City College of San Francisco - California Competes

THEME I
need for professional development of faculty and staff to address these issues. The Strategic Plan 2003-
2008 also sets forth five imperatives “that must permeate the execution of each and every priority in the
plan.” Two of these imperatives in particular relate to basic skills instruction and support; one that insists
that “all Strategic Priorities must address and guide the whole College, with consistent application to
both credit and noncredit instructional programs and structures at the College, particularly as relating
to student support services, retention activities, career pathways assistance, and transfer assistance” and
another that requires that all Strategic Priorities “provide for and promote diversity at all levels of the
organization, purposefully contributing to a climate which fosters high morale, improved performance,
and greater connectedness for all College constituencies and the community.”
Definition of basic skills. Several key disciplines within the College encompass basic skills. These are: ESL,
Transitional Studies, English, and Math. The College generally divides its educational courses in these
areas into two categories, pre-collegiate and college-level. Students entering CCSF take placement tests
that determine whether they are prepared to enter college-level courses (the range of courses one normally
associates with higher education that qualify for college-level credit at the California State University
and University of California campuses). If not, they place into the pre-collegiate course sequence, which
includes all courses below college level. Within this sequence, “basic skills” courses are a lower-end subset
of courses in English, Math, ESL, and Transitional Studies (which offers free, noncredit instruction in
Adult Basic Education, including adult high school diplomas and preparation for the General Education
Development, or GED, test). The English, Math, and selected ESL basic skills courses are credit courses
while another selection of ESL and all Transitional Studies basic skills courses are noncredit. Basic skills
courses are not degree applicable. CCSF is unusual in that it offers a large number of noncredit programs
that provide greater access to postsecondary education, often for the most economically and educationally
disadvantaged; in fact, 59 percent of associate degree recipients appear to have enrolled in noncredit
courses or programs at some point along the way. 3
Importance of basic skills to student success. Mastery of basic skills is vital for students to continue on
and succeed in college. In essence, pre-collegiate basic skills courses serve as a gateway for students; if they
persist through the sequence, they are more likely to succeed as measured by rates of degree attainment,
transfer, and employment. Of interesting note is an analysis presented within CCSF’s “Pre-Collegiate
Basic Skills Accountability Report, Part 1.” This analysis (contained in Table 10 of the report) suggests
that students who place into the pre-collegiate sequence—but at the same time enroll in college-level
courses—perform at lower levels than those students who place into college-level courses. Specifically,
lower-level pre-collegiate (basic skills) students exhibit a success rate of 56.7 percent in college-level
courses, whereas those in the upper-level pre-collegiate sequence exhibit a success rate of 72.4 percent in
college-level courses, and those who place initially into college-level courses succeed at a rate of 86 percent
in those courses. Thus, it appears that the lower the level of basic skills mastery, the less likely students
are to succeed in college-level courses, supporting the claim that basic skills courses serve as a gateway
for students.
Student placement and success in basic skills: Research findings as an instigator of change. It is disheartening
then, to discover the large percentage of students who place into basic skills courses at CCSF,
and the large percentage of students who do not successfully complete those courses. In Fall 1999, for
example, 48.3 percent of all new, first-time students placed into basic skills courses. Of particular concern
to the College is the fact that African American, Filipino, and Latino students are more likely to place into
basic skills courses and are even less likely to succeed in those courses than other students (for more
information, please see the “Pre-Collegiate Basic Skills Accountability Report - Part 1: Demand, Supply
and Student Success”).
3 Report from the Office of Government Relations, 2004–05.
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