

Lloyd Bond’s article on the Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in

Community Colleges program which includes College of the Desert

Academic Skills Center.

Extended Opportunity Programs and Services

(EOPS).

Learning Communities.

Engstrom, C. (2008) Learning communities significantly help

under prepared students

One possible strategy in helping students feel less isolated or overwhelmed is the formation of academic learning communities. These communities are staffed by specific 9 Literature Review Draft teachers who have received additional training on how to address the needs of Basic

Skills students. The students advance from class to class as a cohort in order to help establish relationships between the students for study group purposes. Cathy Engstrom

(2008), an associate professor at Syracuse University, believes there is a direct coloration between economic status and the need for remedial education. Offering statistical information to validate her argument, Engstrom also supports creating specialized

“learning communities” in order to support an already disadvantaged academic population. After receiving a grant from the Lumina Foundation for Education and additional support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Engstrom carried out a systematic, multi-institutional, longitudinal four-year study of the impact of learning communities. Engstrom’s study concludes that academically under-prepared students were significantly more engaged in the educational process as members of a learning community. According to Engstrom, these “learning community” students reported high levels of support from their college, teachers, and peers which Engstrom feels directly impacted their success. Kay Mills, (2009) reports 60% of community colleges surveyed are using learning community programs (p. 34).

Tai, E. (2007) Learning Communities lower the number of

students who leave college

Emily Tai (2007), a professor at Queensborough Community College in New York, also believes that constructing learning communities answers the academic needs of remedial level college students. Tai suggests that requiring basic skills students to complete a set of remedial courses before taking actual credit courses or transferable courses fails to address the specific developmental learning needs of these students and is directly contributing to their high dropout rate. Instead of the usual step method of basic 10 Literature Review Draft skills courses, Tai supports a learning center program that links basic skills courses, such as reading or writing, with a history class. By doing so, Tai suggests basic skills students can better understand the content of the courses and a learning environment of community and cooperation replaces the current system that lends itself to competition and isolation (p. 105). Tai reports that the reward for the collaboration between faculty and students is an increase in “retention, graduation rates, grades, and earned credit hours” (p. 106) with minimal financial support from the academic institution.

Livingston, L. (2007) Collaboration is natural for students and

will also help them develop “teamwork” attitudes in the

workplace.

Larry Livingston (2010), a professor at the University of Southern California, is also a proponent of Learning Communities. According to Livingston, college students are already very familiar with social networking. Examples of youth oriented collaboration include text messaging, playing interactive games on the Internet, MySpace, YouTube, and blogging. Therefore, Livingston believes collaboration-based curricula should be a natural environment for students. Livingston suggests that by giving students a “team” experience educational institutions will also be preparing them for an increasingly collaborative employment environment (p. 61).

Smith, Rachel (2010) Feeling supported: Curricular learning

communities for basic skills courses and students who speak

English as a second language

Roselle, Anne collaborating with librarians.

“librarians who proactively integrate basic library skills into developmental education and academic success courses, collaborate with developmental educators in designing library sessions and class assignments, interact with learning assistance and tutoring centers, and help reduce library anxiety and build student confidence” (Roselle,

2008, p. 24)

New Horizons.

Tutoring Center.

Wood, D. (1976) Why tutoring works

Bradley, P. (2007) In class tutors help students.

Instead of asking students to visit a tutoring center outside of class, several community colleges are now providing “in class” tutors sometimes referred to as supplemental instructors. With an in class tutor, students have someone available to work with them one-on-one as the questions arise. Paul Bradley (2007) discusses a supplemental instruction program currently in place at Tidewater Community College.

However, instead of using traditional tutors, the Tidewater program “places successful students who already have passed developmental courses in classrooms with incoming students” (p. 7) According to Bradley, this tutoring model has the added advantage of letting incoming students “rub shoulders with successful students” (p. 7) which can also lead to successful mentoring relationships. Bradley reports that introductory English courses on the Tidewater campus with the additional student supplemental instructors experienced a 70 percent rate of passing students compared to 60 percent campus-wide

(p. 7).

