Is your college struggling with developmental student success? Paris junior College (PJC) has received a grant to enhance its College Connect program, demonstrating meaningful gains in student outcomes. Learn how this innovative approach, featuring supplemental instruction, is helping students thrive and boosting degree completion rates through its developmental education initiatives.
Paris Junior College Receives Grant to expand Developmental Student Success Program
Published: april 6, 2025
Grant Awarded to Enhance College Connect Program
Paris Junior College (PJC) has been awarded a $125,000 grant from teh Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. This funding will significantly expand the College connect program, which is designed to boost academic success for developmental students. The grant proposal was a collaborative effort, co-authored by Carey Gable, Program Coordinator of English and Developmental Writng, and Dr. Jennifer Collar, Division Director of Communications and Fine Arts. Both Gable and Collar will serve as co-directors for the project.
Key Fact: College Connect
College Connect is a co-requisite course structure that pairs developmental courses with first-year English or math courses. this innovative approach allows students who may be less academically prepared to quickly catch up with their peers, accelerating their progress toward degree completion.
Innovative Approach to Developmental Education
PJC has garnered recognition at both the state and national levels for its innovative approach to developmental education. The college’s strategy involves pairing developmental courses with introductory-level English or math courses. This co-requisite model, known as College connect in high schools, provides crucial support to students who need to strengthen their foundational skills while simultaneously engaging with college-level coursework.
Clarksville High School was the first to partner with PJC in the College connect program.The grant will enable PJC to broaden its supplemental instruction initiatives, both on its main campus and within its College Connect partnerships in area high schools.
Leadership and Recognition
Carey Gable and Dr. Jennifer Collar have been actively involved in the Pathways Institute, organized by the Texas Success Center. This institute serves as a platform for sharing knowledge and strategies aimed at improving student success and degree completion rates. At the most recent Pathways Institute, Gable presented the positive outcomes of the College Connect partnership with Clarksville High School.
Dr. Collar received the Cynthia Ferrell Pathway Star of Excellence Award,a prestigious recognition for individuals who have made a important impact on removing barriers to student success and enhancing the overall student experience at their college.
The root of Pathways is student success, and this supplemental instructor initiative is about improving student success. We’ve done great work with the co-requisite and had great success using supplemental instruction and we’re excited to expand it.
Dr. Jennifer Collar, Division Director of communications and fine Arts, Paris Junior College
Expanding supplemental Instruction
PJC has previously collaborated with Adult Basic Education teachers on a limited scale within co-requisite courses. This personalized attention has proven beneficial for students, and the grant will facilitate the expansion of this support system.
The grant pays for us to track everything and to pay for more supplemental instructors. Where we’ve had one teacher with 20 students,we now had two. We’ve also partnered with the Writing Center and writing tutors. So, we may have as many as five teachers and tutors to help with a class. We’re meeting them exactly where they are and giving them exactly what they need to be triumphant.
Carey Gable,Program Coordinator of English and Developmental Writing,Paris Junior College
Ambitious Goals for the Future
While acknowledging the significant progress made,Gable has set ambitious goals for the future of the developmental writing program.
I want us to have the leading developmental writing co-requisite program in the State of Texas. The state completion average is 47 percent and we’re closing in on 77 percent.I want us to get further,to redevelop the entire thing. The way you do that is to increase one-on-one interaction with students who are behind.
Carey Gable, Program Coordinator of English and Developmental Writing, Paris Junior College
Supplemental instructors are trained in a four-step teaching process developed by Gable. This process equips them to identify knowledge gaps in students’ understanding and guide students in seeking solutions. Students also receive a practical checklist of 10 steps for producing high-quality papers in subsequent courses.
Tracking Student Progress
The impact of the program extends beyond introductory english courses.
It’s not just English 1301, it’s now in 1302. We started tracking our developmental writing students in English 1302 and they’re catching up to our students who were automatically college ready. So, a student can come in at the lowest level and be caught up by the time they graduate.
Carey Gable, Program Coordinator of English and Developmental Writing, Paris Junior College
The college has begun tracking math results, starting with the second 8-week term of the spring semester. The next phase involves integrating supplemental instructors into developmental math courses.
Expanding to High Schools
The expansion of supplemental instruction will also benefit the College Connect program in high schools.
We also want to expand using supplemental instructors with our College Connect program in our high schools. It means additional support for the schools.
Dr. Jennifer Collar, Division director of Communications and Fine Arts, Paris Junior College
High schools within PJC’s five-county service area that are interested in participating in College Connect are encouraged to contact Dr. Collar at jcollar@parisjc.edu or Gable at cgable@parisjc.edu.
