Empowering the Community College First-Year Composition Teacher

Chapter 10. A Complement to Educational Reform: Directed Self-Placement (DSP) at Cochise College

“…It has also fueled continued struggles over the implementation and perceived successes and failures of California's A.B. 705 (e.g., Nazzal et al, 2020;Siegal & Gilliland, 2021). The Council of Learning Assistance and Developmental Education Associations (CLADEA, n.d.), which includes most professional developmental education organizations, has responded to policy initiatives that reduce developmental education support with a statement on college access, arguing that "elimination or underfunding of learning assistance programs inevitably restricts college access in ways that lead to blatant educational disparities, very often with patterns related to race and socioeconomic status. "…”

“…While many two-year college English faculty have embraced-and, in some cases, have been important leaders in-efforts to reduce the time students spend in developmental coursework Cho et al, 2012;Hern, 2012), many also share CLADEA's concern that broad-stroke critiques of developmental education are leading policymakers to cut resources and eliminate programs that provide necessary support for the least advantaged students, ultimately foreclosing their ability to access higher education Siegal & Gilliland, 2021). Again, few of these faculty argue against the importance of enrolling students into college-level courses as quickly as possible.…”