Ensuring Rigorous Content Review to Establish Prerequisites

Fall
2009
Resolution Number
09.05
 
Assigned to
Curriculum Committee
Category
Curriculum
Status
Completed
Status Report

The 2010-11 committee provided professional development opportunities at plenary sessions, regional meetings, and the Curriculum Institute. Two papers were adopted by the Senate during the academic year.

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges passed resolution 9.02 in Spring 2009 recommending changes to Title 5 language that would allow for faculty to rely on content review rather than statistical analysis to establish prerequisites;

Whereas, Course content review is used to ensure academic integrity and delineate necessary entry skills to promote student success by matching the exit skills of the prerequisite course with the skills and concepts needed in the targeted course;

Whereas, Standards for content review as stated in The Model District Policy on Prerequisites, Corequisites, and Advisories on Recommended Preparation (1993) (see Attachment A) are rigorously described to ensure a proper professional review to establish prerequisites but have not been revised for 16 years; and

Whereas, Moving to content review as a means to establish prerequisites will require clear, relevant, and widely recognized practices of course content review;

Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges revisit the content review process as described in the The Model District Policy on Prerequisites, Corequisites, and Advisories on Recommended Preparation for possible modifications, in an effort to consistently implement rigorous content review standards at such time as content review becomes the primary method of validating prerequisites.

MSC Disposition: Local Senates