ERIC ED415945: Changing State Policy in Texas for Remedial/Developmental Education.

8 Pages·1998·0.18 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
JC 980 108
ED 415 945
Cook, Charles M.
AUTHOR
Changing State Policy in Texas for Remedial/Developmental
TITLE
Education.
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, Austin.
INSTITUTION
1998-00-00
PUB DATE
6p.; Paper presented at the forum on State Legislative Roles
NOTE
for Community Colleges (Washington, DC, February 21, 1998).
-- Speeches/Meeting Papers (150)
Descriptive (141)
Reports
PUB TYPE
MF01/PC01 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
Basic Skills; Community Colleges; Developmental Studies
DESCRIPTORS
Programs; *Educational Assessment; Educational Legislation;
*Educational Policy; High Risk Students; High School
Students; Outcomes of Education; Policy Analysis; Program
Evaluation; Remedial Instruction; *Remedial Programs; School
Policy; *State Legislation; Testing Programs; Two Year
College Students; Two Year Colleges
Senate Bill 148 (Texas 1997); *Texas Academic Skills
IDENTIFIERS
Program; Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
ABSTRACT
The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP), implemented in
1989, requires student assessment in reading, writing, and math prior to
regular college course work. Students undergo continuous remediation until
they are able to pass the assessment test. Though TASP advocates argue that
the program helps maintain academic standards and provides students with
needed remediation, results are unfavorable and critics charge that the
program does not produce greater retention or graduation rates, limits
minority access to education, and is too costly. A Texas Higher Education
Coordinating Board evaluation of TASP revealed the following:
(1) Texas
institutions emphasized compliance with the law rather than the outcomes and
(2) there was a significant lack of early
quality of remedial programs;
remediation efforts in high school and articulation between postsecondary and
secondary education; and (3) developmental education had become a repository
for many "problem" students. In 1997, Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill
148, which encouraged rewarding students for high school achievement by
providing them a means of TASP exemption; taking the TASP in high school;
capping the amount of state reimbursement for developmental course hours;
providing an earlier and improved means of student assessment; and offering
an alternative means of exiting remediation.
(YKH)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
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Changing State Policy in Texas for Remedial/Developmental Education
By Charles M. Cook
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
BEST COPY AVAILABLE
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Points of view or opinions stated
INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."
document do not necessarily represent
official OERI position or policy.
Charles M. Cook
Director of Instructional Programs
Community and Technical Colleges Division
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Education
Changing State Policy in Texas for Remedial/Developmental
Remarks delivered at the
Forum on State Legislative Roles for Community Colleges,
sponsored by the Education Commission of the States
Washington, D.C.
February 21, 1998
Outline
Program (TASP):
Creation and implementation of the Texas Academic Skills
I.
1987-1989
Disappointing results, 1989-1995
II.
Program Review and Evaluation, 1995-1996
III.
Program Reforms, 1997-1998
IV.
in 1987 and implemented in
The Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) was created
colleges and universities in Fall 1989 and
1989. It required all students entering Texas public
Students had to take all three sections
thereafter to be assessed in reading, writing and math.
hours (SCH) of college course work
of the TASP test before they completed 9 semester credit
associate degree or progress beyond
and pass all three sections before they could receive an
sections of the TASP test was
60 SCH of college course work. Any student failing one or more
he or she passed the failed
required to enroll in continuous remediation until such time as
sections of the test.
Although its champions argued
Over time, the results of TASP appeared mixed at best.
contributed to the quality of students' lives
that TASP helped maintain academic standards and
that the program did not seem to produce
in their gaining needed remediation, critics charged
overall, and perhaps even limited
appreciably greater retention or graduation rates for students
students, who appeared disproportionately impacted.
access to higher education for minority
increasingly bureaucratic in its policies and
Other critics denounced the program as it became
and more money. From less
rules, intrusive on local autonomy, and cost the taxpayers more
education for the biennium
that $30 million appropriated by the state for developmental
eight years to over $150 million for
following the 1987 legislative session, costs quintupled in
the biennium following the 1995 legislative session.
what the state was getting
In between 1995 and 1997, state officials demanded to know
April 1996, the Texas Higher
from its investment and whether TASP was effective. In
Director of the National Center for
Education Coordinating Board hired Dr. Hunter Boylan,
North Carolina to head a team of
Developmental Education at Appalachian State University in
Boylan's team made 20 site visits, surveyed 96
outside consultants to evaluate the TASP. Dr.
data and documents. He delivered a masterful
other institutions, and analyzed all relevant state
1
3
be improved.
report in September 1996 with 105 recommendations on how the TASP might
www.thecb.state.tx.us).
(A complete copy of Dr. Boylan's report is available on our Web site at
time
Obviously, there's no way I can cover all of his recommendations during my
how the report, along
allotment today, but I'd like to mention the most important and then share
improve the TASP
with other state efforts, contributed to significant modifications designed to
and its results.
for
Perhaps the most significant finding of the Boylan report was that, except
1.
isolated examples here and there, Texas institutions emphasized compliance
with the law rather than the outcomes of remediation. Consequently, overall
quality of remedial programs was poor.
