Of completion rates, pass rates and grades...

I taught two classes of Eng 8 (6 credits each) in the Fall 2010 semester at Leeward CC.  BTW, Eng 8 is the first in a sequence of courses offered at my college.  Though a basic reading and writing class, Eng 8 is quite rigorous, at least that's my opinion and that's the way I designed it to be.

Here's the semester recap:

Section 1 -- 26 enrolled

• N* = 12 (of these, 3 were no-shows; 4 completed the class [i.e. they were still attending class up to the last day and took the final exam; the other 5 dropped out at varying points in the semester.) (*N is our college's equivalent of F for remedial/development courses; however, an N grade does not bear upon a student's GPA).

• D = 0
• C = 5
• B = 8
• A = 1

Section 2 -- 25 enrolled

• N = 8  (of these,  2 completed the class ; the other 6 dropped out at varying points in the semester).
• D = 4  (all 4 completed the class)
• C = 8
• B = 4
• A = 1

Overall:

• 51 enrolled
• 37 of 51 completed the class = 72% completion rate
• 27 of 51 passed (C or higher grade) the class = 53% pass rate

Overall Grades for the two sections of Eng 8

• N = 20
• D = 4
• C = 13
• B = 12
• A = 2

When  I did some poking around to find out about pass rates for community college courses, I discovered a plethora of material about pass rates for nursing exams and the like but not much else except a discussion of how the pass rates might too high by a community college dean.  As for completion rates, the discussion focuses on the rate of completion to earn a degree rather than completing a specific class, though to earn a degree, one will have to complete (and pass) a slew of classes to do so.  Speaking of which, the national goal is a degree-earned completion rate of 50% by 2020.

Well, I have seen 27 students in my classes this semester heading in that direction.