During the Summer of 2012, through an intensive two-week Summer Institute, faculty were introduced to key concepts in developmental education, including characteristics of developmental students, strategies for helping students complete a certificate or degree program, and best practices in teaching developmental students.

Thirty-three MCC math instructors attended the summer institute. National and local presenters shared strategies and materials that could be implemented in the classroom. Faculty report they have integrated many of the instructional strategies they learned during the summer workshop into their instruction this fall.

The Foundations for Student Success program enabled faculty to act in a more focused manner and use more effective student success strategies.

Also at the Summer Institute, individual faculty members were given data (such as completion rates) on their students from the previous semester so that they could analyze their data and start the process of making data-driven decisions in their math classrooms.

Faculty members were also trained on how to use the ALEKS adaptive diagnostic assessment software with their Introductory Algebra (MAT092) classes. This diagnostic assessment helps identify areas where students require more review and creates a pie graph to show which areas students need to work in so they can make up any skills they are lacking.

The faculty felt that this was important because the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), of which we are a part, had recently changed the placement test used for math. Instructors were concerned that their students may have been placed in the Introductory Algebra (MAT092) course without being fully prepared for the course content. Instructors report that they found it helpful to have the diagnostic data to help their students be successful.

FSS also sponsored Dr. Hunter Boylan and Professor Russ Hodges, national experts on developmental education, to inform faculty about characteristics of developmental students and to talk about trends in developmental education.

These presenters highlighted the national importance of preparing this large segment of the population for college and careers. Additionally, textbook author and teacher Sherri Messersmith presented strategies and materials she has used to improve success in her developmental math classes. Instructors were surveyed every day at the end of the training and again at the beginning of Fall Semester 2012.

In the 2012 MCC Title III Developmental Math Program: Fall Semester Faculty Survey, faculty who participated in the summer training were asked about how they would alter their teaching plans as a result of what they had learned. Teachers responded that “they planned on incorporating a variety of different strategies such as teaching more study skills, teaching more basics, color coding materials, and providing more hands-on activities” (page 2). (Report written by Title III Program Evaluator, the Office of Evaluation and Educational Effectiveness at Arizona State University.)