Edison State College Response Report to the Visiting Committee  
Comprehensive Standard 3.3.2: Quality Enhancement Plan  

Recommendation 10: The committee recommends that the institution narrow the focus of the QEP.

Edison State College Response:

While acknowledging that the QEP topic is “supported by a focus on both student learning outcomes and related environmental support,” the On-site team noted that the focus of the Cornerstone Experience course is “extremely broad and as a result will challenge the College for successful implementation.” In response, the QEP Implementation Committee and the SLS 1515 faculty have narrowed the scope of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) to focus course content and assessment efforts on two of the four Cornerstone Experience frameworks, critical thinking and success strategies. This does not diminish the importance of the other two frameworks, relevancy and applied learning, in the students’ first-year experience. It is simply recognition of the direction of effort at this point in the life cycle of the QEP. The QEP Implementation Committee and the SLS 1515 faculty agree that the student learning outcomes related to critical thinking and success strategies provide the primary focus of student learning in the course as expressed in the overall goal of the QEP: Through the full implementation of the Quality Enhancement Plan, Edison State College’s first-time-in-college (FTIC) students will be self-reliant learners imbued with critical thinking skills.

Relevancy and applied learning remain incorporated in the course to engage students in the content and to allow them to understand how critical thinking and success strategies will help them achieve their academic and career goals. These frameworks are likewise incorporated into the faculty and staff professional development. Further consideration of the assessment focus for relevance and applied learning will be part of the QEP’s continuous improvement.

This narrowed focus allows for a more concerted, manageable and thorough analysis and use of assessments within the course, course sections, and the program as a whole. The SLS 1515 faculty, in collaboration with the QEP Implementation Committee, have streamlined the assignments and assessments to align with the critical thinking and success strategy outcomes [ 1 ][ 2 ]. With fewer locally designed measurement tools, the faculty members have more opportunity to engage in meaningful examination of assignments and related assessment tools.

For example, a critical thinking rubric standardization workshop was held on March 3, 2012. [ 3 ] This workshop allowed faculty to engage in a formative assessment of student artifacts, discuss the clarity of the Critical Thinking Journal assignment guidelines, practice using the rubric for scoring, and provide feedback for revising the rubric for clarity and efficacy. Nine of the 14 Cornerstone Experience faculty members as well as the Dean of College and Career Readiness participated in the standardization workshop [ 4 ][ 5 ][ 6 ]. The quantitative and qualitative results of the session were disseminated to all faculty members and discussed at the Community of Practice session [ 7 ]. The rubric has since been revised to reflect the collaborative effort of the faculty [ 8 ].

The On-site Reaffirmation Committee also questioned the adequacy of faculty resources to staff the projected number of sections of the course. Initial enrollment projections assumed a 7% annual increase in enrollment. However, actual enrollments during the 2011-2012 academic year demonstrate a slight decrease in expected numbers of FTIC degree-seeking students testing into two or more developmental courses.  The College-wide enrollment drop and shifting placement rates related to the recent change in the statewide entrance test from the College Placement Test (CPT) to the Post-Secondary Readiness Test (PERT) [ 9 ]  led to fewer students testing into various levels of college preparatory courses.

Due to the shift in enrollment patterns since the initial projections were made, the College’s IRPE department conducted a study to update the projected enrollment for the SLS 1515 courses [ 10 ][ 11 ][ 12 ][ 13 ][ 14 ][ 15 ]. Initial revised projections indicate a significant reduction [ 16 ]  in number of  sections in the five-year implementation of the QEP.

The On-site Committee also questioned whether a sufficient number of faculty could complete the Cornerstone Instructor Training Modules before the course was implemented in Spring 2012. However, more than sufficient numbers of faculty received training.  As of January 2012, thirty  (30) faculty finished the training, while only fourteen (14) faculty were needed to teach the Cornerstone Experience. As of March 2012, 309 faculty, staff, and administrators have completed one or more Cornerstone Training Modules [ 17 ] and of those, 37 faculty have completed the ten required modules to teach SLS 1515, and eighteen (18) staff and administrators have completed the five suggested staff training modules [ 18 ][ 19 ]. All Cornerstone Experience training workshops have been developed and faculty, staff and administrators can participate from any campus or site each semester [ 20 ]. Faculty and staff can complete the training online and obtain certification [ 21 ][ 22 ].

Documentation  
Supporting Documentation Description
1. QEP Assessments Direct Measures
2. SLS 1515 Course Syllabus
3. March 3, 2012 Agenda Critical Thinking Rubric Standardization Workshop
4. Sign In Sheet Attendees of Critical Thinking Rubric Workshop
5. Qualitative Data Report Qualitative Data Report
6. Quantitative Data Report Quantitative Data and Inter-Rater Reliability Report
7. Community of Practice Minutes Session to Review Data
8. Critical Thinking Rubric Revised Rubric
9. Pert/CPT Rates Placement Rates Comparison
10. SLS 1515 District Enrollment Estimates
11. SLS 1515 Lee Campus Enrollment Estimates
12. SLS 1515 Collier Campus Enrollment Estimates
13. SLS 1515 Charlotte Campus Enrollment Estimates
14. SLS 1515 Hendry/Glades Enrollment Estimates
15. Section Estimates Process for Deciding number of sections needed
16. Section Number Comparison Comparison of Initial Estimates to New Estimates
17. Cornerstone Training Report Count of faculty/staff/administrators who attended Cornerstone training
18. Cornerstone Training-Faculty List of faculty who completed training
19. Cornerstone Training- Staff/Administration List of staff and administrators who completed training
20. Training Schedule List of available training dates through TLC
21. Cornerstone Announcement List of Trainings from website
22. Video Survey Survey for those who participated in training by watching online videos.\