CRC 0100

College Readiness Course

Eligible Students: 12th grade students who have not demonstrated college-readiness as defined by
Texas House Bill 5.

Prerequisites: Satisfactory performance met on the English I and II EOC, Successful completion
of English I, II, and III, and a score ranging from 40-49 on the PSAT, 400-499 on the SAT, 14-
18 on the ACT/PLAN, or a 346-350 (Reading) and 357-362 (Writing) and an essay score of a 4
(Writing) on the TSI.

Course Description (as defined by Southwest Texas Junior College):

This is a combined course designed to develop students’ critical reading, critical thinking, and
academic writing skills. The course focus will be on applying critical reading skills for
organizing, analyzing, and retaining material and developing written work appropriate to the
audience, purpose, situation, and length of the assignment. This course integrates preparation in
academic reading skills with skills in writing a variety of academic essays. The course requires
mastery of standard American English language, revising, editing, and knowledge of plagiarism
and awareness of documentation. The course fulfills TSI requirements for reading and writing
and qualifies a student for English 1301.

Additional Public Education Goals: Students will learn and practice reading and writing
strategies so that they are prepared to enter post-secondary programs of study with no additional
remediation in reading and writing.

Reading and Writing Learning Objectives (as defined by Southwest Texas Junior
College):

1. Locate textual information, draw inferences, describe, analyze, evaluate, and summarize
information from multiple texts of varying lengths.
2. Use vocabulary and appropriate diction effectively in oral communication, reading and
writing.
3. Identify and analyze audience, purpose, and message of various texts.
4. Apply and discuss insights gained from reading and writing a variety of texts, including
an understanding of the difference between fact and opinion and subjective and objective.
5. Compose writings that include an introduction that leads to a clear thesis, logical
development of ideas in paragraph format, and an evident conclusion that supports the
thesis and writer’s purpose.
6. Apply effective rhetorical strategies for specific reading and writing.
 7. Generate ideas and compile information relevant to topic and purpose, incorporating the
ideas of words of others using established strategies for quoting, paraphrasing, and
summarizing texts with an awareness of plagiarism and the need for documentation
according to a style.
8. Evaluate the credibility and quality of ideas and information in formulating and
developing an argument.
9. Develop and use effective reading, revision, and editing strategies to compose college-
level writing assignments
10. Apply the conventions of Standard English in reading and writing, including subject/verb
agreement, consistent verb tense, parallel sentences, and common sentence errors
including run-ons, splices, and fragments.

College Readiness Objectives

1. Explore career interest opportunities and how it relates to college preparation
2. Identify college degree programs of interest
3. Understand the college application process
4. Identify ways to finance college through scholarships and FAFSA

Course Evaluation
A course grade will be determined upon completion of all components, including
attendance and participation in lectures and seminars, written, online, and oral
assignments, and tests. Course Evaluation is based on accumulated points with a
possible 1000 point maximum:

500 ePortfolio
Essays 4 @ 25= 100pts
Research Papers 2 @ 50= 100pts
Presentations 2 @ 50= 100 pts
Resume 1 @ 25= 25pts
3 College Applications. 3 @ 25= 75pts
3 Scholarship Applications 3 @ 25= 75pts
FAFSA Application 1 @ 25= 25pts
100 Participation in College presentations/tours
200 Exams:
4 @ 50 pts
200 Online Reading and Writing Preparation Modules

A student's grade will be determined as follows:

900 up A
800-899 B
700-799 C
less than 700 F
Assignments
ePortfolio. Students will create an online portfolio on Google Drive focused on their chosen
college/career pathway. Assignments include:
 Students will choose 4 Essays Prompts from Apply Texas and The Common Application
o What was the environment in which you were raised? Describe your family,
home, neighborhood, or community, and explain how it has shaped you as a
person.
o Most students have an identity, an interest, or a talent that defines them in an
essential way. Tell us about yourself.
o You’ve got a ticket in your hand – Where will you go? What will you do? What
will happen when you get there?
o Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal
growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
o The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later
success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did
it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
o Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all
track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you
want to learn more?
 Research paper related to the chosen college/career
 Research paper focused on an interview with teachers, business and postsecondary
education partners/mentors with relevant expertise in a chosen career field
 Students will create multimedia videos related to their research papers
 Students will create a Resume
 Students will post documentation related to completing 3 college applications
 Students will post documentation related to completing 3 scholarship applications
 Student will post documentation related to completing FAFSA

College presentations/tours. Students will participate in at least 4 college presentation/tours.

Students will write an essay related to knowledge gained.

Exams. Students will take practice exams related to reading and writing concepts covered on the
TSI and SAT

Online Reading and Writing Preparation Modules. Students will register with The College
Board website and complete reading and writing modules targeted to their specific needs to
prepare for the SAT. Students will spend time in class each week completing modules.
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice

Academic Integrity Statement

Academic integrity is highly valued in our campus community. Academic integrity
directly concerns ethical behaviors which affect both the academic environment and the
civic community. Academic dishonesty seriously violates the integrity of the academic
 enterprise and will not be tolerated at Southwest Texas Junior College. Academic
dishonesty is regarded as any act of deception, benign or malicious in nature, in the
completion of any academic exercise. Examples of academic dishonesty include
cheating, plagiarism, impersonation, misrepresentation of idea or fact for the purpose of
defrauding, use of unauthorized aids or devices, falsifying attendance records, violation
of testing protocol, inappropriate course assignment collaboration, and any other acts that
are prohibited by the instructor of record.

Use of Copyrighted Material

Copyright is a form of protection the law provides to the authors of original works of
authorship for their intellectual works that are fixed in any tangible medium of
expression, both published and unpublished (Title 17, United States Code). It is illegal to
violate any of the rights provided by the law to the owner of a copyright. SWTJC
respects the ownership of intellectual material governed by copyright laws. All users of
the SWTJC resources shall comply with the copyright laws and the provisions of the
licensing agreements that apply to software; printed and electronic materials, including
documentation, graphics, photographs, multimedia, including musical works, video
productions, sound recordings, and dramatic works; and all other technological resources
licensed and/or purchased by SWTJC or accessible over network resources provided by
SWTJC.

Disclaimer
There are many factors which contribute to the progress of a course. While the
information provided within this syllabus is considered to be complete at the time of
distribution to the students, the instructor of record reserves the right to alter the content
of the course in order to meet the required learning objectives of the course and the
learning needs of the students.