The Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Organization for Student Success is committed to the principle of equal educational opportunity for all persons who have the potential and the desire to achieve in post secondary education. We seek to promote continuing dialog and collaboration among all persons working in developmental education programs in an effort to affect the development and improvement of support services to the increasingly diverse students enrolled in these institutions.
Mission: The Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Organization for Student Success (PA-NOSS) leads the way in Supporting, Empowering, and Advocating for holistic educational opportunities.
Vision: The Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Organization for Student Success will be the premier professional organization for the advancement of developmental education by the year 2021.
Values: We (PA-NOSS) will make a positive difference through:
- Respecting and supporting all unconditionally
- Believing everyone can learn, grow, and change
- Embracing diversity through inclusivity
- Being authentic through transparency
- Collaborating in order to provide opportunities for lifelong learning
WHAT IS DEVELOPMENTAL EDUCATION?
PA-NOSS recognizes developmental education as a process to assist underprepared students in overcoming individual barriers to academic success. To that end, PA-NOSS supports the implementation of programs and services which encompass the full range of academic and affective skills development, including tutoring, student assistance, counseling, and advising as well as preparatory/remedial classes to complement and supplement curricular instructional offerings. In its best form, developmental education enables students to use communication, mathematical, and problem solving skills across the curriculum to achieve their educational and career goals.
Although all students may benefit from developmental education, the design of these programs and services have unique benefits for certain students, e.g. the academically underprepared, educationally and/or economically disadvantaged, persons of limited English proficiency, and the learning disabled.