Mills, K (2009) holistic approach to guiding under prepared

students through math, English, and other challenges of

college.

“Math Jam, a two-week noncredit summer program that introduces students to college math by making it fun” (Mills, 2009, p. 35).

“Statistics are one measuring stick, personal testimonies another” Mills, 2009, p.

“‘Taking six hours a week to go to a math class that isn’t getting graded is ridiculous,’ said Romo, who is attending the Metropolitan State College in Denver. The single mother added ‘It was a waste of my time’” (“In Colorado” article)

Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA).

The Achieving the Dream program encourages colleges to “build a culture of evidence - to gather, analyze, and make better use of data to foster fundamental change in the educational practices” (Bailey, 2010, p. 257) This is also the goal of College of the

Desert and is one of the reasons the Basic Skills program is supporting research into the colleges current support programs. Even with substantial funding and support programs, a large number of Basic Skills students are still dropping out after their first semester. Are these students using the programs being offered (will use data supplied by College of the

Desert to track student use)? What reasons do students Basic Skills Students give for leaving or staying after their first and second semesters? A qualitative approach of research, focused on listening to the personal accounts of these students, should also be considered. Currently, the academic discussion regarding these students is being conducted by administrators and educators in the field. While there is a great deal of

13 Literature Review Draft discussion based on Basic Skills Student academic data, the actual voice of the Basic

Skills student is not being heard.

Methodology

Statement of the Problem

Thomas Bailey (2010), reports the annual national cost of community college remediation ranges from $1.9-2.3 billion dollars. Kay Mills (2009), reports California, has allocated $33.1 million to fund remedial programs (p. 34). While the financial outlay from academic institutions is sizable, remedial students are also paying a price. These costs include accumulated college debt, loss of time and potential earnings, and the emotional disappointed associated with testing into remedial courses after receiving a high school diploma. Even with substantial funding and numerous support programs over 50% of remedial students drop out after their first semester. Focusing on one community college, the purpose of this study is to analyze the patterns and determinants of student progression or attrition through a sequence of remedial courses.

Research Questions

1. What reasons do COD remedial students give for leaving or staying? While

there is a great deal of discussion based on remedial student academic data,

the actual voice of the remedial student is not being heard.

2. Regarding retention, is there a significance difference between the reenrollment

rates of students who use support programs and those who do not?

3. Which existing support programs do COD students report as being beneficial? 14 Literature Review Draft

4. What new support programs do COD students suggest might be beneficial?

Participants

1. All fall 2010 College of the Desert students enrolled in basic skills math,

reading, and English will be surveyed.

2. 15 basic skills students will participate in both group and personal interviews.

Procedure

Surveying.

At the end of the fall semester a survey will be sent to all students enrolled in basic skills courses for the fall semester. The college already uses the “Survey Monkey” program that can be sent to selected students. The program allows the researcher to develop multiple choice and yes/no questions. I will be asking the students if they plan to enroll in the spring semester. This question will be followed by multiple choice questions inquiring about their involvement in or use of basic skills support programs available to them. The “Survey Monkey” program produces a percent response and response count report. The surveys will be anonymous in order to avoid issues with social desirability and to protect student identity.

Possible questions: Nominal (yes/No) and Ordinal (opinions/always, never, etc..) possible Binomial test or Chi-square.

1. Are you going to enroll at College of the Desert next semester yes/no?

2. How many hours of tutoring did you complete in reading, math, or English this

semester 0-10, 10-20, 20-40, over 40?

3. Did you participate in a learning community, EOPS, MESA, or any other basic

skills support program on campus?

4. If yes, how involved were you in the program 1.Slightly, 2. Average, 3. Very.

5. How many times did you meet with a counselor this semester 0, 1-2, 3-4, 5 or

6. If you met with a college counselor, did you fill out a program plan listing the

specific classes you will need to take for a certificate or towards graduation

yes/no?

7. During the semester, did your professor discuss basic skills support programs with

the class?

8. How did you feel about your first semester in college 1. overwhelmed, 2.

challenged, 3.comfortable, 4.confident?

9. Are you employed 1. No, 2. Yes, part time, 3. Yes, fulltime

Interviewing.

