Welcome from President Sharon Miller
05 December '11 by s-haigler, under Announcements.
Welcome to the Texas College Reading and Learning Website!
TxCRLA represents college and university Developmental English and Math Educators and Learning Support Professionals across the state.
Every late fall, we partner with TADE, the Texas Association for Developmental Education and the THECB, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to host the College Academic Support
SHARON MILLER
Programs Conference, CASP. On October 22-25, our organizations celebrated our 30th Anniversary CASP Conference in Austin at Austin’s AT & T Executive Training and Conference Center. Thanks to our site co-chairs, Dr. Russ Hodges and Dr. Carol Dochen, 340 participants enjoyed the expertise of over 150 outstanding presenters, entertainment from student performers in the Austin area, and the excitement of learning from one another. At the conference, TxCRLA and TADE awarded Dr. Carol Dochen with the President’s Award for Service, honoring her 30 years of service to the organization and to Texas. Dr. Claire Ellen Weinstein was celebrated with the CASP Lifetime Achievement Award for her research and contribution to the field as well as her many years of service. Both educators also have the honor of scholarships named for them. Enjoy the short video posted on this site for a quick insight into that wonderful conference. [Click here for video.]
TxCRLA is more than the co-host of a great conference. We are right in the middle of the great work of improving higher education in the state.
Developmental and Math professionals began a “Joyful Conspiracy” to rethink and restructure math last summer. It is a project embracing the task from many directions, from the state chancellors and presidents to the THECB, from interested legislators to foundations like the Gates Grant, business leaders from the Texas Association of Business, and most importantly, including math instructors from Texas colleges and universities including the Dana Center at the University of Texas.
This fall, I was asked to chair a State Leadership Committee associated with the Developmental Education Initiative, which will broaden its original charge to include Developmental Reading and Writing. This is an unprecedented opportunity for English faculty to participate in “reviewing research, promising practices, and state data to guide policy and planning recommendations,” (DEI State Leadership Charge). In late November, the THECB also formed state committees to address Program Review, TSI standards, and Assessment. Now is the time for all of us to get involved, share our resources, and make the right recommendations about what should scale up . . . before decisions are made for us and our students!
TxCRLA leaders will be doing our part by supporting the CASP Listserv, which is hosted by Eric Paulson at Texas State University, hosting Brown Bag Webinars, aggressively compiling research, searching for best practices, and circulating position papers for your review and comments. Our first draft addressing student placements began circulating in November and is posted on our website. Keep up with the latest developments by joining the Listserv (directions are on this website), participating in the webinars, and sharing your resources. I plan to periodically update our membership through this website and the Listserv.
I invite you to join me to expand the “Joyful Conspiracy” and take our place in the Developmental Education and Learning Support decision-making in the state of Texas. Ultimately, the best we can give will benefit our students as we improve their opportunities to make their American Dreams come true.
All the best for student success!
Sharon Miller
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A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
05 December '11 by s-haigler, under Announcements.
Colleagues,
Early in the new year, THECB will consider making major changes to placement testing in our state including a mandated instrument and cut scores. The attached Position Paper is a draft recommendation to THECB leaders, and it is vitally important that you get involved in the discussion. Placement can and should be improved, but assessing current placement instruments and strategies is the correct first step. Prudently, we recommend using the strategies and principles identified by the National Center for Developmental Education as a best practice.
I appreciate how busy you are at this point in the semester, but will you please take one minute to read the recommendations and invest another 15 minutes to acquaint yourself with the research and best practice recommendations? If you agree with these recommendations, will you forward this to your institution Assessment Center leaders, student services, deans, VPIs, presidents and chancellors? If you have questions, additional information or views, will you reply to all on the CASP Listserv? [Position Paper]
All the best,
Sharon Miller, President
TxCRLA
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Texas A&M University Hosts SI Conference
11 April '11 by s-haigler, under CONFERENCES.
Whether you are thinking about starting an SI Program or have a well-established program, the 5th Regional Conference on Supplemental Instruction, sponsored by Texas A&M University’s Student Learning Center, is a great place to learn from colleagues. One of the most beneficial parts of attending the International Conference on Supplemental Instruction, hosted every other year by the International Center for Supplemental Instruction at UMKC, is the time spent collaborating with people from other programs. Texas A&M wanted to bring that same collegiality to regional SI programs in the “off-years” and developed this conference as an additional opportunity. The conference provides a forum for academic administrators, SI professionals, SI staff, SI supervisors, SI faculty, and SI leaders to share experiences, concerns, challenges, and success.
The Conference will be held May 25-27, 2011, in College Station, TX, at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Center. For more information, click here.
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CAPITOL WATCH
01 March '11 by s-haigler, under CAPITOL WATCH.
Mary Leonard, political liaison for TxCRLA and TADE, reports the following from the ongoing legislative sessions in Austin:
This Texas Legislative session is starting out on a slow track for developmental education. So far, only two bills relating to developmental education are filed: S.B. No. 162 (by Shapiro) is a replica of a bill she filed during the last session; and H.B. No. 1244 (by Castro).
According to Dr. Tamara Clunis, Director of Developmental and Adult Basic Education at THECB, the Shapiro bill calls for a statewide plan for developmental education to be developed by the Coordinating Board. The plan would then be submitted to the governor, lieutenant governor, speaker of the house of representatives, and presiding officer of each legislative standing committee with primary jurisdiction over higher education not later than December 1, 2012.
The Castro bill relates to developmental education courses and the assessment of student readiness. The bill prohibits colleges from setting higher standards of student readiness than required by the state. The bill also calls for the use of technology in course delivery and requires colleges to provide professional development programs that includes instruction in differentiated-instructional methods.
Check the “Capitol Watch” page for additional proposed legislation when introduced.
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Since this story was initially posted, SB 1092 was filed on March 2, 2011, by State Senator Jose Rodriguez (D - El Paso). Go to the "Capitol Watch" page for details.]
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Webinar Announcement: Rider 59 Implementation
01 March '11 by s-haigler, under Announcements.
Tamara Clunis, Director of Adult Education and Developmental Education for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will address the Rider 59 Implementation in a webinar session on Tuesday March 8, 2011 from 8:30-11:00AM. To ensure participation by all stakeholders, the webinar will be repeated from 1:30-4:00PM.
This webinar session will provide an opportunity for institution staff at the program and reporting level to hear about the implementation options and reporting requirements for Rider 59. The Coordinating Board strongly encourages all invited participants to attend in institutional teams to ensure that information shared and questions asked can be presented to all personnel involved with developmental education assessment, registration, programming, reporting, research, and evaluation. A copy of the Rider 59 document may be accessed by clicking here.
This webinar session will be held on the MS Live Meeting platform. In order to accommodate all invitees with invitations, THECB requests that you R.S.V.P. for this webinar no later than Thursday March 3, 2011. Any questions may be addressed to Isaac Ortega at 512-427-6546.
