The Butte College English Department focuses on teaching critical reading, thinking, analysis, and writing to better prepare students for success in college, work, and life. We strive for diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom cultures we create, the pedagogy we practice, and the committees on which we serve. The Journalism Department offers courses that prepare students in the writing, reporting, and critical thinking skills required for jobs in the news media or for transfer to a journalism program at a four-year institution.
We are a department that cultivates the humanities by encouraging the exploration of what it means to be human and by celebrating the beauty of language and creative expression. We anticipated, prepared for, and promoted a more equitable composition structure for students. This revised structure directly impacts student equity. We provide rigorous transfer-focused instruction in writing and reading for inquiry, learning, thinking and communicating through our English 2 and English 3 courses, either of which qualify for AA or transfer requirements. Our English 11 meets the Critical Thinking (CSU A3) GE requirement for transfer. To highlight our efforts: The English department complies with AB 705 and the new funding formula. We anticipated, prepared for and promoted this transition into a more equitable structure for students. We now offer two transfer-level composition options: English 2 and English 3. Like many other colleges, our initial data reveals disturbing equity gaps and department-wide inconsistencies in student success and retention. The next step is to identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and to scale those strategies within the department. We are committed to a strong presence at the Glenn Center. The dual enrollment program offers a two-semester sequence (English 2 and English 11), units that qualify for transfer. Two sections of each course are offered at Willows High. We are piloting two-year course rotation that includes creative writing and literature. We are building a strong online program. The English Department recognizes that online writing instruction requires not just attention to technology, but special attention to pedagogical practices. Besides composition and critical thinking, we have two-year course rotation of online creative writing and literature courses. We support the English as a Second Language Program. We offer ESL instruction at the Chico and Glenn Centers. To accommodate the needs of our working adults, ESL classes are offered 3 days a week between 6:00 pm and 8:45 pm. We are deeply committed to equity and linguistic justice. We are examining our pedagogical and departmental practices through a lens of anti-racism and linguistic justice. This semester our focus is on becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution. Besides consistent departmental discussions, work, and professional development, within our department we have: the chair of the Diversity Committee; a paid researcher for the California Acceleration Project; a facilitator of a monthly campus book group about Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities by Gina Ann Garcia, a follow-up to the keynote speaker at the January Institute Day; facilitators and graduates of the FAIR classroom program; an HSI certified instructor; two instructors currently involved in a semester-long inquiry project facilitated by ESCALA, an organization that works specifically with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to close the gap in educational access and completion rates for Latinx students; an instructor teaching a Racial Identity Pathway Learning Community; the inaugural coordinator of Butte College�s new PUENTE program; the creator of Butte College�s Universal Design Learning resource site; the Diversity Speaker Series coordinator; and active involvement in the Queer Resource Center. We strongly support AB705. At the same time, this un-funded mandate and subsequent institutional changes combined with the Student-Centered Funding Formula (SCEFF) is putting tremendous pressure on our department. Luckily, our department was a leader in the AB705 movement, and therefore we have invested heavily in professional development. In all, we are an energetic and hard-working department dedicated to improving our program for students' sake. We are also in transition. Last year we unexpectedly lost two of our full-time faculty; a 2019 retirement has not been replaced; and, essential institutional work has resulted in four other faculty on at least 50% leave time. Due to AB 705, the once thriving LEAD department has merged with the English department. Both departments have different cultures. Faculty are struggling to form a new identity as a shared department. This transition will take time and collective effort. Additionally, the institutional push for students to complete the English requirement in the first year of enrollment has created an unsustainable imbalance between fall and spring offerings; as a result, we have consistently lost associate faculty because they are forced to seek more reliable work. The Journalism program consists of a newswriting course and a series of newspaper production courses responsible for producing the campus newspaper, The Roadrunner. Because of inconsistent leadership and a steady decline in enrollment, a full-time faculty member has assumed responsibility for reviving the program and is creating enthusiasm for these courses.
Embedded Support for English 3 and English 2
Instructional Aides were assigned to all English 3 sections in the fall and, due to low enrollment and decreased sections of English 3 in the spring, were also assigned to some sections in English 2.
Despite low enrollment this year, the department must comply with the AB705 law and the new funding formula. The department needs embedded support to maintain/improve success, completion and persistence rates in both English 2 and English 3 to ensure that all students complete their transfer-level English requirement in their first year.
Laptop Cart and Corresponding IT Support
The 2020/21 abrupt transition to remote learning triggered an emergency need for technology. The English department loaned the English 3 laptops to the college. IT has since collected returned devices and processed the equivalent of one full cart (down from two). The return of these missing laptops is not anticipated but replacement technology has not been purchased. Some of the money may have been used to support the IT processing of returned items.
