The state should develop a comprehensive strategy for addressing basic skills education in California that results in a unified system that provides all adults with the access to basic skills course in mathematics and English.  In addition, the state should develop a comparable strategy for addressing the needs of adults for courses in English as a second language (ESL).

Description

The community colleges, with their K-12 and community-based partners, should develop a clear strategy to respond to the continuum of need in order to move students from educational basic skills to career and college readiness. This plan should include:

• Improved availability and quality of advising and counseling services for basic skills students, providing them a clear pathway to reaching their academic goals.
• Increased preparedness for faculty and staff on the special needs of basic skills students.
• Identification and funding of best practices in basic skills delivery, in both student services and instructional programs, that support moving students more effectively and efficiently to career and transfer readiness.
• Identification of the appropriate credit and non-credit levels to be delivered by each education segment making sure to provide “safety nets” and an appropriate overlapping of services to provide all students with access to basic skills instruction.