The purpose of the Plus blog is to expand upon the information already available in the IMPACT document. In the case of corequisites, there is barely a mention of corequisites since the idea was in its infancy when IMPACT was written. Since that time, much has been researched and published about implementing corequisite courses. The following lists will help you along your corequisite journey.
Research references to consider:
Dana Center
CAP and California Community Colleges
Community College Data
RAND
Carnegie Math Pathways
Learning Works
CCRC - Tennessee
Complete College America - Scaling Corequisite Academic Support
Achieving the Dream Knowledge Center
Decisions to Make:
Implementing Corequisites to Impact Student Success - Research
This month we discussed a very popular structural effort to support student success, corequisite courses. Implementation of the corequisite concept can be a real solution, but as with all continuous improvement efforts, it is an iterative process. Our efforts at Pima Community College have been interrupted, as everything has. With the interruption, new challenges have and will continue to present themselves. This provides even more reason for an interactive process: continuous research, discussion, feedback, and adjustments to fit the new normal.
- Communication Plan - Students, Student Affairs, Registrar, Executive Leadership, K-12, University Partners
- Continuous Improvement - Metrics to Track (disaggregating data, equity focus), Feedback Loop (Students, Student Affairs, Faculty)
- Cost Structure - Student and Financial Aid, Paying Faculty
- Curriculum - Instructional Scaffolding of Content, Academic Mindset, Study Skills
- Professional Development - Faculty and Staff
- Scale - Phase-in or Full Implementation
- Structural Design - Student Make-up (Cohort, Co-Mingle), Scheduling, Grading Scheme, LMS, # of Faculty, Modality
- Student Eligibility - What does your data say?
Key Stakeholders to Incorporate in Planning:
- Students
- Adjunct Faculty
- Faculty in other disciplines relying on developmental level course as a prerequisite
- Student Affairs, Financial Aid, Registrar’s Office
- Marketing/Website
- Institutional Research and IT Employee
- Learning Management System
Corequisite models are a proven alternative to traditional developmental mathematics. While the work is challenging, the rewards are great. Students in a corequisite model are more likely to complete a college-level mathematics course than those who take the traditional developmental mathematics sequence. This not only leads to improved retention and graduation rates, it opens doors of opportunity for our students’ journey through life.