The University of Southern Mississippi The Aquila Digital Community Dissertations Spring 2020 Experiences of Implementing Developmental Education Redesign in Mississippi Community Colleges: An Administrators’ and Faculty’s Perspective James Rush Follow this and additional works at: https://aquila.edu/dissertations Part of the Community College Education Administration Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons Recommended Citation Rush, James, "Experiences of Implementing Developmental Education Redesign in Mississippi Community Colleges: An Administrators’ and Faculty’s Perspective" (2020).edu/dissertations/1778 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by The Aquila Digital Community. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of The Aquila Digital Community. For more information, please contact Joshua. EXPERIENCES OF IMPLEMENTING DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION REDESIGN IN MISSISSIPPI COMMUNITY COLLEGES: AN ADMINSTRATORS’ AND FACULTY’S PERSPECTIVE by James Lamont Rush A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate School, the College of Education and Human Sciences and the School of Education at The University of Southern Mississippi in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by: Dr.
Kyna Shelley, Committee Chair Dr. Thomas Lipscomb Dr. Richard Mohn ____________________ ____________________ ____________________ Dr. Kyna Shelley Dr.
Sandra Nichols Dr. Coats Committee Chair Director of School Dean of the Graduate School May 2020 COPYRIGHT BY James Lamont Rush 2020 Published by the Graduate School ABSTRACT Each year, after graduating from high school or after a number of years in the workforce, millions of students in America make the choice to further their education. Students who enter higher education are faced with the decision of choosing from a diverse pool of institutions that provide an array of services to meet the needs of a changing society. Many students entering institutions of higher learning are in need of some developmental instruction or course in order to complete their degree and/or training.
Because of the integral part that developmental education plays in higher education, the cost versus effectiveness of offering developmental education has been a topic of discussion among constituents of higher education for many years. Consequently, developmental education has gained significant attention in higher education (Bailey, 2009; Bailey, Jeong & Cho, 2010; Bonham & Boylan, 2012; & Saxon & Boylan, 2001). Whereas developmental students’ persistence and success rates are consequential to constituents of higher education, other factors such as the financial resources tied to these services create a challenge. To address the challenges, many systems have implemented developmental education redesign on a national, state and local level.
Nowhere is this challenge more evident than at the community college. The purpose of this study was to examine administrators’ and faculty’s experiences in implementing developmental education redesign at Mississippi Community Colleges. This study was a basic qualitative study with 23 participants, 14 administrators and 9 faculty members, participating. The participants in the study represents 13 of the 15 community colleges in Mississippi.
The participants ranged from ii upper-level administrators who had seven years of experience to faculty who had 30 years or more experience in teaching developmental education courses. The findings of the study suggests that developmental education redesign in Mississippi community colleges have been intentional and meticulously planned with students in mind. Furthermore, developmental education effectiveness is being assessed at the community colleges in Mississippi and changes are made as needed. The findings also include a discussion of the strategies that the community colleges in Mississippi have used for redesign like Complete College America, the co-requisite model, the accelerated model and the over-placement model.
iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for giving me the strength and the courage to pursue my dream of obtaining a Ph. When the road became narrow and difficult, these scripture often came to mind: II Timothy 1:7: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind and Deuteronomy 31:6: Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Secondly, I would like to give my sincerest thanks and a most humble acknowledgement to Dr. Kyna Shelley, my dissertation chair and advisor.
Your professionalism, encouragement and support was extended to me even before I knew you would ever be my dissertation chair. In REF 761 your kind demeanor and supportive persona was demonstrated in your patience with a room of about 23 graduate students taking statistics, at various levels. At that time, that was my third class at USM; however, I knew then, I would be asking you to serve on my dissertation committee. Finally, the time would come at the end of REF 889 when I had to prepare for my mock proposal defense, and you said “James, I don’t know if you realize it or not; I believe you do, but your study lends itself to be a qualitative study” and I said, yes but I was hoping you could help me see I missed something and you said, by “changing it to anything else” would change the goal of what you articulated to me.
Then, we had the discussion of you being my chair and you gladly accepted. From there, you were with me every step of the way via back and forth emails, impromptu face-to-face meetings and spontaneous check- ins. For your support, encouragement, and honest feedback, I am forever thankful. iv To Dr.
