| The majority of incoming California community college students are required to take remedial math and/or English. Additionally, only 30% of California community college students complete a degree, a certificate, or transfer within a 6 year period. In order to improve retention and completion rates, it is essential that community college students reach college-level proficiency as quickly as possible. An increasing number of community colleges nationwide are piloting, or have adopted, accelerated instruction as a way to move students through their remedial (basic skills) courses more quickly. While some quantitative data exists that supports the effectiveness of accelerated instruction, little qualitative research has been done in this area. The purpose of this case study was to examine perceptions of students enrolled in accelerated basic skills English courses at one California community college. The faculty members teaching these accelerated courses were trained in this modality by members of the California Acceleration Project (CAP) and redesigned their curriculum in accordance with CAP's philosophy and principles: backwards design, just in time remediation, and attention to affective issues. For triangulation purposes, three types of data were collected, including classroom observations, student focus groups, and journal entries. Findings indicated that students in these accelerated basic skills courses felt engaged and successful with a high level, relevant curriculum in which reading and writing were closely integrated and where significant amounts of instructor and peer support were provided. |
