Student Preparation & Success Committee

Membership

Chair	Organization	Committee Members	Organization
Michael Vaughan	WSU	Lucille Stoddard	USHE
		Christine Kearl	Governor's Office
		Jorie Colbert	USHE
		Nan Gray	USOE
		Bruce Bowen	WSU
		Joe Gallegos	SLCC
		Barbara Kuehl	SLC School Dist.
		Moya Kessig	USOE

Charge

The charge for this Committee includes the following:

• Identify those needing developmental assistance while they are still in the K-l2 system
  
  
• Identify alternatives for the accompanying remedial/developmental strategies before students graduate
  
  
• Recommend practices and instruments for aligning secondary and post-secondary assessments and assessment practices
  
  
• Provide feedback to feeder high schools on readiness of their students for college work based on their placement assessments
  
  
• Develop a plan for the 2008-2009 year that could be presented to the K-l6 Alliance Board

Tough Choices/Tough Times Charges

• Assume that we will do the job right the first time
  
  
• Give strong support to students who need it the most
  
  
• Enable every member of the adult workforce to get new literacy skills

2008 Report

The issues surrounding and arising from developmental education are complex and subjective.  For 2006-2007, the majority of students (61%) in developmental education completed just one course.  For those students that completed one developmental course, it was most likely a math course. Math also made up most of the developmental coursework for students in more than one development course. 
As part of the work of the K-16 Alliance, a task force has been established to develop initiatives designed to remediate students before they enter college. Currently, the chair of this committee is working to develop a list of possible initiatives which will foster a successful transition from K-12 to high education. The K-16 oversight committee has also outlined some possible recommendations.

• Develop on-line programs to address specific development needs – some “brush-up,” some short-term, and some full semester courses.
  
  
• Develop summer “jump-start” programs with public education and higher education working together
  
  
• Develop a closer alignment between high school and college content. A committee working under the K-16 Alliance has been established to address these content alignment issues.
  
  
• Strengthen the information flow from college and universities to high school. For example, all higher education institutions should fully inform feeder high school about student scores on placement examinations.
  
  
• Explore the possibility of using the concurrent model for delivering developmental education before students enroll in college.
  
  
• Chose a common assessment instrument that can be used for both high school and college students to predict success in college-level work