Zero-level classes to end at WCC

Tutoring resources available for students developing foundational skills in English and math

Alice McGuire

Deputy Editor

Fall 2024 is the final semester for standalone developmental courses at Washtenaw Community College. This change reflects a growing trend towards the elimination of remedial education at community colleges nationwide. 

“The research is showing that, when students enter and are only allowed to take developmental education, they often never get out of developmental education,” said Anne Nichols, dean of humanities, social and behavioral sciences, before going on to talk a bit about the national trend. 

“People in the field [of developmental education] get frustrated because they feel like it’s almost like a pendulum–that the strategies and the approaches–the best practices change over time,” said Nichols, before going on to say, “I think it’s because everybody wants to give students the best foundation and the best start.” 

“How do you take someone with a sixth-grade reading level and help them be successful in college? That’s hard, right? There’s no magic formula, and I think that’s why there’s this pendulum,” said Nichols before adding, “So the way the pendulum has currently swung is we need to get students in college-level courses as soon as possible.”

In the place of existing zero-level courses will be corequisite expansions of several existing classes: ENG 111, MTH 125, and MTH 160. MTH 168 is also in development.

“Students who don’t meet the requirements to get into English 111 will be required to take English 111S concurrently with English 111,” said Ernesto Querijero, an instructor in the English department, who will be teaching ENG 111S in the winter. 

Querijero went on to explain that some students will have the same instructor for ENG 111 and ENG 111S, while others will have a separate instructor to supplement the content in their ENG 111 class, depending on student preference. 

For math, students will have the choice between MTH 125X and MTH 160X, depending on their academic goals. Jason Davis, a professor in the math department, explained that MTH 125X and MTH 160X will be four credit hours but five contact hours. 

Davis, whose career started as a student in developmental mathematics at WCC, expressed concern for the change, noting that he had witnessed students in MTH 067 struggle after the elimination of MTH 034.

When asked what will replace the option of standalone developmental education courses, Nichols expressed confidence in the resources available in the Writing Center and Learning Commons, saying, “This puts more of the onus on the student to take responsibility for their own learning. They’ll have to go get that extra help. But part of the rationale is students should be empowered to make those decisions for themselves. So rather than saying you must take, you know, three developmental educational courses, we’re now saying, ‘student, here are the tools.’”

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