The non-returned devices need to be replaced. Two full carts are needed on the main campus, and one at the Chico Center. As we expand offerings at the Glenn Center, an additional cart may be necessary. Technology and IT support will be required to meet the legal mandate of AB705
Computer Life-cycle Replacement for Three Full-time Faculty
Technology needs were met through CARES funding.
Professional Development and Operating Expenses
Ongoing monthly AB 705 implementation meetings provided in house training that aligned with the CCC recommended practices of high challenge, high support equity-minded teaching practices and a community of practice for full-time and associate instructors to share methods that humanize the classroom, promote interaction and engagement, foster a sense of belonging, communicate a belief in student capacity and growth, and mitigate stereotype threat.
Two guest speakers, Dawna DeMartini and Carrie Marks from Sacramento City College, facilitated two workshops (November 2021 and January 2022) that helped instructors examine individual data/equity gaps.
Our department’s plan of action is as follows:
Spring: identify a target SLO and collect reflections
Spring 2021: we reported themes and trends from F20 reflections (documentation is not an issue for students, but most students struggle with integration of source material and identified connections between critical reading practices and a struggle with evaluating and integrating sources). Our March department meeting was devoted to professional development targeting critical reading strategies and an exchange of resources, practices and assignments designed to help students integrate source material.
Fall: discuss the target SLO at each department meeting and encourage instructors to develop goals around this target SLO. Collect end-of semester reflections on target SLO.
Fall 21: We reviewed the reflections from S21 and identified that student work revealed the following trends: not showing developed rebuttals, demonstration of strong summary skills (comfort with this approach/demonstration), reports of appreciation for training in reading strategies. Instructors reported using the following strategies: reading quizzes for comprehension, using white, Western rhetorical concepts (ethos/pathos/logos), scaffolding from summary to analysis, genre work, reading apprenticeship, collaborative annotations, using more short texts and visual media to teach concepts, assigning reading related to research papers, encouraging re-reading and/or focused reading, helping students distinguish between expository and critical texts, use of reading logs, reading responses for student’s to practice analysis and comprehension, and focusing on reading strategies - activating prior knowledge, annotation, focus on purpose, critical reading/analyzing, lateral reading
Spring offer professional develop around target SLO based on fall reflections.
During our S22 Institute Week department meeting we discussed trends from the F21 Reflections. We identified students’ continued need in the following areas: transitioning from high school or “entry-level” reading to critical reading, identifying types of sources, and continued application/practice of reading strategies as they tend to fall back on previous habits during high pressure or end of the semester assignments. We identified the following strategies as helpful: modeling targeting re-reading and using context clues, providing examples, especially regarding fallacies, teaching lateral reading strategies, using metacognitive logs, soliciting student-constructed questions and writing prompts, scaffolding and specific instruction in reading strategies, annotation assignments and reading response, and using relevant texts resulted in engaging conversations.
During spring 22, the department is facilitating an English 11 curriculum development community of practice that will include instruction in critical reading strategies. All instructors, whether they teach Eng. 11, are invited to participate.
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To meet California’s needs, the California Community College system should strive to achieve the following goals by 2022:
Increase the number of associate degrees, credentials, certificates, or specific skill sets that prepare them for an in-demand job.
AA degree completion declined in 2021, not doubt due to the Covid pandemic. Writing and reading skills are essential to most in-demand jobs.
Increase the number transferring annually to a UC or CSU.
AA-T degree completion declined in 2021, not doubt due to the Covid pandemic.
The English department offers 15 transfer-eligible courses, including a planned rotation on all three campuses (main, Chico Center and Glenn). Enrollment in these courses has gradually, and steadily, increased. Full-time faculty teach these courses; however, at least one additional full-time hire is needed to support the growing trend of student demand for these courses.
Completion rates of transfer-level English (E2 and E3) continues to increase.
Reduce equity gaps
The English department complies with AB 705 and the new funding formula.
We anticipated, prepared for and promoted this transition into a more equitable structure for students. We now offer two transfer-level composition options: English 2 and English 3. Like many other colleges, our initial data reveals disturbing equity gaps and department-wide inconsistencies in student success and retention. The next step is to identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and to scale those strategies within the department.
