Student Progress Reporting Update

On May 1, the DCCCD Board of Trustees passed revisions to Policy EGA (LOCAL), which among other things establishes that the District "shall provide periodic course reporting" on student performance and that such progress reporting "shall be conducted in accordance with administrative regulations promulgated by the Chancellor."

The Faculty Council believes that the general policy language adopted by the Board is not overly problematic or prescriptive, and it has been working with district administration this semester to determine the specifics of the regulations for Student Progress Reporting (SPR).

Earlier this semester, informed by the information gathered from the faculty survey on SPR, the Faculty Council recommended that there be just one reporting interval and that the reporting be done between 25% and 50% of the term for all college courses (excluding Winter and May terms). The Vice Presidents Council separately recommended two reporting intervals, with reporting to be done at the 33% and 66% marks.

In recent negotiations with Executive Vice Chancellor Justin Lonon, the Faculty Council pointed out that reporting at 66% would not be helpful to students, given that the drop deadline is set at the 75% mark. We therefore reiterated the belief that our initial recommendation for SPR is best. However, in an effort to achieve compromise, but still with a focus on doing what we believe is pedagogically sound and will be most beneficial to our students, we offered the following alternative recommendations:

• For 13-16 week courses: 2 reports. First report at 30-35%; Second report at 55-60%
• For 6-12 week courses: 1 report at 35-50%
• For 1-5 week courses: No reports

The Council also continued to insist that 2018-2019 be a prototype year, in which students and faculty will be surveyed on their use of the progress reporting system, and that results be shared monthly with stakeholders to inform subsequent systemic improvements. The Council believes strongly that progress reporting is of limited value if it is not directly tied into an intrusive, proactive early alert and intervention system that can help students get the help they need, regardless of whether it is purely academic or is tied to economic and social issues like food, transportation, or housing insecurity.

Faculty should know that Chancellor May, and/or Executive Vice Chancellor Justin Lonon, will make the final determination about SPR, and that they may well decide that two progress reports must be issued each term. The Faculty Council is continuing to work diligently with them, and with other stakeholders, to ensure that progress reporting is helpful to students and promotes their academic success. To that end, the Faculty Council has recommended names of faculty to serve on the “Student Progress Reporting Implementation Team,” to be led by El Centro College VP of Instruction Greg Morris. The Implementation Team will work this summer to build the SPR system. Shaun Gilligan, CVCFA president, will be the Council liaison to the Implementation Team.

As soon as anything more specific about the plans for SPR is known, we will provide an update.