SB 1720 was presented by Senator Bill Galvano, Republican, District 26, and should it become legislation, it would fundamentally change Developmental Education in the State of Florida. SB 1720 prohibits non-credit developmental education courses from being offered or funded. It allows for only credit courses to be offered with a co-requisite of developmental options such as tutoring. It deletes the statute allowing tuition and fees for non-credit instruction.
Several concerns surrounding SB 1720 have been cited and include:
It eliminates the current structure of statutorily required Developmental (college prep) Courses.
It disallows charging tuition for non-credit courses.
It provides a new definition of Developmental Education (formerly college prep): Instruction through which a high school graduate who applies for and enrolls in any college credit program may attain the communication and computation skills necessary to perform college-level work while also enrolled in college credit instruction.
It implies diversion of lower performing students to adult basic education.
It removes the ability to repeat a course once at regular tuition rates.
It disallows Bright Futures to be used for developmental education.
It removes exemption of remedial courses in counts toward excess hours.
Many of the provisions contained within SB 1720 conflict with open access policies which currently allow all students the freedom of a continued education. Should SB 1720 be passed, it will limit educational opportunities for at-risk groups such as minority students and underprivileged students.
I, too, am a developmental educator in Florida, and these changes to developmental education are short sighted at best and puposefully discriminatory at worst. I feel as though we developmental educators ought to be marching on Tallahassee. As soon as we began this discussion on the FLDOE developmental list-serv, we were shut down. I know of no other forum besides this where there is an opportunity for us to communicate with each other. Other than developmental educators and our college administrations, no one knows what is going on with these bills and how students will be impacted. That the legislature is not listening to us but to flawed statistics presented by Complete College America and basing policy on those statistics is outrageous.
I just found this article about a planned research project to track the effects of the new law. It's funded by the Gates foundation. http://news.fsu.edu/More-FSU-News/Researchers-to-study-developmental-education-reform
I too am a Florida College Prep educator and a NADE member. I've not been contacted by the Florida chapter and can't seem to locate how to get connected. Are they or the Nat'l NADE taking a stand regarding this current legislation? Is there a call for its' members to take action? Have they been solicited by the legislators for input?
If ever you want to connect with a chapter, the NADE website has posted contact information at www.nade.net/chapters.html. In addition to Patti Levine-Brown, who has posted on this blog, another good contact in the Florida chapter (FDEA) is Michael Vensel. She can be reached at mvensel@mdc.edu. The FDEA website is at http://www.fdea.net.
Two years ago when the NADE conference was in Washington, DC, I trained the Adsory Council (all of the chapter presidents) on grassroots lobbying and advocacy, followed by a pre-conference institute attended by a few dozen NADE members. What I recommended at that time is what NADE's Florida chapter should be doing right now, although it's probably too late to organized a concerted effort. At the beginning of the blog, this FL bill was tagged SB, meaning Senate Bill. Has a similar House bill be introduced? A few weeks have gone by, so what is the status of the bill right now? A similar bill passed through the Connecticut legislature a couple years ago in only a month, so time is critical. But understand, there is only so much NADE can do for you. Your Florida legislators need to hear from YOU, the Florida voters, even if all you say is this is a terrible bill , with a particularly negative impact on the poor, minorities, disabled (learning disabilities do count), older students (age discrimination starts at age 45), etc. These bills fairly shout racism, they truly do. All of your legislators have websites with their phone numbers, email addresses, etc. You can make yourself heard in a matter of minutes.
Yes, this legislation caught most people off guard. However, many individuals and organizations have put a great deal of time and energy into taking on these issues in Florida. Much has been done including published letters to editors in various newspapers, continued updates on changes in the bills, ongoing communication with college presidents, and the circulation of email addresses of legislators asking concerned parties to make contact.
It is very true that NADE can only do so much about what is taking place in Florida, but I do hope that this series of events serves as a reminder of what can happen in a short period of time. It is important to be on guard and be ready to act. Our best defenses are our voices and the research that supports open access and educational opportunity for our developmental education students.
