Institute/Session Summary:

Mesa Community College, a large suburban comprehensive community college in the southwestern part of the United States with two campuses and a number of site locations, recently marked its 40th year of operation. As the college moved into the 21st century, there was much to celebrate and much to consider as we prepared to move ahead. The college has more than 27,000 students enrolled, and like most community colleges, includes many developmental students and English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners in its diverse student body. My college is not alone. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “just under 30% of students entering American colleges and universities require development in English, reading, or mathematics” (as cited in Boylan, 1993).

Beginning in 2003, a number of faculty and administrators who work with students in developmental education met as part of the Developmental Education Committee and deliberated on specific strategies to meet the needs of these students (as well as those of the many students we see who are ESL students). We knew we faced some special challenges in that the college was experiencing rapid growth. Committee members discussed Boylan’s (2002) book What Works: Research-Based Practices in Developmental Education. We read carefully Boylan, Bliss, & Bonham’s (1997) discussion of program components essential of student success in developmental education. We knew that some components might be difficult for us to incorporate, yet we wanted to offer our students the best possible developmental education program. We discussed many aspects of curriculum, instruction, and assessment—including the key component of tutoring and learning assistance. One important result of those discussions was an old idea revisited with a new (and renewed) focus: a special learning assistance center for developmental and ESL students. This is an idea not without controversy, but our new center—which we call the Academic Skills Center—finished its pilot year in 2004-2005, and has continued to grow over the last few years in student use and faculty acceptance past all our expectations. The success of this experimental center has encouraged all of us who took part in its planning.

This presentation has two main learning objectives. Participants should leave with a good review of current research about best practices in developmental education, most specifically about how learning assistance centers can help promote those best practices. They will also learn about how Mesa Community College tried to implement some of those practices in its Academic Skills Center. The presentation’s overall purpose is to help learning center administrators and developmental education faculty at other colleges decide if this special kind of center is right for them as they seek to improve their developmental education programs. First, I will review the literature about the current state of developmental education and what research indicates are the program components needed for student learning and success. Summaries of this important research will be available to participants as handouts. I will then describe how we came to establish the Academic Skills Center and wha t surprising learning experiences lay in store for us. I will use both Power Point presentations and handouts to provide not only important statistical information but also photographs of the center and expressions of student opinions and experience in their own words. After detailing the ups and downs of the Academic Skills Center’s first years, I will allow time for the sharing of participants’ own stories and points of view about this kind of center, since it is likely to remain a source of controversy and strong opinions.

Presenter1 Name: Sarah Henderson
Presenter1 Institution: Mesa Community College
Presenter1 Bio: Sarah Henderson has a Master's Degree in Teaching from Lewis & Clark College. She has taught college English for over 15 years. She has a strong interest in developmental education and tutor training for learning assistance center. She has published articles in the fields of both English and education.