Basic Skills Initiative

We all know the need to provide basic skills, and by extension ESL, education to students under-prepared for college-level work. A system-wide Basic Skills Initiative has been in the works for some time in order to identify and apply best practices for basic skills education across the whole community college system up and down the state of California.

This Initiative provides statewide training and support to address the professional development needs of community college administrators, faculty, and staff in the areas of basic skills and ESL instruction as well as address both credit and noncredit instruction as they apply to the broad basic skills area, including ESL instruction.

To provide the foundation to develop this training, Foothill-De Anza Community College District has contracted with the Academic Senate and the Center for Student Success to create resource materials for use at the colleges. Colleges will begin with a self-assessment tool that helps to identify strengths and weaknesses in basic skills instruction. With the results of the self-assessment in hand, colleges will turn to materials that outline the general principles and processes that work to help ensure student success in basic skills success courses. Colleges will be provided with a “menu-based” approach of course sequences and other institutional improvements to address the unique needs of their students, faculty, and instructional programming. In addition, colleges will be apprised of available “alternative” career-related math and English courses to meet the upcoming graduation requirements (e.g. "Math for Health Careers" instead of "Intermediate Algebra").

To present these resources, a partnership of the Academic Senate and the statewide organizations of the Chief Instructional Officers, the Chief Student Services Officers, the Center for Student Success, and the System Office Action Plan Group have been conducting training for all 109 California Community Colleges at statewide conferences and several regional workshops.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Governor Schwarzenegger “set aside” the $33.1 million earmarked for the BSI efforts, pending legislative reform, when he signed the state budget on 8/24. The CCC System Office and the Administration then engaged in a lengthy, constructive dialogue regarding the reasons for the governor’s de factor veto and the options for restoring the funds. Many people working in the community colleges also wrote letters to state legislators to voice their concern and urge the restoration of the Basic Skills money.

Last Monday, the State Legislature approved AB 194 (Committee on Budget), legislation which restored the $33.1 million to the community college budget in ESL and Basic Skills. Contained within the money is $1.6 million for faculty and staff development to improve curriculum, instruction, student services, and program practices in basic skills and ESL programs. The remaining $31.5 million will be used for program and curriculum planning and development, student assessment, advisement and counseling services, supplemental instruction and tutoring, articulation, instructional materials and equipment, and any other purpose directly related to the enhancement of basic skills, ESL instruction and related student programs.

The Governor has until 10/14 to sign the bill, which will then go into effect immediately, according to the text of the bill.

Here at our college, a Basic Skills Work Group has been busy at work as part of the broader Basic Skills Initiative. As a long-time member of that group, Marty Furch has represented our dept. single-handedly and superbly. The group will next discuss a plan for completing a self-assessment and the proposed “Success Centers” in Escondido and San Marcos. After reviewing the relevant information, if you have concrete ideas for our department to increase its say and share in this whole BSI effor at our college, please send them to Marty or me as soon as you can. You can also leave your comments below.

Resources:

Introductory information about the Basic Skills Initiative: http://www.cccbsi.org/

26 effective practices in four categories: http://www.cccbsi.org/effective-practices

10 effective instructional practices: http://www.cccbsi.org/instructional-practices

111 pages of literature review regarding effective instructional practices: http://www.cccbsi.org/Websites/basicskills/Images/InstructionalPractices.pdf

Relevant state budget update: http://www.ccleague.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3320

The text of the amended bill: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0151-0200/ab_194_bill_20070907_amended_sen_v98.html