Issues Paper

IDSL 810 Critical Issues * Ferris State University

Gateway Courses
Aiding the Success of Developmental Students

Veronica Wilkerson Johnson

July 30, 2012

Gateway Courses Aiding the Success of Developmental Learners Veronica Wilkerson Johnson
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Abstract
Quoting the beloved phrase of Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626) that knowledge is
power, the American Library Association expands this popular statement
proclaiming that knowledge is power, and knowing where to find it is ultimate
power! While these sentiments bring inspiration to us all, the reality is that many
in America, if not the world, are not equipped with basic learning skills or
knowledge to lead successful lives. One of the greatest advancements in the
history of humankind is the community college, and within its fundamental
concept, all people from all walks of life are deserving of a good education. This
premise is a part of the American dream, but it is also a necessity for us to
maintain a productive economy and a culture of equanimity in our nation. But
how do we insure that we get everyone educated? What about those adults who
cannot adequately read, write or do simple math?
The good news is that there are courses and programs designed to aid
developmental learners, those who have particular deficiencies in academic
achievement, test scores and learning preparedness. It is important to keep
these students motivated so that they will complete the basic requirements
necessary to help them advance to their desired educational and career goals.
And for this reason, it is inspiring to see the growing interest in gateway courses
that are being promoted nationally to aid the cause of teaching the
underprepared student.

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Focusing on the Developmental Learner

Clearly there are unique challenges that developmental students face. In a very
insightful 2012 report from the Center for Community College Student
Engagement (CCCSE) the statistics were clear on the the barriers developmental
students endure. (1)
The 2012 CCCSE report noted the following data:
Most students attend classes and study while working; caring for dependents;
and juggling personal, academic, and financial challenges. Colleges can help
students plan their coursework around their other commitments and help
students develop skills to manage the demands on their time.
67% of full-time students and 78% of part-time students work at least one hour
per week while taking classes.
53% of full-time students and 60% of part-time students care for dependents at
least one hour per week.
Attending college
Entering Students Aspirations
The data show a sizable gap between the percentage of students who aim
to complete a credential and the percentage of those who actually do.
Please indicate whether your goal(s) for attending this college

include the following:

Fewer than Half of Students Reach Their Goal
Fewer than half of entering community college students with a goal of
earning a degree or certificate meet their goal within six years after
beginning college.
Source: 2010 SENSE Cohort data.
Source: U.S. Department of Education, NCES (2001). Beginning Postsecondary
Students
Longitudinal Study 19962001 (BPS:96/01). Analysis by Community College
Research Center.
Complete a certificate program (N=70,427) - 57%
Transfer to a four-year college or university (N=70,378) - 73%
Obtain an associate degree (N=71,138) - 79%
Respondents may indicate more than one goal.
Source: IPEDS, fall 2009.
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Students Plans after the Current Semester

Asked about their plans after the current semester, 22% of CCSSE
respondents report that they have no plan to return to this college or are
uncertain about their future plans. These data suggest an opportunity for
colleges to help students establish academic plans and pathways that will
help them persist in college.
When do you plan to take classes at this college again? (N=433,639)
I will accomplish my goal(s) during this term and will not be returning
within the next 2 months - 38%
Source: 2011 CCSSE Cohort data.
12%
I have no current plan to return Uncertain - 28%
Working full-time (N=434,142) - 19%
Caring for dependents (N=433,003) - 49%

The Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, CA, states, as do many community colleges, that
there is confusion between the terms remedial and developmental and the terms are frequently
used interchangeably. However, it is important for this discussion to provide a concensus on the
specific differences between the two terms. Mt. San Antonio College describes the terms as
follows:
Developmental Education:
focuses on how a learner learns as well as what is being learned.
assumes students are at a variety of levels.
considers the cognitive and affective dynamics of learning.
includes outside services designed to meet the cognitive and affective needs of students.
focuses on development of a variety of learning strategies.
helps students gain their educational/life goals and objectives.
Remedial Education:
focuses on the skills that need to be learned.
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assumes that because students lack certain skills, they are at one particular level.
considers only the cognitive dynamic of learning.
includes outside services designed to meet the cognitive needs of students.
focuses on learning strategies related to the specific skills that need to be learned.
helps students master specific academic skills. Professional and website (2012) (2)

