Developmental Education: Program Components

1. Developmental Education: Program Components A Presentation Based on Hunter Boylan’s Work Marilyn Mays and Ruth Dalrymple June 12 – 13, 2003

2. Mandatory Assessment/Placement • Once an instrument is selected, all involved should take the test • Advisors should read the technical manual. It will help them discuss the instrument with students • No such thing as “mandatory”. Slips happen. • Provide test-taking workshop

3. Mandatory Assessment/Placement • Allow to students to “challenge” the test • Dev students must register and participate

4. Systematic Program Evaluation • Design a plan for measurement of program outcomes • Share plan with administrators • Disseminate plan • Complicated statistics not needed • OIRE often have plenty of data; consult them • Provide an executive summary along with the evaluation report

5. Formative Evaluation for Program Improvement • Share it, review it, analyze it • Include people who have most impact on dev ed. • Obtain baseline date (avg past 3 yrs) • Use students as a source of information • Involve adjuncts in the design and review since they teach a substantial number of the courses

6. Emphasis on Professional Development • Faculty should identify where they wish to develop their knowledge • Local campus expertise may be available • Share information gained at conferences with collegues • Create professional development library • Include adjunct in activities

7. Provision of Tutoring • Faculty should recommend tutors • Provide business cards to tutors • Weekend and evenings essential • Pre-service training needed • Pair new tutors with “old” • Diversity of tutors • Contribute to tutor morale • T-shirts, parties, trips,

8. Involvement in Professional Activities • Local chapters of NADE; CRLA • Associations such as AMATYC, NCTM • Discounts for adjuncts • Faculty should be “rewarded” for participation (tenure, salary, promotion) • Host conferences • Presentations

9. Adjunct Faculty as a Resource for Dev Ed • Invite adjunct to faculty meetings, socials, activities • Mentor adjuncts • Provide resource manual for adjuncts • Provide readings relevant to teaching dev students • Adjuncts seeking fulltime should be informed of realities of being hired

10. Student Performance Monitoring by Faculty and Advisors • Create a checklist of potential problems (no textbook, financial aid, etc) • Use contracts for students on academic probation • Helpful for advisors to brief students on academic terms, policies, procedures • Use well-trained peer mentors (CRLA training)

11. Developmental Philosophy as a Guide to Program Activities • Be oriented to the principles of human development • Program philosophy is a statement of those things that faculty/staff hold to be true about students, teaching, and learning • It incorporates a set of beliefs about dev students and the ways they should be served • Actions of faculty should reflect philosophy

12. Integration of Classrooms and Laboratories • Coordinate labs when course is designed • Lab use as part of the instructional design process • Instructors should actually review software available and test it themselves • Use lab for testing • Orient adjuncts about labs • Labs should be near classes • Labs supplement instruction; not replicate it • Lab expectations should be written in syllabus