Lilian Hill, Dr. Thomas Lipscomb, and Dr. Richard Mohn thank you for your feedback and support to make my dissertation a quality product. I am confident had you all not provided the guidance and support you did, this dissertation would not be the quality that it is.
Even when I did not understand at times, in the end, it become apparent to me, that this dissertation will be in places where I never would be and accordingly, it should represent me, my committee and The University of Southern Mississippi with its professional presentation. I would also like to extend a very special thanks to two people who started this process before me and allowed me to embark on this journey with them, my colleagues, Mr. (soon to be Dr. Johnson and Dr.
Those long nights commuting to and from Hattiesburg was certainly easier and more pleasant because of you all. The opportunity to collaborate was also wonderful as well. I would also like to thank my professional mentors for their encouragement and support since starting this journey. To my esteemed EMCC family (faculty & staff; former and current) who supported me with words of encouragement and support, thank you! You don’t know how many times your words of encouragement helped me get through those long days.
I can’t begin to tell you how much you have made it easy for me to work to obtain this degree to help us help students reach their goal. To my USM, UWA, EMCC, and Kemper County School system faculty and administrators who encouraged me to be GREAT, even when I did not think I was capable, THANK YOU!!!! You motivated me to achieve something that I once believed was not obtainable and for that I am forever GREATFUL!!! Along the way, I met some wonderful people at USM and I would like to say thank you classmates. Many of you v have finished and a few are finishing up, hang in there and get it DONE! To Mr. Derrick Conner thank you for providing technical support to me during this endeavor.
Finally, I say I was faced with: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. (Frost, 1916) vi DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this dissertation to my grandparents, the late Arthur and Ruth Rush and late Obediah and Lena Pearl Arnold.
You all instilled in me early on the importance of hard work and always to do right by others. What you have taught me can now only be demonstrated by my actions in this journey called life. I would like to specially acknowledge my maternal grandfather, Mr. Obediah Arnold, who aspired to be a doctor; however, he ended his aspiration to take care of his family.
Your enthusiasm for learning helped me in this journey. To my late uncle Kenny Arnold, thank you for encouraging me to pursue a dream and career that supports my passion. I would like to acknowledge my church family, God Cares Ministries, thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. With them, it has made this journey so much lighter.
I would like to give special recognition to my mom, Nancy Arnold-Rush and dad, James Henry Rush. You all instilled in me from a very early age to thrive for greatness and to work hard. Your support and encouragement extends furthest, and for that I am forever thankful. To my dad, yes all those years of “school” have paid off, I am a “Doctor but not that type of doctor”! To my dear sister, Janan L.
Rush, you have encouraged me more than you ever will know. This encouragement extends to when you were an avid reader in school and how I always wondered where you acquired such a desire to read. I now know and understand. To my best friend, Kelvin Monroe, CPA, thank you for supporting me on this long and arduous task.
We both traveled roads professionally that we often say we wish we could change for the sake of law school and medical school respectively, but I know without a shadow of a doubt, my friend, this is the road we both should be on. Your vii support is unmeasurable and for that I am forever thankful. I would like to give a special thanks to my God sister, Latisha Nicole Hull, MSN. Thank you for all of your support and encouragement.
To Anthony Williams, M., Demond McDonald, BSN, Jermaine Dunn, BSN and Dr. Keonn Nettles thanks for pushing me when I wanted to give up. To my three beautiful gifts from God, Morgan Lindsey, Mabry Lani and Makenna Leigh Rush thank you for inspiring me through your love, creativity and uniqueness to complete this task. Finally, my Dear Wife, Kimberly Danielle Morris-Rush, LPC.
I know you came into my life when it was time. Even though I had been in the program for about a year when we reconnected, your inspiration, support, encouragement and love made it seem like you were there with me from day one. I am forever indebted to you for all of the support you extended to me through this journey. This includes the late nights you would talk to me from Meridian to Scooba after making it to Meridian.
Not to mention, the days of having meals fixed and the house work done to ensure that I gave my dissertation my full attention. Over the course of the end portion of this journey, I know you were tired especially while carrying each of our special gifts and for that I am eternally grateful.