At the colleges and universities of Minnesota State, developmental education programs include an integrated series of precollege-level courses and academic support services and interventions designed to develop students’ skills and prepare them for college-level coursework. Minnesota State recognizes our responsibility to reimagine how students are placed into developmental or college-level courses, as well as how students can successfully complete required developmental-level courses and subsequent college-level gateway courses, enabling them to be on-track in the first year of pursuing their academic program.
The work within and around developmental education is overseen by the Developmental Education Steering Committee, which is comprised of students, faculty, staff, and administrators from across the system. The goal of this committee is to identify equitable best practices for developmental education and address the educational needs of incoming students who require more basic developmental work. In addition, the committee makes recommendations for action and provides oversight, monitors progress, and supports the implementation of the Developmental Education Strategic Roadmap.
2018-2019 Committee Members
- Andrew Nesset, Academic Dean, Century College
- Pakou Yang, Interim VP of Student Affairs, Century College
- Judy Shultz, Academic Dean, South Central College
- Marsais Broadway, Associate Dean, Anoka Ramsey Community College
- Kirstin Bratt, Tutor Program Administrator, St. Cloud State University
- Cindy Kaus, Mathematics Faculty, Metropolitan State University
- Tamara Fitting, Math Learning Center Directors, MSU, Moorhead
- Meghan Jirik, Student, Rochester Community & Technical College
- Sara Habinger-Bolton, Student, Normandale Community College
- Aaron Pierson, Accessibility Specialist, Minneapolis College
- Mitzi Kennedy, TRiO Director, South Central College
- Teresa Otto, ELL Faculty, Minnesota State Community and Technical College
- Laurel Watt, Reading Faculty, Inver Hills Community College
- Sara McDonald, English Faculty, St. Cloud Technical & Community College
- Liz McLemore, English Faculty, Minneapolis College
- Celeste Mazur, Reading Faculty, St. Paul College
- Katie Smieja, Mathematics Faculty, Cloud Technical & Community College
- Lori Wynia, Extended Learning, Southwest Minnesota State University
- Shirley Johnson, Academic Dean, North Hennepin Community College
- Satasha Green-Stephen, Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
- Susan Carter, Interim System Dir. of Research, Academic and Student Affairs
- Clyde Pickett, Chief Diversity Officer, Equity and Inclusion
- Greg Rathert, Int. System Dir. of P-20 & College Readiness, Academic and Student Affairs
- Nicole Merz, Project Manager, Academic and Student Affairs
Minnesota State colleges and universities strive to improve student success in developmental education by strengthening evaluation and continuous improvement efforts. This includes clearly identifying appropriate measures and metrics that campuses and the system are accountable for relative to developmental education; supporting data-driven decision making and program development; supporting program evaluation and continuous improvement, and; promoting the successes of campuses and programs and keep our focus on what is working.
To aid in these efforts, the Academic and Student Affairs Division prepares a variety of reports that include elements related to developmental education. These reports are available under the “Reports” section of the Academic and Student Affairs home page. Each campus can also access local measures and success data through their college or university research staff.
To advance the system’s collective work around developmental education, a systemwide workgroup of faculty, staff, and administrators convened in the 2016-2017 academic year to develop a strategic roadmap for developmental education redesign The strategic goals and action items of this developmental education strategic roadmap (DESR) were based on national evidence-based principles and practices and based on best practices that have been implemented across Minnesota State campuses that have shown measurable results. Between April 2017 and November 2017, campus stakeholders provided input on two drafts of the DESR. This final Minnesota State DESR provides our “roadmap” for the next four years (2018-2021). The purpose of this DESR is to guide our systemwide work on developmental education redesign with clearly identified strategic goals, key action steps, targeted timelines for implementation, and measurable outcomes.
The strategic goal areas are as follows:
- Strategic Goal 1: Improve student completion of developmental education and entry into college-level courses by redesigning developmental education curricula to include an acceleration option.
- Strategic Goal 2: Improve the accuracy of course placement by implementing a multiple measures placement program at all colleges and universities.
- Strategic Goal 3: Improve student success in developmental education by developing a comprehensive student support system for students in developmental education programs.
- Strategic Goal 4: Increase college readiness of high school graduates attending Minnesota State campuses by partnering with secondary partners.
- Strategic Goal 5: Increase college affordability for students by implementing student-cost-saving approaches.
- Strategic Goal 6: Improve student success in developmental education by expanding and strengthening professional development for faculty, staff, and administrators.
- Strategic Goal 7: Improve student success in developmental education by strengthening evaluation and continuous improvement efforts.
To view the full report completed in January 2018, click here.
In support of the DESR, systems-level and systemwide work has also taken steps to support developmental education programs. Faculty developmental education Shared Learner Outcomes Committees were tasked to develop and submit recommendations of specific competencies and student learner outcomes to be mastered for ‘college and career readiness standards’ for English, reading, mathematics, and ESL; to make specific recommendations regarding how to promote seamless transition and transfer of developmental curriculum across our system; and to make specific recommendations on how to work with K-12 school districts on specific strategies for aligned competencies, student learner outcomes and targeted interventions to promote college readiness benchmarks while students are still in high school. The final reports of these Shared Learner Outcomes Committees:
- Mathematics SLO Report – Completed April 2017
- Reading SLO Report – Completed Spring 2015
- English SLO Report – Completed Spring 2014
- ESOL SLO Report – Completed Spring 2014
Update: Note that the shared learner outcomes in mathematics, reading, and English are currently undergoing revision with a target release date of May 2019. The updated SLO reports will be posted here once available
An essential component of the Developmental Education Strategic Roadmap is improving the accuracy of course placement by implementing a multiple measures placement program at all colleges and universities. This includes:
- Improving the accuracy of course placement processes to increase the likelihood that students are placed into courses that meets their level of academic abilities;
- Allowing for multiple assessments to be used for course placement rather than a single high stakes test; measurements must include ACT, SAT, MCA (statutory requirement) and may include course placement assessments such as ACCUPLACER, high school GPA, high school courses and grades, non-cognitive assessments, and others;
- Allowing for different types of assessments needed to more accurately place students with different backgrounds, such as adult students and English language learner students, and;
- Providing a holistic approach to the course placement process that includes pre-preparation, in-take processes, and post-assessment.
Additional information related to academic readiness and course placement can be found here. [new academic readiness page link here].
One of the goals of the Developmental Education Strategic Roadmap is to improve student success in developmental education by expanding and strengthening professional development for faculty, staff, and administrators. To advance this goal, Minnesota State partners with organizations like the Minnesota chapter of the National Association of Developmental Education (NADE) to convene faculty from across the system to facilitate professional development, highlight proven and emerging practices, support implementation of the DESR, and report student outcomes.
Satasha Green-Stephen
Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs
satasha.green@minnstate.edu
Greg Rathert
System Director of P-20 and College Readiness
greg.rathert@minnstate.edu
Jessica Espinosa
Director of College Transitions
jessica.espinosa@minnstate.edu
Nicole Merz
Project Manager, Developmental Education
nicole.merz@minnstate.edu
