Grant will help NSHE corequisite education

The Nevada System of Higher Education has been awarded a $750,000 grant from the ECMC Foundation to assist NSHE’s seven degree-granting institutions in the implementation of corequisite math and English to full scale.

ECMC Foundation is a Los Angeles-based, nationally focused foundation whose mission is to inspire and to facilitate improvements that affect educational outcomes — especially among underserved populations — through evidence-based innovation. It makes investments in the focus areas of college success and career readiness and uses a spectrum of funding structures, including strategic grantmaking and program-related investments, to invest in both nonprofit and for-profit ventures.

Historically, far too many NSHE students have entered into below college level math and English remedial courses that have created additional costs for students and delayed graduation. Recognizing both NSHE institutional data and growing national research supporting reform in remediation, the NSHE Board of Regents adopted a policy that eliminates traditional remediation pathways.

The NSHE Corequisite and College Ready Gateway Policy requires all students to be enrolled in college-level gateway English and math courses in their first year of enrollment, with or without corequisite support, effective Fall 2021. Corequisite instruction is a nationwide movement of delivering “just-in-time” support for college level math and English coursework in place of traditional remediation.

“This new Corequisite and College Ready Gateway policy sends a clear message to all students, said Jason Geddes, chair of the Nevada Board of Regents. “When you come to college, you will take college-level courses, and if you need it, just-in-time support will be provided for you.”

“We are determined to see more of our Nevada students graduate,” NSHE Chancellor Thom Reilly said. “We are grateful for this partnership with ECMC Foundation and for their generous support. The corequisite model of math and English remediation reform is proven to work across the country and is directly in line with the system’s strategic plan goals.”

“ECMC Foundation is excited to support the Nevada System of Higher Education as they continue to take bold steps that are affirmed in system policy to increase on-time graduation and to help eliminate student achievement gaps,” ECMC Foundation senior program director Sarah Belnick said. “We look forward to seeing the scaled implementation of corequisite math and English support courses across Nevada as this kind of strategic innovation is proven to help students of all backgrounds successfully cross the college finish line.”

The content of some math and English courses will not only change, but the approach to delivery will change as well. Corequisite instruction closes achievement gaps and builds equity by starting with the basics: providing collaborative learning environments and intrusively supporting students when they get stuck through just-in-time support.

“Much of these ECMC funds will be distributed to each of NSHE’s seven teaching institutions through subgrants,” said Crystal Abba, NHSE vice chancellor of academic and student affairs. “Institutions are expected to use this money for direct activities of scaling corequisite support, including faculty and advisor professional development, hiring embedded student supports in corequisite classes and to support credentialing activities for faculty.”

Since the policy’s passage, NSHE System leadership created a statewide Corequisite Implementation Task Force that includes individuals from each of NSHE’s seven teaching institutions. This task force meets regularly to streamline the implementation of corequisite reform to scale in a manner that utilizes collective impact across the state.