Remedial courses, designed to help underprepared students do well in college-level courses, are being reviewed at Grand Valley State University to increase effectiveness and student success.

“I have just begun the process of developing a committee of interested faculty (and) unit heads from the English, math and writing departments to review the ‘0-level’ courses, to update the courses and do some planning for a more comprehensive approach,” said Nancy Giardina, assistant vice president of Academic Affairs at GVSU.

The group of faculty and staff plans to meet after spring break.

“The purpose of the initial meeting is to discuss what we know about the ‘0-level’ courses now, and identify where we may need to go, given student needs today and in the near future,” Giardina said.

The university offers four remedial level courses in the English, math and writing departments—ENG 099, ESL 098, MTH 097 and WRT 098—that do not count as credit toward graduation. These courses are designed to bring students that may not be prepared for college-level courses up to speed and help them graduate.

“Students are placed typically by ACT scores; however, students may self-select into the courses as well,” Giardina said.

To determine graduation rates at GVSU, data was examined over a six-year period.

“Six-year graduation rates are calculated by considering all students who enter GVSU as first-time full-time bachelor’s degree seeking students in a given fall, then determining how many earned a GVSU bachelor’s degree within six years,” said Philip Batty, director of Institutional Analysis.

Data examined by IA began with students that entered GVSU in the fall of 2005.

“It’s a flawed measure for a lot of reasons, principal among which is that many of the students who don’t graduate here actually graduate somewhere else,” Batty said. “As a result, the rates underestimate student success.”

The six-year graduation rate for students with no remedial courses was 66 percent. For students with one remedial course taken during their college career, the graduation rate dropped to 54 percent. For students with two or more, a graduation rate of 43 percent was determined.

A report, “Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education: A Joint Statement,” suggests changes in the remedial programs implemented by many higher educational institutions are necessary. The report was completed in December 2012 by the Charles A. Dana Center, Complete College America, Inc., Education Commission of the States and Jobs for the Future. The reporters examined research on the effectiveness of remedial courses currently in place at many institutions of higher learning.

“As a result of these impressive efforts, we have drawn the conclusion that remedial education as commonly designed and implemented — that is, sequences of several semester-long courses that students must complete before gaining access to college-level gateway courses — does not work,” the report stated.

Gateway courses are 100-level courses that apply as credit toward graduation. The report went on to state that individuals would benefit more from support systems that help them adjust to the demands of college, rather than teaching specific skills to help them pass a class.

“Research indicates that students, particularly those who are unprepared for college, benefit from ‘non-academic’ supports that help them explore and clarify goals for college and careers, develop college success skills, engage with campus culture, and address the conflicting demands of work, family, and college,” it read.

New freshmen for the 2011-2012 school year taking no remedial classes had an average GPA of 2.95. The GPA was 2.68 for those in one remedial course and 2.39 for those taking more than one.

“Fifteen point four percent of new freshmen take at least one remedial or developmental class in their first year,” Batty said. “Four point five percent take two or more.”

About 184 students were enrolled in ENG 099 for the 2012-2013 school year, 410 students were in WRT 098, 372 took MTH 097 and 14 were enrolled in ESL 098, according to data provided by Institutional Analysis.

On average, 83 percent of new freshmen without any remedial courses continue their enrollment at GVSU the following year. For students that took one remedial course, 77 percent stayed at GVSU, and for those taking two or more remedial courses the retention rate was 75 percent.
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