Developmental and Supplemental Education Placement

NUMBERED MEMO CC21-030

 

TO: Community College Presidents CC: Chief Academic Officers, Chief Student Development Administrators, Career and College Readiness Directors

FROM: Dr. Kimberly Gold Senior Vice President/Chief Academic Officer

SUBJECT: Developmental and Supplemental Education Placement

DATE: June 18, 2021

 

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance for colleges regarding Developmental and Supplemental Education. Recognizing that the RISE model as well as other past Developmental Education models have demonstrated promising results but also highlighted areas where improvement may be needed, as of summer 2021, the official pilot phase for Reinforced Instruction for Student Excellence (RISE) will be considered complete. Although the pilot phase has ended, it is anticipated that many colleges will continue with the co-requisite model.

 

Based on the lessons learned from the RISE pilots, colleges will be provided flexibility to deliver transition, developmental, and co-requisite courses starting in summer 2021. Recognizing that colleges provide instruction to meet the needs of their local community, this memo provides both requirements that must be adhered to by all colleges and flexible options to assist colleges as they adopt local policies regarding the delivery of developmental education.

 

Requirements

• Courses delivered must be part of the Combined Course Library. Note: To accommodate flexibility, manual adjustments in Colleague may be needed to implement local practices. DMA and DRE courses appear in the Combined Course Library as obsolete. However, the teach out option (TO status in local Colleague) will allow colleges to access those courses.

• Colleges are required to enter the high school Unweighted GPAs of all incoming students. The Unweighted GPA should be captured in the “XRISE screen” of Colleague as this information will be necessary in assessing which practices are most effective in facilitating successful completion of math and English requirements. This information will be important as we move forward as a System to define longer-term policy related to NCCCS developmental/supplemental education. 

Note: GPA should not be recorded for CCP students with GPA < 2.8. A GPA ˃2.2 should be recorded for other Innovative High Schools students.

• Colleges shall collect and record the student PowerSchool/UID number as listed on the High School transcript from each student who graduates from a NC Public High School. This information will be used to access students CCRG Tier Test scores. The student PowerSchool/UID number should be recorded on the XNCA form in Colleague in the High School ID field.

• Colleges shall publish local guidelines that describe the placement of students. At a minimum, the local guidelines should describe how students will be placed based on the following Unweighted GPA thresholds: 1.99 and below, 2.0-2.199, 2.2-2.39, 2.4-2.59, 2.6-2.799, 2.8+. Guidelines must be published at the stated GPA ranges to ensure transparency for students as well as to provide information so that other colleges can determine the placement of students transferring between institutions.

• Colleges should place students entering college with at least an Unweighted GPA of 2.8 in college-level courses.

• High School students who score a 4 or 5 on the Math 3 EOC are exempt from CCRG and therefore may be placed in college level math.

• Students entering college with either an Unweighted GPA below 2.2 OR who do not have other placement criteria to indicate college readiness should be placed in a transition or developmental course. Students in this GPA range may be offered a placement test to determine eligibility to enter college-level coursework or to identify specific areas of remediation needs.

• As colleges determine practices for supporting students in their academic pathways, attention should be paid to Career and College Ready Graduates (CCRG). Students who have mastered the required CCRG assessments while in high school should be considered college ready when entering college. (See placement guidelines included.)

• Per State Board Code, CCP and CIHS students are prohibited from taking DMA and DRE courses and BSP 4002 and BSP 4003 Courses. However, CCP and CIHS students may take supplemental courses as well as MAT 003 and ENG 002. (Reference SBCC 1D 400.11)

 

Flexible Options Determined by Local Policy

• Students with an Unweighted GPA between 2.2 and 2.79 may register for any gateway math or English with a corresponding corequisite or colleges may choose to support student readiness using other support methods including but not limited to developmental courses.

• Colleges may use MAT-003, ENG-002, BSP-4002, BSP-4003, co-requisite courses, or Developmental Education (DMA/DRE) courses for remediation.

• Students may be offered an option to take a placement test. 

• High School graduates who have not successfully completed Math 2 should not be placed via their high school GPA. The student should register for the math and English Transition or Developmental Education courses. These students should not be instructed to take a placement test unless required to meet program-specific admission or credentialling standards (e.g., allied health and public safety programs).

 

Please let me know if you have questions about Developmental/Supplemental Education, and do not hesitate to contact me.

 

 

cc21-030_numbered_memo_-_developmental_education_placement_memo_6-7-21_002.pdf