We are deeply committed to equity and linguistic justice. We are examining our pedagogical and departmental practices through a lens of anti-racism and linguistic justice. This semester our focus is on becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution. Besides consistent departmental discussions, work, and professional development, within our department we have: the chair of the Diversity Committee; a paid researcher for the California Acceleration Project; a facilitator of a monthly campus book group about Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities by Gina Ann Garcia, a follow-up to the keynote speaker at the January Institute Day; facilitators and graduates of the FAIR classroom program; an HSI certified instructor; two instructors currently involved in a semester-long inquiry project facilitated by ESCALA, an organization that works specifically with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to close the gap in educational access and completion rates for Latinx students; an instructor teaching a Racial Identity Pathway Learning Community; the inaugural coordinator of Butte College’s new PUENTE program; and the creator of Butte College’s Universal Design Learning resource site.
1. Implementing AB 705
Since fall 2019, the English department has been in full compliance with AB 705. We offer two transfer-level composition options: English 2 and English 3. In fall 2019, all pre-requisite English courses were eliminated. In F19 we piloted 16 sections of English 3, the co-requisite support course that complies with the AB702 mandate and continued with 7 sections offered in the spring. Student demand was greater than anticipated, but low enrollments in Spring 20 and the abrupt transition into remote learning during F20/S21, and the continuing instability due to the Covid/Omicron pandemic makes the enrollment numbers difficult to interpret. We continue to maintain and fill sections.
As the department continues to work toward effective implementation of AB 705, diversity, equity and inclusion remain a primary priority. This year our department expanded on this work and facilitates a variety of in-house professional development, including ongoing monthly AB 705 implementation meetings, online community of practice, in-house training in culturally responsive teaching and instructor inquiry projects.
HUB: initially designed has an across-campus collaboration to plan for the onboarding of students into the systematic change in response to the AB705 mandates, this group is now focused on collecting data around these changes. The English department chair continues to work with this group.
2. Implementing Guided Pathways
At least one department faculty member serves on this committee.
3. Closing Equity Gaps
Low-income students are overrepresented in English. Fall ’18—almost half of English students received a Pell Grant or BOG/CAPP waiver, compared to just over a third of Butte College students overall.
The English department has identified disproportionate impact for Black and Latinx students as well as low-income and foster youth.
We devote time at every department meeting to evaluate department data and to discuss issues around equity. Our next steps include professional development and individual inquiry projects. Our hope is that some of the HUB research will assist in this area.
4. Meeting enrollment targets
Enrollment have been significantly impacted by abrupt transition into remote learning during F20/S21, and the continuing instability due to the Covid/Omicron pandemic. We continue to maintain and fill sections.
5. Meeting student achievement goals
Enrollment was greatly reduced by abrupt transition into remote learning during F20/S21, and the continuing instability due to the Covid/Omicron pandemic. Success rates in transfer-level composition, however, remained steady. Throughput data makes the success rates in the low to mid-70% all the more impressive.
6. Fostering a Culture of Inclusiveness
Our faculty work in leadership roles across campus in areas/committees including the Diversity Committee, the Queer Resource Center, FAIR classrooms and CACAP. Besides consistent departmental discussions, work, and professional development, within our department we have: the chair of the Diversity Committee; a paid researcher for the California Acceleration Project; a facilitator of a monthly campus book group about Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities by Gina Ann Garcia, a follow-up to the keynote speaker at the January Institute Day; facilitators and graduates of the FAIR classroom program; an HSI certified instructor; two instructors currently involved in a semester-long inquiry project facilitated by ESCALA, an organization that works specifically with Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) to close the gap in educational access and completion rates for Latinx students; an instructor teaching a Racial Identity Pathway Learning Community; the inaugural coordinator of Butte College’s new PUENTE program; the creator of Butte College’s Universal Design Learning resource site; the Diversity Speaker Series coordinator; and active involvement in the Queer Resource Center.
Our department continues to offer a Queer Film and Literature course and is currently conducting a department community of practice around decolonizing and queering course materials.
8. Strengthening Professional Development
Evidence of our department’s ongoing and deep commitment to professional development has been listed throughout this Unit Plan.
Recommendation #1: Hire more full-time instructors Despite merging with the LEAD department and gaining four additional fulltime faculty, we have not replaced a retirement from 2019 or the unexpected loss of two full-time faculty members in 2021. We continue to have a disproportionately high number of associate faculty, which creates substantial challenges for staffing, training, and maintaining consistency among sections and represents an unprecedented imbalance compared to other disciplines.
Recommendation #2: Offer more professional development for consistency. We continue to incentive associate faculty by providing stipends, sponsoring conferences and offering in-house training. Our department is a model for professional development, both in terms of our in-house programs and incentive approaches and our contributions to campus-wide programs. However we continue to have department-wide inconsistencies in student success and retention. The next step is to identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and to scale those strategies within the department.