In too many programs, there was an over-reliance on adjunct and poorly-
(a).
trained faculty who did not participate in professional associations or
utilize the latest research and best practices as reported in the
professional literature.
Programs tended to be decentralized, lacked proper coordination, lacked
(b)
clear statements of goals and expectations, and seldom engaged in
ongoing and systematic self-evaluation. Many programs lacked
documentation tracking student results over time which might offer a
basis upon which program improvements could be planned and
implemented.
While many programs supplemented TASP with local assessment tests
(c)
for placement of students in courses, few programs utilized non-cognitive
styles, or
measures to assess students' personalities, learning
instructional type preferences. Programs tended to apply a "one size fits
all" mentality with instruction not sufficiently tailored to the needs of
individual students.
Many campus environments bred negative attitudes toward and among
(d)
developmental students. Often, comments of college administrators as
well as students did not reflect a proper understanding or appreciation of
the purposes and goals, and hence the value of developmental
education.
The second major area of findings by Boylan included a significant lack of
2.
articulation between postsecondary and secondary education in the state and
high
early intervention efforts to remediate students while they were still in
school. Boylan noted that institutions seemed not to place a high priority on
either effectiveness or efficiency in the delivery of developmental education.
There was a lack of institutional efforts to move students successfully through
developmental education in the least amount of time.
2
4
observers did, was
Finally, something Boylan did not emphasize, but many other
3.
repository for many
the fact that developmental education had become a
skills, but also for
students, not just for those minimally lacking in college-level
belonged in ABE, GED,
those seriously deficient in skills and who more properly
funding of those activities by the
or ESL classes. Due to very low institutional
students, however, those
state, and lack of federal financial aid opportunities for
results, measured in
students flocked into developmental education instead. The
disappointing.
terms of TASP pass rates, not surprisingly, were most
addressed many of these
In 1997, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 148 which
of adopting new policies:
concerns and we are currently in the process
while they are
To encourage and reward students for high levels of achievement
1.
SAT, ACT, and
still in high school, we are setting scores for students on the
of students
TAAS (Texas Assessment of Academic Skills - the state test required
exemption from
to graduate from high school) tests by which they may gain
TASP.
they are still in high
We are encouraging students to take the TASP test while
2.
colleges in the
school. Part of the "disconnect" between our high schools and
10'h grade skills, while the
past has been the fact that the TAAS test measures
TAAS and
TASP measures college-level skills. Due to similar acronyms, the
mistakenly
TASP tests were easily confused, and many high school students
assumed that they were one and the same.
results, the
In an effort to increase institutional responsibility for remediation
3.
colleges may receive
state is capping developmental course hours for which
27 SCH for students in community colleges and 18 SCH
state reimbursement
"bonus° to
for students in universities. Further, the state is offering a monetary
successfully
institutions (currently proposed at $1000) for each student who
completes remediation.
skills, better
To emphasize earlier and more convenient diagnosis of student
4.
of baseline data against which
course placement of students, and collection
be eliminated
"value added" progress may later be measured, the 9-hr rule will
and students must be assessed prior to taking any college-level courses.
by the
Colleges may use one of five assessment instruments approved
by
Coordinating Board: TASP (or the new "QuickTASP" being developed
National Evaluation Systems); the Asset or the computerized version,
Services
COMPASS, offered by ACT; or the Multiple Assessment Programs and
College
(MAPS), or its computerized version, ACCUPLACER, offered by the
developmental
Board. Common "cut scores" for the placement of students in
by the
education will be determined and correlated across the instruments
Coordinating Board. (Note: due to other state laws, colleges may still exempt
students
certain categories of students from this requirement. For example,
3
5
exempt. Dr.
enrolling in a vocational certificate program of one year or less are
Boylan criticized this exemption, claiming that college-level skills are necessary
the legislative
not only for success in college, but success in life. Nonetheless,
exemption remains.)
have an
To guard against reliance on a single measure for results, students will now
5.
remedial
alternative means of exiting remediation. Once they have completed the
TASP test, or they may `4B out," that is,
sequence, they may either retake and pass the
freshman college-level courses.
earn a grade of B or better in any of a set of prescribed
conference
In addition to these reforms, the Coordinating Board sponsored a statewide
is currently collecting materials for a
on developmental education in October 1997 and
increase
forthcoming publication on best practices. Greater efforts are being made to
and community
knowledge and preparation among high school students for college participation
of developmental
colleges have been encouraged to contract with high schools in the provision
information on
education. State reports are being examined and rewritten to collect better
finally, all colleges are
student performance prior, during, and subsequent to remediation. And
being asked to engage in consistent and systematic self-evaluation.
problems in
We don't pretend to think that these current reforms will solve all our
this front over
developmental education, but we do feel that we made some major progress on
future.
the past decade and are currently poised for even greater progress in the
4
6
0
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U.S. Department of Education
Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OEM)
16 10 o web
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