College Skills Duncan Graham & Lucy Rodriguez November 5, 2008.

College SkillsCollege Skills

Duncan Graham & Lucy Rodriguez

November 5, 2008

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Foothill College RoundtableFoothill College Roundtable

Welcome!Welcome!

Basic Skills ~ College Skills Definition:“Basic skills are those foundation skills in reading, writing, mathematics, & English as a Second Language, as well as learning skills & study skills, which are necessary for students to succeed in college-level work.”

Source: Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges Report. March 2007. p.4.

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Why Focus on College Skills?Why Focus on College Skills?

The need today is greater because:– Increased volume of students accessing

higher education– Increased diversity of academic & social

backgrounds– Culmination of 2 centuries of opening

access to higher education to the less than academically qualified

– 80% of future jobs need a degree

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State of College SkillsState of College Skills

Our Students

– K-12 educated students

– Returning adults (English & ELL)

– Immigrants (none or minimal K-12 education)

– International students

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Educational skills are necessary to achieve success in present-day society

Skills deficits damage CA economy Lack of literacy wastes human potential

– Adapted from Payne, G. (2006, June). Re-counting ‘illiteracy’: literacy skills in the sociology of social inequality. British Journal of Sociology, 57(2), 219-

240.

Why Focus on College Skills?Why Focus on College Skills?

Functional Literacy (Reading Street Signs / Balancing a Checkbook)

Losing high paying jobs to the global economy

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Administrative Policy IssuesAdministrative Policy Issues

No Common Definitions of College Skills courses and student services– Masking basic skills under college funding

umbrella– Insufficient & fragmented funding structure

High School Curriculum not Aligned with Colleges

Inconsistent Community College Standards & Definitions

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Economic PoliciesEconomic Policies

Access to college is “required by our present-day technological society.” -Markus & Zeitlin, 1998

In the next 25 years -McCabe, 2001; ETS, 2007, Adelman, 2004

– 80% of jobs will required post-secondary education

– 30% of California high school grads are prepared for college

– Large numbers of workers will retire & need to be replaced by people with post-secondary education

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Economic PoliciesEconomic Policies

Taxpayers paid about $1 billion on national basic skills education - Breneman & Harlow, 1998

Less than 1% of the entire U.S. higher education budget is spent on basic skills - Brothen, 2004

For every $1 billion spent = ROI of $44 million from tax revenue - Saxon & Boyle, 2001

70% in California need basic skills remediation - Adelman, 2004.

In 2008-09, CA designated BSI funding from the state representing less than a tenth of 1% for Foothill’s budget.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1.4

1.6

Investment

$

ROI

$44 Million

College Skills70%

Non-College Skills30%

$ Money Spent on Higher

Education99%

$ Spent on College Skills

in Higher Education

1%

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CA’s Solution to Education GapCA’s Solution to Education Gap

The CA Basic Skills Initiative–Provides additional funding source

–Provides common framework for understanding basic skills

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Basic Skills Initiative Phase IBasic Skills Initiative Phase I

Developed & Produced the Poppy Copy– Extensive literature review– Self assessment tool– Cost-revenue tool

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Basic Skills Initiative Phases II & IIIBasic Skills Initiative Phases II & III

Phase II: Provide training seminars to all 109 colleges on the Literature Review & how to complete their self-assessment evaluation & selection of implementation strategies for local program improvement of basic skills

Phase III: Provide regional training seminars on in-depth topics such as integrating student services with academics

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College Skills at FoothillCollege Skills at Foothill

Over 35 Foothill staff & faculty members joined one of four investigative teams:

– Team A: Organizational and Administrative Practices

– Team B: Program Components

– Team C: Staff Development

– Team D: Instructional Practices

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Campus-wide dialogue was generated by the 4 investigative teams through: – Interviews with various departments and

individuals– Surveys, phone calls, emails– Division meetings devoted to basic skills learning

Each team presented their findings at a campus-wide meeting & some division meetings

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Each Investigative group was asked to:– Submit a summary of their discoveries– Create an initial set of recommendations to

improve basic skills– Create a list of things we should be doing

and/or new & revised goals The recommendations were compiled into the

current college skills action plan

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College Skills Action Plan at FoothillCollege Skills Action Plan at Foothill

Looking at this from an State perspective, our action plan needs to provide:– Accountability measures– Proof of taxpayer money well-spent– Legal compliance– Deadlines & timelines for getting the job done– Something to help Judy & Dolores practice writing

their signatures

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College Skills Action Plan at FoothillCollege Skills Action Plan at Foothill

Looking at this from an Foothill perspective, the action plan provides:– A course of direction– A policy and planning tool to generate change– A topic of conversation– A list of priorities to focus on– A tool to measure impact of change

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Reporting StructureReporting Structure

College Skills at Foothill College

– College Skills Steering Committee

– Roundtable College Skills Subcommittee

– Roundtable

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College Skills Steering CommitteeCollege Skills Steering Committee

Develop highly coordinated college skills program

Support staff development Integrate student & academic services Recognition that college skills are a

college-wide concern

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College Skills Action PlanCollege Skills Action Plan

Action: Incorporate basic skills evaluative components into all formal institutional & program review & planning processes for both academic & non-academic programs. Based on Effective Practice B2.

Accountability: Produce a comprehensive basic skills pattern or map that shows where students enter/exit sequence

Impact: Research: Capture data on where students get stuck or succeed.

Students have transparent route to careers, degrees, transfer colleges, life enrichment…

Cleaned up curriculum database, courses, curriculum sheets, identified proper TOPS codes, definitions, prereqs

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Action: Administration actively supports staff development opportunities on basic skills topics. Based on Effective Practice C1.

Accountability: What 3 good ideas did you get from the basic skills conference you attended?

Impact:

“We found a college doing an intensive combined beginning & intermediate algebra course. It would be a fully loaded course (12 quarter units) & this is all the student would be doing. It's a similar idea to a language immersion course.”

“I learned that learning communities do not have to be elaborate to be effective, & have begun conversations …about doing some of that next quarter.”

“Based on the work of Ruth Stiehl, I learned how mapping a program illuminates the logic (or illogic) of course sequences, pre-requisites & student learning outcomes. This strategy is useful for program planning & curriculum development since it highlights how the themes & outcomes of a course align with those in other courses. Or not!”

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Action: Use collaborative efforts of the Language Arts faculty to pilot a new ESL assessment test for incoming freshmen.

Accountability: Shift in student success rates in ESL classes.

Impact: More consistent standards and streamlined learning.

Improved student success, retention & persistence rates in ESL & beyond.

Exposes additional problems to address

More accurately places students in classes.

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Give access to view financial aid screens on SIS to all Outreach staff so they can answer simple questions for students. Effective Practice B4.

Accountability: Staff have access to screens.

Impact: Students receive timely assistance in identifying and applying for appropriate sources of financial aid.

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Questions?Questions?

http://www.foothill.edu/staff/irs/BSI/discussions.html

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College Skills Duncan Graham & Lucy Rodriguez November 5, 2008.

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