Funds Awarded Through Basic Skills Transformation Program Championed by Assemblymember Irwin
SACRAMENTO –Today the California Community College Board of Governors approved grant funds for 43 California Community Colleges (CCCs) through the Community College Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation Program. Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), whose legislation created this program a year ago, announced that Oxnard College, Moorpark College, and Ventura College are all among the applicants selected and will receive $1.5 Million each to help improve their basic skills student success rates.
“Today’s announcement marks an important victory for our state and an even bigger victory for Ventura County.” said Assemblymember Irwin. “These funds will provide much needed support for the faculty and staff who work tirelessly to help Ventura County’s community college students succeed,” said Irwin.
Program Background
Over 70% of students enrolling in community colleges as first-time students are deemed unprepared and in need of basic skills courses. National research has found that the more semesters of remediation students are required to take, the less likely they are to complete college-level English and math courses, which are needed for degrees, credentials, or transfer. In the early reform efforts represented by the Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation Program, students’ completion rates for college-level English courses more than double, and more than four times for college-level math in comparison to students in traditional remediation.
Assemblymember Irwin’s bill, AB 770, led to $60 million in funding for the Program in the 2015-16 budget. This program assists community colleges in delivering basic skills instruction by adopting or expanding the use of evidence-based models of placement, remediation, and student support that accelerate the progress of underprepared students. (Program Website: http://extranet.cccco.edu/Divisions/AcademicAffairs/BasicSkillsEnglishasaSecondLanguage.aspx)
Local Impact
In Ventura County, student success rates for those that begin in remedial math or English are roughly thirty percent. None of the three community college campuses in Ventura County have had the opportunity to fully implement these innovative practices. On February 5th, Assemblymember Irwin held a Budget Subcommittee hearing at Oxnard College to raise awareness of this funding opportunity for local community colleges and highlight the importance of improving basic skills outcomes.
All three community colleges in Ventura County were among the 43 campuses that received grants through the Program. “This is a tremendous opportunity to make a targeted investment in our community college system that will have a long term impact. This funding will provide more effective instruction for underprepared students, and ultimately, more college graduates in Ventura County.” remarked Irwin.
“The broken remedial education system that keeps students from reaching their full potential is a waste of human capital. But under the exemplary leadership of Assemblymember Irwin last year, California made a historic investment to dramatically improve student success in remedial education. This investment will be transformative for hundreds of thousands of bright students across the state, including students in the Assemblymember’s very own district, whose dream of a college degree can now be reality,” said Michele Siqueiros, president of the Campaign for College Opportunity.
Official Award Announcement: http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/Portals/0/DocDownloads/PressReleases/MAY2016/PR-Basic-Skills-Grant-BOG-5-16-16-FINAL.pdf