During the summer of 2016, then governor Jack Markell announced a $250,000 grant to aid Delaware students’ college readiness. As a result, the P20 Council, a standing group that is working to make sure Delaware students get a strong education from all public schools, created two subcommittees (English and math) of high school and higher education representatives from across the state to work on reducing the need for non-credit bearing college remedial courses.
Since the grant was announced, the English remediation subcommittee identified the areas in which students are struggling and is working to pilot a course, Foundations of College English, for several Delaware high schools. The subcommittee is close to agreeing on a curriculum (using a Common Core framework) for that elective class. Ideally taken during their 11th grade year, once students pass the class, the state higher institutions agree to allow those students who enroll to take the college’s regular first-year writing course without any remediation needed. Teachers from the schools piloting the class will participate in a summer workshop to learn and adopt the curriculum for these classes.
The pilot study will follow these students through their first years in college to assess this new class. The ultimate goal, then, is for this college-preparatory curriculum to be adopted by high schools to fully prepare any Delaware student who wants to go to college.