Moorpark College's
With news of the California State budget passing on Tuesday, Moorpark College is poised to put a part of their 07/08 state budget appropriation to improving student success by shoring up students' competencies in basic skills.
This year, in support of the state-wide Basic Skills Initiative launched by the California Community College Chancellor's Office, more than $33 million of the higher education budget has been earmarked for the improvement of basic skills at the state's 109 community colleges.
The Basic Skills Initiative addresses the needs of students who enter college without the college-level skills in English, Mathematics, and English as a Second Language. The Basic Skills Initiative asks community colleges to study the best practices in teaching basic skills, and to examine the status of basic skills programs on campuses for improvement. Students who do well in basic skills courses are proven to perform better academically in as they continue with their college education.
Moorpark College was one of 10 California Community Colleges that piloted a Basic Skills Program Assessment for the Chancellor's office during spring semester 2007.
The results of that assessment and the plans for improvement were reported out at the Dale Tillery Summer Institute at UC Berkeley's Graduate School of Education earlier this month. Moorpark college's plan was heralded as the best of the 10 reported on at the Institute, an honor that came with a $2500 grant for further basic skills training at Moorpark College this fall.
"A key part of the Moorpark plan is to boost college-wide awareness that student success in basic skills means student success in the more advanced classes. The successful basic skills student today will be the successful career or transfer student tomorrow," said Pam Eddinger the college's executive vice president and an institute participant.
Members of the Moorpark team who share the competition honor are: Deans Julius Sokenu and Patricia Ewins, Counseling Department Chair Corey Wendt, Academic Senate President Margaret Tennant, Mathematics Professor Rena Petrello and Writing Center faculty Kathryn Adams.
Under details of the proposed plan, Moorpark College will convene an interdisciplinary group of faculty, staff and administrators charged with reviewing student success data in basic skills, and help develop directions and strategies for improvement. The plan also proposes a targeted effort at providing professional development opportunities in the teaching of basic skills, and to consolidate and grow the nascent programs in academic support such as the Writing and Math Centers already at the college.
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