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A Comparison of Centralized and Decentralized Developmental Education Courses in Four Public Appalachian Community Colleges and Students’ Perceptions Regarding the Seven Principles for Good Practice Philip M. Keith Developmental education courses have become a standard in community colleges in the United States. An overwhelming majority of these public two-year schools offer developmental courses to a wide array of students. At the same time, developmental programs are under a constant barrage of attacks from a variety of stakeholder organizations that view these courses as redundant in the public educational system. As a result, community college systems across the nation are striving to find the most effective and efficient means to offer these courses, to decrease the length of time students are spending in these courses, and to increase the numbers of students who transition into the regular college curriculum. This study examined four research questions: first, the researcher attempted to determine if statistically significant differences existed between the perceptions of students attending centralized and decentralized developmental education courses in regard to their instructors’ use of the principles for good practice; second, this study attempted to determine if there were statistically significant differences between students attending developmental education courses and instructors teaching in developmental education courses in regard to their perceptions of the principles for good practice occurring in these courses; third, this research attempted to determine if there were significant differences in the perceptions of students attending developmental English/writing courses and students attending developmental mathematics courses in regard to each of the seven principles for good practice; and finally, this research attempted to determine if there were significant differences between instructors’ perceptions regarding the principles for good practice based on subject taught (i.e. English/writing and mathematics). Six community colleges were sampled to address the last three research questions; four of the six community colleges were used to address the first research question. A causal comparative methodology was used for this research. A MANOVA determined that statistically significant differences existed between groups regarding all four research questions. Subsequent analyses of variance found that students from the centralized and decentralized groups differed on five out of the seven principles for good practice, with the decentralized group rating their instructors higher on four out of the five principles where differences were detected. A Comparison of Developmental Education Programs iii Dedication This work is dedicated to my wife and best friend, Heidi Gabrielle Thompson. You are a beautiful artist, a beautiful mother, and a beautiful friend... “You and me together...” And to my children, Lillian Belle Keith, Noam Gabriel Keith, and Baby-Boy-to-Be: I am thankful everyday to watch you grow, to have conversations with you, to play with you, and to entertain the many questions you ask about this world... I hope that this accomplishment will help you all someday realize that life-long-learning is a wonderful thing, and that you too can achieve anything you work hard at. This work is also dedicated to the loving memory of my grandparents, Ralph Holman Keith (1911-1999) and Margaret Belle Keith (1921-1994). I rely greatly, everyday of my life, on the love, encouragement, and strength that you both provided me throughout my youth... if it were not for you both I do not know where I would be. Thank you!! Lastly, I am a first-generation and non-traditional college student. For the most part, college was not supposed to be in my future... it was not something I had focused on in high school and certainly not something for which I’d prepared. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what I would do with my life. I dedicate this work to all of those students who are high school dropouts, or first generation students, or non-traditionals, who, for some reason, have become inspired to take on the challenge of academia... my hat goes off to you!! You can do it!! A Comparison of Developmental Education Programs iv Acknowledgements One of the greatest things about being a part of the doctoral program at WVU has been the wonderful opportunity that I have had to work with so many great people. I am eternally grateful for the hard work and dedication of the following individuals: Dr. Ernest Goeres: you are one of the finest men in all of academe. I am thankful for the guidance, laughter, and education you have provided me. You have always been accessible and have worked extremely hard to help me achieve my goals. Thank you! Dr. Elizabeth Jones: thank you for your dedication to learning. I am extremely grateful for all of the help that you have provided me over the course of this program of study. Your guidance and feedback have helped to improve this work immensely. Dr. Richard Walls: thank you for all of the help you have provided to improve my study . . . and for reminding me about commas, coordinating conjunctions, and independent clauses!! Dr. Patricia Obenauf: thank you for being a part of my committee. Your feedback and support have meant a great deal. Dr. Sandra Bailey: there is no finer teacher out there. I appreciate the work that you do everyday to ensure that our schools are staffed with the best and brightest teachers possible. Your dedication to your students and learning is inspirational! Thank you for taking the time to help me pursue this goal. I am immensely grateful to be surrounded by so many great friends and family members. You all have helped to inspire me in some way . . . for this I am forever thankful. A special thank you goes out to my uncle and aunt, Jim and Amy Matheny... thanks for letting me crash at your place while I was out collecting data... I always enjoy the conversations. Heather, Dan, and A Comparison of Developmental Education Programs v Alice Brunton also deserve a big thanks for letting me crash at their place several nights while collecting data. You are all really great people!! To my mom, sister, and brothers...I love you all. My mom instilled in me, early-on, an immense love for books and reading... thanks mom!! I would also like to thank Diana and Rue for all of their good wishes and support . . . and to the rest of the Thompsons . . . thanks for being a great family!! To my dear friends Karen, Angie and the many other members of this doctoral program... thanks for all the good times!!! A special thanks is reserved for my dear friend Dennis McNaboe... thanks for all of your help!! This research project was made possible through the support of the following people: Dr. Billie Unger, Dr. Bill Hightower, Dr. Chad Brown, Ms. Tondalaya Vanlear, Mr. Gary Appel, Dr. Michael Scott, Dr. Pat Huber, Ms. Judith Valade, and all of the instructors who so graciously opened up their classrooms to let me in. And last but not least, a tremendous thank you to all of the students who participated in this research study... this was because of you!!! Thank You!! A Comparison of Developmental Education Programs vi Table of

A Comparison of Centralized and Decentralized Developmental Education Courses in Four Public Appalachian Community Colleges and Students' Perceptions Regarding the Seven Principles for Good Practice