I would like to hear from more of our members about what is going on in developmental education in your state. This blog is a very good way for us to come together and share information and ideas. I have a lot of information I could share. If you would like to contact me, I can forward some things to you. My email address is plevine@fscj.edu.
Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill, and this is the way I understand it: First, any student who entered a Florida high school in 2003 or later OR who is a veteran does not have to take the placement test. That means those students can enroll directly in college-level courses. This will have a great impact on ALL faculty, not just prep faculty. Second, if a student does take the placement test (by choice or because he/she does not fit into the aforementioned group), he or she must be given options: 1.) compressed dev. ed. course(s), 2.) modules, 3.) co-requisites (enroll in a college-level course and a dev. ed. course simultaneously), and 4.) contextualization in meta-majors (e.g., nursing students who would've placed into prep reading will now get their reading instruction through their nursing coursework). Colleges must present their options to the state by March 2014, and these changes will go into effect in fall 2014.
My questions are, where do we start? What do we do? What are other institutions doing? Can we work together to do this better?
Thank you for your comments. You posed many important questions, and yes this legislation does have a great impact on all faculty. First, in reference to students who will be exempt from testing and placement into developmental education courses, it may be easier to see this as it relates to those who graduate from a Florida public high school in 2007 and beyond. Also, keep in mind that to be exempt these students must have completed all four years (grades 9-12) in a Florida public high school. For example, if a student completes the ninth grade in another state, moves to Florida, and graduates from a public high school, they are not exempt.
I do believe that we can create quality courses within the framework of the models that have been posed. We actually have the opportunity to be extremely creative. You have listed a number of different models above, but there are also other options. While institutions can design and implement any or all of the models you mentioned, they are only required to begin with one.
There is a good deal of research available on these varied models, and I would like us to consider using the NADE Blog as one way to share information about what we are all doing. By next week, I plan to have some links posted in the research area of the Blog that will provide information on some of the models including co-requisites, embedded basic skills, and contextualized curriculum for meta-majors. I would encourage you, and others, to share information as well.
I'd like to hear about changes in state policies relative to dev ed. What's going on in your state?
ReplyDeleteThis is what's happening in Florida---
ReplyDeleteSB 1720 was presented by Senator Bill Galvano, Republican, District 26, and should it become legislation, it would fundamentally change Developmental Education in the State of Florida. SB 1720 prohibits non-credit developmental education courses from being offered or funded. It allows for only credit courses to be offered with a co-requisite of developmental options such as tutoring. It deletes the statute allowing tuition and fees for non-credit instruction.
Several concerns surrounding SB 1720 have been cited and include:
It eliminates the current structure of statutorily required Developmental (college prep) Courses.
It disallows charging tuition for non-credit courses.
It provides a new definition of Developmental Education (formerly college prep): Instruction through which a high school graduate who applies for and enrolls in any college credit program may attain the communication and computation skills necessary to perform college-level work while also enrolled in college credit instruction.
It implies diversion of lower performing students to adult basic education.
It removes the ability to repeat a course once at regular tuition rates.
It disallows Bright Futures to be used for developmental education.
It removes exemption of remedial courses in counts toward excess hours.
Many of the provisions contained within SB 1720 conflict with open access policies which currently allow all students the freedom of a continued education. Should SB 1720 be passed, it will limit educational opportunities for at-risk groups such as minority students and underprivileged students.
I, too, am a developmental educator in Florida, and these changes to developmental education are short sighted at best and puposefully discriminatory at worst. I feel as though we developmental educators ought to be marching on Tallahassee. As soon as we began this discussion on the FLDOE developmental list-serv, we were shut down. I know of no other forum besides this where there is an opportunity for us to communicate with each other. Other than developmental educators and our college administrations, no one knows what is going on with these bills and how students will be impacted. That the legislature is not listening to us but to flawed statistics presented by Complete College America and basing policy on those statistics is outrageous.
DeleteI just found this article about a planned research project to track the effects of the new law. It's funded by the Gates foundation. http://news.fsu.edu/More-FSU-News/Researchers-to-study-developmental-education-reform
DeleteI too am a Florida College Prep educator and a NADE member. I've not been contacted by the Florida chapter and can't seem to locate how to get connected. Are they or the Nat'l NADE taking a stand regarding this current legislation? Is there a call for its' members to take action? Have they been solicited by the legislators for input?