The Quest to Educate Developmental Students

The Community College Research Center (CCRC), a partner with Achieving the
Dream, Inc., a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping
community college students, particularly low income or students of color, stay in
school and earn a college certificate or degree, has conducted analyses and is
working to strengthen successful outcomes for developmental learners. CCRC
(2011) states of Achieving the Dream, Inc., it is:
Evidence-based, student-centered, and built on the values of equity and
excellence. Achieving the Dream is closing achievement gaps and accelerating
student success nationwide by (1) guiding evidence-based institutional change,
(2) influencing public policy, (3) generating knowledge, and (4) engaging the
public. Conceived as an initiative in 2004 by Lumina Foundation and seven
founding partner organizations, today Achieving the Dream is the most
comprehensive non-governmental reform movement for student success in
higher education history. With 160 community colleges and institutions, more
than 100 coaches and advisors, and 15 state policy teams working throughout 30
states and the District of Columbia. Achieving the Dream helps 3.5 million
community college students have a better chance of realizing greater economic
opportunity and achieving their dreams. (3)
Furthermore, in their epic exploration of what is currently known about improving
developmental education, Elizabeth Zachry Rutschow and Emily Schneider
stated:
One of the greatest challenges that community colleges face in their efforts to
increase graduation rates is improving the success of students in their
developmental, or remedial, education programs the courses that students
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p.

without adequate academic preparation must take before they can enroll in
courses for college credit. Emphasizing results from experimental and quasiexperimental studies, this literature review identifies the most promising
approaches for revising the structure, curriculum, or delivery of developmental
education and suggests areas for future innovations in developmental education

practice and research. This analysis focuses on four different types of

interventions for improving students progress through remedial education
and into college-level courses, including (1) strategies that help students avoid
developmental education by shoring up their skills before they enter college; (2)
interventions that accelerate students progress through developmental education
by shortening the timing or content of their courses; (3) programs that provide
contextualized basic skills together with occupational or college-content
coursework; and (4) programs that enhance the supports for developmental level
learners, such as advising or tutoring. Rutschow, et.al. (2011) (4)

In the 2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best

Policy and Practice Audit responses evaluated how the Achieving the Dream
(ATD) projects were being perceived and utilized on college campuses. They
raised the question as to whether the responses they received from Achieving
the Dream colleges were different from other colleges that did not use these ATD
targeted projects. Their research concluded:
There seems to be a great deal of consensus with regard to practices that
speak to institutional commitment to Developmental Education and its goals, its
place within the planning process, and the full integration of its faculty within
governance and other activities. A sizable majority of respondents saw related
practices as very much in evidence within their institutions. With regard to the
relationship between developmental education and the rest of the college, there
is somewhat less agreement. The questions pertaining to whether the college
community considers developmental education important and the extent of
collaboration between developmental faculty and faculty from other college areas
yield more diversity of opinion, though the percentages who say consistently or
most of the time are close to 50%. There is much less agreement on whether
developmental education mission statements exist, and a fairly clear indication
that, for the most part, those that do are not communicated throughout the
institution. (5)
Following are graphs that describe their findings, and that are very telling about
how developmental education is, or is not, being incorporated and embraced on
community college campuses:

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

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2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education Best Policy and

Practice Audit

Southard and Clay (2004) The community college is the only academic safety net

for underprepared students seeking a college education, and the number of

developmental students continues to grow for several reasons. Social pressures,
such as reforms limiting entitlements over an individual's lifetime, have led more
welfare recipients into the classroom as they prepare for jobs that pay a living
wage (Jenkins & Boswell, 2002). Refugees and immigrants want the
opportunities a college degree brings, but they may require developmental work
(Jenkins & Boswell, 2002). Many native-born U.S. students also require
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remediation; almost two-thirds of high school students in Florida require

