1. Central/Sacramento Regional Workshop
April 30-May 1, 2009
Identify an area where your college excels in supporting Identify an area where your college is challenged
students with basic skills needs. regarding supporting students with basic skills needs.
We have committed faculty and counselors at a college. Faculty in the content areas are not prepared or are not invested
We have connection building mechanisms on campus for in teaching students with basic skills needs.
students, like peer mentors, clubs, tutoring. We have no learning communities.
We are overworked—a growing college with packed classes.
We do not yet excel in supporting students with basic skills We are challenged to find tutors. We are in the process of hiring
needs. a learning skills coordinator who will hopefully help us overcome
the challenges.
We lack District buy-in and vision and leadership.
We attempt to have all incoming students meet with a counselor
and take the math and English assessment tests.
Well coordinated and flexible authentic course, open enrollment Outreach counselors do not have all services needed by basic
variable unit self-paced. skills students during many hours they need them.
Up to now, the major support of our students comes through Drop-out rate in remedial classes.
EOPS and peer counseling.
My college has a GED prep and basic skills brush-up program. My college is challenged by supporting students in remedial
Students attend 3 days a week—MWF, 8:30 to 11:50 and have college level courses—attrition rates are high.
specific, tailored, small group instruction in reading, writing,
math.
See the need to assist underprepared students. No reading skills requirement.
Adjunct buy-in
Staffing
Collaboration/coordination as a whole community
Tutoring Lack of mandatory assessments
Innovative use of technology Lack of acknowledgment of basic skills students
Tutoring and technology Lack of mandatory assessment
Workshops Sense of belongingness
Tutoring Retention
Creating a supportive learning environment with learning Setting subject-area faculty to recognize that basic skills students
resources where basic skills students can develop skills side-by- are everywhere and strategies to support them are successful
side and in collaboration with other students. with all students.
My college has a burgeoning learning communities program. It There are not enough ESL classes that are academically directed
also has a VP of Instruction who is aggressively working to to bring students into the mainstream of the academic
support basic skills. professors of the college.
Commitment of faculty in special programs All students not assessed
Varied approaches Students not required to take a basic skills course
Eager to innovate Lack of reassigned time for all activities
Need other incentives
Hiring of BSI faculty Cultural competency (staff, faculty, and students), lack thereof!
Our EOPS program has an excellent summer bridge program Not being able to offer enough sections of basic skills courses to
(runs summer, then 2 more semesters after that) with great accommodate the needs of our basic skills students.
success and retention rates. (Math, English, reading, and study
skills/guidance.)
Fantastic small-scale programs to help students with basic skills Not enough resources/support (trained personnel, buy-in,
needs. physical space, institutional structure, etc.) to effectively help
large numbers of students with basic skills needs.
Excels with giving students tutoring services and follow-up Getting students to be comfortable and relate to the campus
Tutoring—both utilizing faculty and student tutors A centralization of coordination of BSI programs (the “silo”
effect)
Course offerings, availability of tutoring, offering more learning No FYE program yet
communities and Supplemental Instruction sections each Lack of communication
semester. Lack of $ $ $
Reading Across Disciplines Program Math tutoring

2. Central/Sacramento Workshop, Page 2
Identify an area where your college excels in supporting Identify an area where your college is challenged
students with basic skills needs. regarding supporting students with basic skills needs.
We need to integrate the various student support services
offered.
Join/facilitate common goal of student success for instruction
and student services.
DLA’s for English are very successful; started fall 2009. Connect all programs in a coordinated effort for basic skills!
Levels of reading and writing courses Focusing on adult returning students to tie into support
programs.
Great basic skills faculty Not enough FTE
EOPS/SSS Basic skills coordination within the instructional area—no
leadership—everyone does their own thing.
Writing/reading/math labs Tough to target and support ESL students. Also, we have a
problem engaging/retaining our recruited athletes who are
mostly basic skills students.
Writing lab Integrating instructional support into basic skills writing classes
Reading lab (faculty resistance).
Math lab Getting basic skills faculty to attend regional conferences.
Reading lab Connection among the resources
Writing lab Team effort
Math lab We need a basic skills coordinator.
Study hall
Tutoring services with learning labs Limited number of tutors and funding
The study hall/college reading unofficial learning community. Coordination of student services staff with instruction to assist
100% of students enrolled in both courses pass the reading class. our basic skills students.
Desire to have these students’ needs met. Disjointed in our efforts to address these needs.
Offer excellent, accessible support labs (math, English, reading) Efforts not coordinated (silos)
Tutoring Faculty buy-in
ESL lab Coordination
Basic skills counselor who works specifically with basic skills Basic skills students are not passing classes at high rates.
students.
Writing Center excels in procedures and results. Providing consistent training and follow-up oversight for all
tutoring on campus.
My college excels in providing a broad spectrum of tutoring. Students with basic skills needs enroll in courses for which they
are woefully underprepared because the courses do not have
prerequisites.
We have many student support services. Developing learning communities—making basic skills students
feel a part of the campus community.
Extend the class—Supplemental Instruction Having enough sections of developmental math and English
Strong basic skills discipline faculty who care about basic skills Basic skills is not viewed as an issue that general
students. education/transfer faculty need to be concerned about.
Tutoring, online tutoring, extending the classroom/Supplemental Too many levels of basic skills scores with too few offerings of
Instruction these courses. Students have difficulty progressing through
sequences to reach college levels.
Extending the Classroom Cannot possibly offer the number of sections needed for basic
skills demand.
Tutorial Money
Counseling Faculty/staff (not enough of)
Special Programs
RAD Math skills. We don’t have an equivalent (RAD, WAC) skills-type
WAC center. Math skills are typically taught only in class, but we’d
ESL like to see them in a “center.”
All centers above help students develop the skills necessary to
be successful in reading, writing, ESL, and study skills.