ReplyDeleteIf ever you want to connect with a chapter, the NADE website has posted contact information at www.nade.net/chapters.html. In addition to Patti Levine-Brown, who has posted on this blog, another good contact in the Florida chapter (FDEA) is Michael Vensel. She can be reached at mvensel@mdc.edu. The FDEA website is at http://www.fdea.net.
DeleteTwo years ago when the NADE conference was in Washington, DC, I trained the Adsory Council (all of the chapter presidents) on grassroots lobbying and advocacy, followed by a pre-conference institute attended by a few dozen NADE members. What I recommended at that time is what NADE's Florida chapter should be doing right now, although it's probably too late to organized a concerted effort.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the blog, this FL bill was tagged SB, meaning Senate Bill. Has a similar House bill be introduced? A few weeks have gone by, so what is the status of the bill right now? A similar bill passed through the Connecticut legislature a couple years ago in only a month, so time is critical. But understand, there is only so much NADE can do for you. Your Florida legislators need to hear from YOU, the Florida voters, even if all you say is this is a terrible bill , with a particularly negative impact on the poor, minorities, disabled (learning disabilities do count), older students (age discrimination starts at age 45), etc. These bills fairly shout racism, they truly do. All of your legislators have websites with their phone numbers, email addresses, etc. You can make yourself heard in a matter of minutes.
Yes, this legislation caught most people off guard. However, many individuals and organizations have put a great deal of time and energy into taking on these issues in Florida. Much has been done including published letters to editors in various newspapers, continued updates on changes in the bills, ongoing communication with college presidents, and the circulation of email addresses of legislators asking concerned parties to make contact.
ReplyDeleteIt is very true that NADE can only do so much about what is taking place in Florida, but I do hope that this series of events serves as a reminder of what can happen in a short period of time. It is important to be on guard and be ready to act. Our best defenses are our voices and the research that supports open access and educational opportunity for our developmental education students.
I would like to hear from more of our members about what is going on in developmental education in your state. This blog is a very good way for us to come together and share information and ideas. I have a lot of information I could share. If you would like to contact me, I can forward some things to you. My email address is plevine@fscj.edu.
Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill, and this is the way I understand it: First, any student who entered a Florida high school in 2003 or later OR who is a veteran does not have to take the placement test. That means those students can enroll directly in college-level courses. This will have a great impact on ALL faculty, not just prep faculty. Second, if a student does take the placement test (by choice or because he/she does not fit into the aforementioned group), he or she must be given options: 1.) compressed dev. ed. course(s), 2.) modules, 3.) co-requisites (enroll in a college-level course and a dev. ed. course simultaneously), and 4.) contextualization in meta-majors (e.g., nursing students who would've placed into prep reading will now get their reading instruction through their nursing coursework). Colleges must present their options to the state by March 2014, and these changes will go into effect in fall 2014.
ReplyDeleteMy questions are, where do we start? What do we do? What are other institutions doing? Can we work together to do this better?
Thank you for your comments. You posed many important questions, and yes this legislation does have a great impact on all faculty. First, in reference to students who will be exempt from testing and placement into developmental education courses, it may be easier to see this as it relates to those who graduate from a Florida public high school in 2007 and beyond. Also, keep in mind that to be exempt these students must have completed all four years (grades 9-12) in a Florida public high school. For example, if a student completes the ninth grade in another state, moves to Florida, and graduates from a public high school, they are not exempt.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that we can create quality courses within the framework of the models that have been posed. We actually have the opportunity to be extremely creative. You have listed a number of different models above, but there are also other options. While institutions can design and implement any or all of the models you mentioned, they are only required to begin with one.
There is a good deal of research available on these varied models, and I would like us to consider using the NADE Blog as one way to share information about what we are all doing. By next week, I plan to have some links posted in the research area of the Blog that will provide information on some of the models including co-requisites, embedded basic skills, and contextualized curriculum for meta-majors. I would encourage you, and others, to share information as well.