Recommendation #3: Develop additional support strategies, particularly for students of color where data indicate lower achievement. While the efforts described below offered positive gains in student success rates, we continue to have equity gaps for male students of color.
1. We are providing access to technology and updating pedagogy and instructional practices to support digital literacy in transfer-level composition.
2. Each year we adopt a book in common that is supported through AB705 Implementation meetings, department meetings, flex workshops and other professional development activities. Our list of books includes Antiracist Assessment Ecologies, Teaching Men of Color in the Community College, Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, the Black Minds Matter Video series, and Linguistic Justice: Black Language, Literacy, Identity and Pedagogy. Currently we are working with Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities by Gina Ann Garcia, a follow-up to the keynote speaker at the January 2021 Institute Day. We also brought Aso Inou, author of Antiracist Assessment Ecologies back to campus for the second time. This professional development is designed to help faculty better support our students of color.
3. We incorporated CUE research recommendations throughout our process to better achieve equity in hiring for our department and in communication with HR and other departments on campus.
4. Three of our instructors have now completed a twenty-seven-hour leadership course on culturally responsive teaching and the implementation of equity practices in the classroom. One of the three completed her certificate in teaching and learning in Hispanic Serving Institutions. Two faculty are now participating in a cross-campus inquiry project facilitated by ESCALA.
Recommendation #5: All composition instructors should emphasize the development of critical reading skills in their courses. Our department has made major accomplishments and targeted improvement in this area so that MOST instructors emphasize the development of critical reading skills. However, the disproportionately high number of associate faculty prevents the department from meeting the requirement that ALL instructors adopt a practice. We continue to offer professional development in this area.
In Spring 2021 we sponsored the enrollment of an associate faculty member to the Reading Apprenticeship course. He has since provided overviews during department meetings. Our online pedagogy community of practice focused on critical reading instruction in the digital environment and presented strategies at a department meeting. We collaborated with CAS and training IAs in strategies such as “talk to the text.” We also sponsored the enrollment of an associate faculty in a Reading Apprenticeship course.
This year our SLO discussions targeted critical reading. In spring 22 we are facilitating an English 11 curriculum development community of practice that will include instruction in critical reading strategies. All instructors, whether they teach Eng. 11, are invited to participate. For a more detailed overview of our SLO work in this area, see the SLO section of this report.
Recommendation #11: The department should pursue pedagogical cap adjustments where research demonstrates a need for such change. Despite our best efforts, the pedagogical cap for our co-requisite course was set at 25. We continue our attempts to communicate why getting thirty students in English 2 to meet the objectives for that course in one semester of a 3-unit course is not possible. While we successfully lobbied to increase our instructional contact hours with English 2 students by switching to a 4-unit model, the ped cap remains at 30. The recommended pedagogical cap for all composition courses, put forth by the WPA is 17. Because feedback in a composition course must be consistent, formative, and in-depth for students to truly improve, this requires a great deal of additional work per student in these courses and should be taken into account when approving ped. caps for these courses, especially for those student populations who might need additional support.
Our ongoing goal is to strive for diversity, equity and inclusion in the classroom cultures we create, the pedagogy we practice, and the committees on which we serve.
Targeted demonstration to this commitment include:
Reduce the current equity gap in student success for black males by 3%.
Increase the success and retention rates of Latinx students by 3%.
Identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and develop plans to scale those practices within the department.
Strategy 1 - Laptop carts and corresponding IT support
We need two laptop carts and corresponding IT support.
Our co-requisite model of transfer-level composition includes access to technology to support the digital literacy and onboarding needs of students that may be underprepared for transfer-level work. In addition, the pedagogical foundation of this model is just-in-time remediation (tutoring), a teaching and learning strategy designed to promote the use of class time for more active learning. This approach relies on a feedback loop between web-based learning materials and face-to-face interaction
Current success data reveals an increasing need for access to technology and just-in-time remediation in both English 2 and English 3. To meet our goals in equity reduction and student success, we need these resources.
Strategy 2 - Maintain Embedded Support in Transfer-level English and ESL
Embedded support works to increase retention, student success, but most of all, persistence in composition courses.
1. Our corequisite English 3 complies with the AB705 law. The pedagogical foundation of this model is just-in-time remediation (tutoring), a teaching and learning strategy designed to promote the use of class time for more active learning. Embedded tutoring is more than helping students revise and edit their written work, a service provided by writing coaches in CAS. Instead, the embedded model also includes helping students comprehend rigorous content, a type of assistance offered by a highly trained instructional aid familiar with the course content and readings. In addition, both retention specialists and instructional aides contribute to three pillars of culturally responsive teaching: competence, trust, and relatedness, a pedagogy especially essential in a Hispanic Serving Institution.