In addition to the survey, ten students will be selected to participate in two five student group interviews. Additionally, five single students will be selected for one-on-one interviews. Participation in the interviews will be anonymous and no identifying information will be collected. The interviews will be recorded by using both a hand-held recorder and a video camera. The interviews will be conducted using a semi-structured method. The researcher will use a list of questions to guide the discussion during the interview. These interviews will ask the students to provide additional information regarding their decision to continue with the college or to leave. The interviews will also focus on the students use and personal perception of the basic skills support programs on campus.

Possible Questions:

1. Tell me about your first day in class?

2. Tell me about the coursework for the class?

3. What was your experience with the tutoring center?

4. What was your experience working with other students?

5. What was your experience with basic skills support groups on campus?

6. Describe your relationship with your professor?

7. How does your family life or personal life affect your college experience?

8. Is there any other information about your experience at College of the Desert that

you think would be useful for me to know?

Along with the video recordings and audio recordings I will also be taking field notes in order to write down my first impressions during the interview and also to note any physical reactions by the students that may be of interest.

Data Mining

In addition to the qualitative data, quantitative data will be collected using the

“Basic Skills Initiative Warehouse” owned by the college which follows the academic footprint of basic skills students. This data will provide statistical information regarding student enrollment, persistence, attrition, and use of basic skills support programs. Data from the record system will be used for comparisons of persistence and attrition with students who participated in basic skills support programs and those who did not.

Analysis

 Quantitative Data: Demographic information of COD basic skills students.

Gender

Age: 22 years or fewer, 23-29 years, 30+ years

Mother’s educational level: Less than high school, high school, any college,

not reported

Father’s educational level: Less than high school, highs school, any college,

not reported

Ethnicity: White, non-Hispanic, African American or Black, Hispanic, Latino,

Spanish, Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander, Other

Employment: Not employed, employed fewer than 20 hr per week,

employed more than 20 hr per week

Course enrollment: One course, two courses, three courses, four or more

courses

 Quantitative Data: Statistical information regarding student enrollment,

persistence, attrition, and use of basic skills support programs.

 Quantitative Data: Comparisons of persistence and attrition with students who

participated in basic skills support programs and those who did not.

 Qualitative Data: Surveys from fall 2010 basic skills students.

 Qualitative Date: Group interviews

 Qualitative Data: Personal interviews

Data will be analyzed in an appropriate method for the type of data the variables represent.

Hypothesis

H1 There is no significant difference in persistence and attrition between basic skills students who participate in support programs and those who do not.

H2 There is no significant difference in persistence and attrition between basic skills students who meet with a counselor and construct a program plan and those who do not.

Data will be analyzed in an appropriate method of the type of data the variable represents. Data for participation in support programs and construction of a program plan will be analyzed by computing a chi-square statistic to test statistical hypotheses H1 and

Research Theory

Institutional Theory

The community college educational system is reacting to students who do not test into college level courses in an expected manner. The current approach is to separate the students from the general population, bring them up to grade level through extensive tutoring, and then allow them to join the general college population. In addition to tutoring, colleges offer support programs focused on mentoring and building personal relationships in order to connect the college student with their educational environment. Even though these programs are well intentioned, they do not seem to be making a significant difference in basic skills student retention.

If another industry were spending over a billion dollars a year with little to show for it, they would most likely alter their current approach. However, the community college system’s approach is to simply provide more of what they already providing, instead of looking for an alternate approach because this is the way it has always been done before.

Another possible approach is to allow remedial level students to enroll in general education classes instead of creating separate remedial courses. The next step would be to provide academic support for these students inside the general education class instead of separating the remedial students from the general student population. Possible benefits are challenging students to work at a higher level instead of presenting remedial material to them. Another possible benefit is the decrease in the number of classes a

19 Literature Review Draft remedial student will need to take before graduation. Taking remedial courses can add one to two years to a remedial community college student’s expected graduation timeline.

However, by supporting remedial students in college level courses, no additional courses would be necessary.

References

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Bond, L. (2009). Toward informative assessment and a culture of evidence. Carnegie

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