developmental courses before they can attempt college-level work (Office of
Educational Services and Research, Division of Community Colleges, 1999).
Despite these pressures, states are increasingly mandating that four-year schools
cannot offer developmental classes (Jenkins & Boswell, 2002); thus, if
developmental students fail at the community college, they do not have access to
other academic institutions. Therefore, effective remedial courses at community
colleges are crucial to developmental students' future academic success. One
proof of effectiveness is accurate placement into developmental courses; another
is success in subsequent courses (Schmitz & delMas, 1991; Weissman,
Bulakowski, & Jumisko, 1997).
As institutions that welcome these underprepared students, community colleges
have an obligation to equip their students with the skills needed to succeed in
college courses. Like its counterparts, Okaloosa-Walton Community College
(OWCC) in northwest Florida offers developmental courses in reading, writing,
and math to fulfill its primary mission of teaching all students. A periodic
assessment of the effectiveness of these courses is essential to ensure that
developmental students are being adequately served. Effectiveness cannot be
assumed; in 1998, more than a quarter of developmental students nationwide
failed to complete their college preparatory coursework (Jenkins & Boswell,
2002).

Faculty and administrators at OWCC needed to know if the college's

developmental writing course, College Prep English II, was preparing students for
success in Composition I (a college-level course). As English teachers, the
researchers wanted to know whether the state-mandated multiple-choice test
used to place students in developmental English provided accurate placement.
Therefore, in this study, the researchers assessed the effectiveness of College
Prep English II in preparing students for success in Composition I and
investigated the relationship between scores on the Florida College Placement
Test (FCPT) and success in developmental English and other writing-intensive
courses. (6)

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Gateway Math Courses Attempts, Completions and Differences

Data Notes (2011) The pattern of attempts is different for gateway math
compared with gateway English. Over the three academic years examined, 72
percent of Achieving the Dream students did not attempt gateway math, while 28
percent of students did so at least once (Figure 1, page 2). Some students
attempted gateway math up to nine times. The falloff in number of attempts was
steep, with only 20 percent of students who attempted doing so twice, and 9
percent three or more times. Students were more likely to attempt gateway
English than math. Fifty-one percent of students attempted gateway English
(Figure 2, page 3), some up to eight times. Of students who attempted gateway
English, 18 percent attempted twice and 8 percent did so three or more times.
Interestingly, course-taking patterns in both gateway math and English reveal
students attempting two times were the least likely to complete successfully, with
students attempting once, or more than two times, more likely
to complete. (7)

Conclusion
Currently there are goals and initiatives in place that help developmental students

achieve their potential, and Achieving the Dream and other organizations are
helping to equip community colleges with targeted approaches and gateway
courses that will streamline and strengthen these efforts. Yet, much work must
be done to improve overall developmental student success rates, and to help
them overcome the competing barriers that most of them face. In addition, more
work must be done to integrate developmental education into the administrative,
academic and political hierarchies within community colleges. As was pointed
out in the 2009 Massachusetts Community Colleges Developmental Education
Best Policy and Practice Audit, there are community colleges at which
developmental education mission statements do not exist, or, if they do exist, are
not communicated throughout the institution so that the programs can garner
campus-wide support.
While optimism exists that the promise of a quality education for all students is alive
and well at American community colleges, it is incumbent upon every institution to be
diligent in insuring that the excellent 21st century gateway courses and strategies that
are being developed gain permanent acceptance and support on all community
college campuses nationwide.

References:

Boggs, G. (2011). The American community college: From access to success.

(pp. 290-296). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Center for Community College Student Engagement. (2012). A matter of
degrees: Promising practices for community college student success (a
first look). Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin,
Community College Leadership Program.
Clery, S. (2012). Gateway coursework time to completion. In Loovis, K. (Ed).
Data Notes, May/June 2011. Retrieved from

http://www.achievingthedream.org/.
Community College Research Center (CCRC) (2011) Achieving the dream,
inc. February 2011. New York, N.Y.: Institute on Education and the
Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Mt. San Antonio College (2012). Review of Developmental and Remedial
Education. Retrieved from http://www.mtsac.edu/i.
Rutschow, E., Schneider, E. (2011). What we know about improving
developmental education. Retrieved from
http://www.mdrc.org/publications.html.
Southard, A., Clay, J. (2004). Measuring the effectiveness of developmental
writing courses. In Community College Review / Fall, 2004. Retrieved
from http://crw.sagepub.com/.

Sperling, C. (2009) Massachusetts community colleges developmental education

best policy and practice audit. June 30, 2009. Massachusetts Community
Colleges Executive Office.
.