The instructional aids and retention specialists will serve the college's interest on many fronts, and the expense for these may be more than offset by the gains in terms of ongoing funding as more students complete transfer-level composition in their first year and in turn go on to complete their programs and/or transfer.
Strategy 3 - Professional Development Resources
Like many other colleges, our initial data reveals disturbing equity gaps and department-wide inconsistencies in student success and retention. The next step is to identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and to scale those strategies within the department.
The department needs the resources to gather and analyze data.
Since fall 2019, the English department has been in full compliance with AB 705. As the department continues to work toward effective implementation, diversity, equity and inclusion remain a primary priority.
Previous professional development has aligned with the CCC recommended practices of high challenge, high support equity-minded teaching practices and a community of practice for instructors to share methods that humanize the classroom, promote interaction and engagement, foster a sense of belonging, communicate a belief in student capacity and growth, and mitigate stereotype threat.
Like many other colleges, our initial data reveals disturbing equity gaps and department-wide inconsistencies in student success and retention. The next step is to identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and to scale those strategies within the department.
We would like assistance getting classrooms on campus as we scale up our English 3 and English 2 offerings in response to AB 705, especially since English 3 will require 5 hours in the classroom per week.
We are hoping institutional researchers will help us design and implement a research strategy aimed at decreasing section inconsistency with English 2 and English 3 success rates.
We need staff support in storing, securing, and managing laptop carts.
We would like to maintain the number of IAs and Student Success Specialists available to English courses, especially for English 2 instructors who find themselves with a course that has a significant number of students who need more individualized support and attention.
We would also like more associate faculty office space made available for associate faculty to meet with their English 2 and English 3 students who need additional support.
Student Equity Funds:
Description: Professional Development & Operating Expenses ($10,000)
Ads in the Roadrunner and Foundation donations supplement the Journalism budget.
| Original Priority | Program, Unit, Area | Resource Type | Account Number | Object Code | One Time Augment | Ongoing Augment |
| Description | Supporting Rationale | Potential Alternative Funding Sources | Prioritization Criteria | |||
| 1 | Professional Development and Operating Expenses | Operating Expenses | $0.00 | $20,000.00 | ||
| Professional Development and Operating Expenses | This augmentation also appears in the AB705 Unit Plan. The English department is requesting support and resources for ongoing professional development. Since fall 2019, the English department has been in full compliance with AB 705. As the department continues to work toward effective implementation, diversity, equity and inclusion remain a primary priority. Previous professional development has aligned with the CCC recommended practices of high challenge, high support equity-minded teaching practices and a community of practice for instructors to share methods that humanize the classroom, promote interaction and engagement, foster a sense of belonging, communicate a belief in student capacity and growth, and mitigate stereotype threat. Like many other colleges, our initial data reveals disturbing equity gaps and department-wide inconsistencies in student success and retention. The next step is to identify what, specifically, instructors who consistently have high and equitable success rates are doing and to scale those strategies within the department. If the College intends to maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework in English within a one-year timeframe, the department needs the resources to conduct and analyze data, and the support to implement the identified strategies. |
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| 2 | 2 Laptop Carts and Corresponding IT Support | Equipment | $80,000.00 | $0.00 | ||
| Digital literacy is a SLO in English 3. English 3 is our college's response to the AB705 mandate. We need the technology resources to comply with the law and ensure student success. | This augmentation is also listed in the AB705 Unit Plan. Our co-requisite model of transfer-level composition includes access to technology to support the digital literacy and onboarding needs of students that may be underprepared for transfer-level work. In addition, the pedagogical foundation of this model is just-in-time remediation (tutoring), a teaching and learning strategy designed to promote the use of class time for more active learning. This approach relies on a feedback loop between web-based learning materials and face-to-face interaction The 2020/21 abrupt transition to remote learning triggered an emergency need for technology. The English department loaned the English 3 laptops to the college. IT has since collected returned devices and processed the equivalent of one full cart (down from two). The return of these missing laptops is not anticipated. In order to maximize the probability that a student will enter and complete transfer-level coursework within a one-year time frame, current success data reveals an increasing need for access to technology and just-in-time remediation in both English 2 and English 3. While face-to-face offerings have been reduced by 50%, we still offer 10 English 2s and 6 English 3s on the main campus, and 7 composition sections at the Chico Center. Instructor-use logs for fall 19 and spring 19 document consistent reservation and use of carts, including overlapping requests that could not be met. As such, we need one cart at the Chico Center and two complete carts on the main campus. |
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