An Exploration of the Differences in Characteristics between Passing and NonPassing Developmental English Students from a Kansas Community College

Abstract

Some students come to community colleges when they are underprepared forcollege-level work and must enroll in developmental education courses. Thedevelopmental English course at a Kansas community college was a co-requisite of thecollege-level English Composition I (EG101) course. This combined program of adevelopmental course paired with a college-level course is known as the AcceleratedLearning Program (ALP). Almost 70% of English developmental students passed EG101in the ALP model during the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 academic year. This studyfocused on the students enrolled in the first complete academic year of full-scale ALPimplementation at a Kansas community college. The purpose of this study was toexplore the differences in characteristics of these community college students whosuccessfully passed EG101 compared to those students who did not pass EG101.A quantitative research method was utilized in this study using a descriptiveresearch design. The study of students in P101 (students who passed) and NP101(students who did not pass) included personal characteristics of sex, age, ethnicity, andresidency. The academic characteristics were current credit hours taken in the samesemester and including ALP, previous credit hours completed before the semester ofALP, degree declared, and co-enrollment in a remedial reading course with ALP.The results showed current credit hours taken in the same semester and includingALP were higher for P101 students than for the NP101 students. The P101 students hadmore previous credit hours completed before the semester of ALP than the students inNP101. Regarding sex, the data showed males in NP101 were 21.1% higher than themales in the P101 group, and females were 21.1% higher in the P101 group than the females in NP101. Also, the data in the ethnicity group showed that Blacks were 8.6%higher in NP101 than in the Blacks in the P101 group, and Whites were 9.9% higher inP101 than the Whites in NP101. To increase the passing rates of developmental studentswith these personal and academic characteristics, it is recommended institutions changeassessment and placement to multiple measures, curriculum to include intrusive academicadvising, and instruction to relational instructional strategies.