(no subject)

Seese, Lillian (lseese@mcmail.stlcc.cc.mo.us)
Tue, 09 Dec 1997 06:36:18 -0800


How do we assess developmental program's success:
Like you, we are watching how our students do in the next course, but
- for the department as a whole, not by section, by student or by teacher
- we give departmental finals in all courses
- we ask individual students and teachers about their perceptions
regarding how well each student was prepared by coursde #1 to progress to
course #2 (answers are surprisingly optimistic)
- we look at success rates for the second course broken down by how many
times it took students to get through the first course. As it is
nationally, the more often a student takes a developmental course, the less
likely he is to pass it, and the less likely he is to pass the next course.

Concerning how well students do in beginning algebra if they get a "C" in
arithmetic: at our school, they have a 4% chance of passing the beginning
algebra course.

Concerning what keeps these folks from doing well, recently in my 4
sections of beginning algebra students 37% reported that they hadn't
finished high school. I coudn't build on the "you know what it took to
finish high school" experience at all!

Lillian Seese
SLCC Meramec

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