undoing developmental courses helped increase our …...• ma090 basic mathematics, ma095 basic...
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Undoing Developmental Courses Helped Increase Our Student Success at Palau Community College
ACCJC Partners in Excellence Conference 2019
Derbei Meyar, Associate Professor
Cecil E. Meteolechol, Chairperson English Department
Ligaya T. Sara, Institutional Researcher
San Francisco, California
Palau Community College is located in Koror, Palau. Palau is made up of approximately 250 small islands; it is situated between the Philippines and Japan; and forms the western chain of the Caroline Islands in Micronesia in the western Pacific Ocean.
Koror, the capital where the College is located is about 500 miles east of Manila, Philippines; 800 miles southwest of Guam; and 10,000 miles west of Washington, D.C. Therefore, Palau CC is the most distant and remote member of the U.S. family of colleges and universities.
Palau is a sovereign nation with a compact of free association with the United States.
It is an island country with 22,206 population, Palau Census Bureau (2019)
Palau Community College is the only higher education institution in the nation and is the farthest ACCJC member institution.
There are five high schools in the country (one public and four private).
School Year 2018-2019 student population:
Palau High School (public) – 512
Mindszenty High School – 132
Emmaus Bethania High School – 77
Palau Mission Academy – 121
Belau Modekngei School – 21
Accreditation Status
Since 1977, the College has been accredited for 42 years by ACCJC-WASC.
Palau CC is mandated under RPPL 4-2 (Palau higher education act of 1993) to be an accredited institution by ACCJC-WASC.
About 93 – 95 percentage of students depend on Federal Financial Aid (Pell Grant, SEOG and Federal Work Study)
Open Discussion and Decision-making to Dismantle Developmental Courses
Collaborative effort between Palau CC and Palau Ministry of Education
College readiness
Development of new courses
Alignment of high school courses with college courses
Academic policy development/implementation
Both institutions’ continuous effort to ensure student success
Developmental Courses
An open-door institution • Not all admitted students meet the proficiency
level required for college level courses
Developmental courses offered prior to 2010 • EN070 Conversational English I , EN071
Conversational English II , EN090 Basic Reading Skills I, EN091 Developmental English I, EN092 Basic Reading Skills II, EN093 Developmental English II, EN095 Developmental English III
• Ma090 Basic Mathematics, MA095 Basic Algebra • SC090 Introduction to Science • OA095 Keyboarding
Developmental Courses
Developmental courses offered prior to fall semester 2016
• EN089 Developmental Reading and Writing • EN090 Developmental Reading Skills • EN091 Developmental English I • EN092 Basic Reading Skills II • EN095 Basic Grammar & Writing Skills • MA095 Basic Algebra
Why Undo Developmental Courses?
Costly for Palau CC students • Repeating developmental courses • Exhaustion of students’ federal/local education
financial funding • Furthers graduation date • Stress discourages students
Costly for the institution • More faculty needed • Overloaded faculty • Cost of books • Risk increasing student withdrawals/stopping
out of college
Undoing Developmental Courses
Discontinued offering developmental courses in fall semester 2016
• Cohorts enrolled in 100-level courses (e.g. EN112 Freshman Composition and EN109 Advanced Reading Skills)
• Increased number of students in tutoring centers
• Adjusting course pre-requisites and program required courses
Undoing Developmental Courses
Creating new courses based on students’ needs
• EN100 Reading and Writing Skills (completed/implemented spring 2017)
• MA103 Basic Mathematics (completed/implemented spring 2017)
Development of EN100 and MA103 provided an opportunity for the 21-degree programs to evaluate and make necessary changes appropriate to support their program requirements as well as improve student learning.
Undoing Developmental Courses
A collaboration between Palau CC and a Palau public high school
• Spring 2018: alignment of public high school’s and Palau CC’s English, Math, and other core areas
• Palau CC’s Academic policy on awarding of high school math credits
Academic Policy
The Results With and Without Developmental
Courses
ns - There was no significant difference when statistically analyzed by group at 95% level of Confidence.
Retention Rate
EN100 Successful Completion Rate
EN100 Successful Completion Rate
Palau CC Institutional-set Standard for Student Achivement (ISSA) 4
At least 60% of registered students will complete enrolled courses (course completion) in any given semester
Graduation Rate (2-Year)
Graduation Rate (150% Normal Time to Completion)
The Overall Results
Improvement in student success • One-on-one tutoring services for more insight on
lesson concept • Help with total education cost
Lesser books to purchase Lesser courses to pay for
• Smooth transitioning from high school to Palau CC • Increases persistent rate, retention rate, and
graduation rate • Meeting 150% normal time requirement
Kom kmal mesulang (thank you)! www.palau.edu
Derbei Meyar [email protected] [email protected] Cecil E. Meteolechol [email protected] [email protected] Ligaya T. Sara [email protected]