2013, Kristi K. Yorks

Re-Imagining Remedial Education

A Bit about Me Associate editor and

writer for numerous publications

Curriculum designer and narrative writer for Aventa & K12.com

Composition and literature instructor for CTU since 2010

Just a little inspiration…

Today’s Student Traditionally non-

traditional A “can-do” optimism

that knows no bounds Lack of “book”

knowledge and standardized skills

Their curiosity is driven by personal interest and need

Knowledge is based on first-hand experience

Ages vary as do skill levels, gender, socio-economic class, ambitions, etc.

Understanding the Dream; Facing the Reality

Off to College…

A College Degree Intellectual and

personal growth Legacy More options Increased income Careers Meaningful Work Happiness Financial security The list goes on…

Despite increasing enrollments, increasing funds, better teaching practices, better technology, and overall better resources, graduation rates are largely stagnant and in some communities, are even declining.

The Cause?

Over Emphasize Access …

…without thought to process, method, or reform.

Current Rates of Completion

30-32% in community

colleges

50-60% in 4 year

universities

Remedial Programs

What they are, How they work, and Why they don’t…

What is “Remediation?” Students who lack the basic skills needed in

either math or English to successfully complete college level course work.

30-40 percent of students who enroll in traditional, four year colleges (and 60 percent who enroll in community colleges) will be held back and required to take one or more basic skills course in math and/or English

The Remediation Process Open admissions policies

allow students to enroll in college programs regardless of high school performance

Students enroll in a university or community college program

In addition to financial aid and other paperwork, they take a test to determine their skill level in basic math, writing, and reading.

The results of this test determine where students are placed: Some will be admitted to

normal course work and begin working towards their degree.

Most others will be assigned to remedial course work

An important note! Assessments are generally

not able to pin point specific strengths or weaknesses

The Facts

25% of all students who enrolled in higher

education in 2000 needed to take at least one remedial course in either English or Math.

What predicts success in a college classroom? It’s not race It’s not gender It’s not socio-

economic class

A better predictor of success at a college level is…

Quality of instruction Quality of student

support services Proficiency in basic

math and English

The more students who pass remedial courses, the more students graduate – it’s really that simple.

The “Elephant” in the Room If a student enters a

remedial program at a 2-year college, he/she has at most a 28% chance of receiving a degree in 8.5 years

In some states, the success rate of remediation is as low as 16%.

4 year universities fare a bit better (around 50%)

The Numbers

• The cost of remedial education is estimated at $1-2 Billion a year; the direct costs to families and students is around $700 million.

• Many critics complain that the state is paying “twice to teach skills students should have mastered in high school”

• The long term impact on our students…

“The education of the remedial student is the most important

educational problem in America today,” Alexander Astin

Remediation: A System Born to Fail?

The Gate Keeper The Drainer Allows a university to

open access to campus resources to all students but clearly divides them from “college ready” students

Courses are long and generalized

They rarely provide graduation credit, further enforcing the idea that remediation is a “waste” of time

What is Wrong with Remediation?

“It seems naïve to believe that we can improve students’

college-level skills by making them do

precisely the same thing in college that they failed to do in high school – only

online…” - Stephen J. Handel

What are the issues within Remedial Education?

Lack of informationToo Many Cooks in the Kitchen (and no one’s talking)

no in depth studies have been conducted regarding remedial programs

Lack of communication between colleges, between high schools, between educators

Lack of research regarding curriculum design and teaching practices

A maze of complicated and contradictory guidelines, practices, and curriculum

Extreme diversity in remedial programs across the country – no standard

Lack of training or conferences

When something is working, we don’t share it!

Hierarchy of Higher Education

“…developmental teaching is one of the most difficult teaching challenges and needs to be rescued from its second-class status” –

W. Norton Grubb

The Intellectual Class System

Effective teachers rarely teach remedial courses (where they are needed most)

Lack of engaging, interesting, or challenging remedial curriculum

Course work that stresses memorization and uniformity over critical thinking and creative problem solving

Curriculum that doesn’t connect with student interests or college course work

Lack of communication between the curriculums of high school and college programs

Pass/fail assessments that do not pinpoint student strengths and weaknesses

Little interest in prevention or research Many programs do not advertise, talk

about, or put funds towards their remedial programs

A Big Question… “Success rates are so low that the intentions of

remedial programs have been called into question. Does the larger community within higher education want these students to succeed? Or, rather, is remedial education a feel-good way to seem inclusive while maintaining an intellectual class system? In other words, are our interests truly centered upon our students’ needs or are we more focused on our own institutional guidelines and imagined intellectual superiority?”

~Associate Professor Kristi K. Yorks

The Two Schools of Thought

1. Well… 2. What if…

Some students just aren’t meant to go to college…

College isn’t for everyone…

Some kids just can’t learn…

…we are the problem?

…we are getting it wrong?

…we are too focused on delivery methods

…we lost sight of how we teach, of how we serve student interests

Understanding Remedial Students Diverse

Age, race, socio-economic class, gender, career goals

Wide variety of skills and interests

Highly motivated – driven by incredible optimism and self-awareness

Many have failed in the past, are familiar with the system and are determined to succeed this time.

Hesitant to ask questions, to attend office hours, to involve themselves within the class or the college environment

They rarely participate in moderated discussions; while they take notes, they rarely take effective notes or engage critically with the material

Trouble managing time and assignments

Lack the ability to form “future” memories

How can students this motivated, fail? They know how to

“go to school” but not how to think critically, to remove themselves from the routine of education

Lack the ability to self-assess

Fearful and suspicious of the education system

Driven by a sometimes intense fear of failure which affects their ability to ask questions or ask for assistance

They know how to memorize knowledge, but lack the confidence and experience to create knowledge

An important note… A major issue isn’t

getting remedial students to pass… It’s getting them to enroll…

67% of students

assigned to remedial

math programs

54% of students assigned to

remedial English programs

Either did not enroll or

dropped out

Dispelling Myths… Remedial students

are not lazy They are not

unmotivated

They lack: Support systems Time Positive education

experiences

 

They are: under-prepared Unfamiliar with the

nature of and systems within higher education

Charging ForwardFinding Solutions

“to address the success of academically under-prepared students…colleges and university must stop tinkering at the margins of institutional

life, stop the tendency to take an “add-on” approach to institutional innovation, and adopt efforts that restructure the learning environments.”

Catherine Engstrom and Vincent Tinto

Strategies for Success

Teacher - Student

Good teachers make a difference

So, what do teachers need to be more effective?

Communication Faculty development Conferences,

discussion boards, etc.

Flexibility within the classroom

Real Support Financial Professional

Best Teaching Practices Clear guidelines and

expectations Structure Collapsing the hierarchy

Less talking, more doing Encouraging students to

share and draw upon personal experience

Providing a forum for debate Connecting skills and

knowledge to student experiences and real world skills Writing emails Drafting cover letters

Addressing student strengths and weaknesses – small class sizes Or classes focused on

vocation Increased availability and

human contact Encouraging student

involvement Allowing students to pursue

meaningful and challenging work Develop their own writing

prompts Develop their own research

questions

Big Ideas and Long Term Goals Student support

services Mentors Counselors Tutors Human interaction Teachers who can

afford to devote more time to their students

Smaller classrooms

Challenging and meaningful curriculum Experiential approach Building bridges

between high school and college curriculum

Individual approach Learning communities Connecting student’s

vocational interests with remedial curriculum

For Higher Education to work… It needs to devote

itself to its students and to meeting their needs above its own

A change in higher education philosophy

Honor its professors, providing the tools, funding, and salaries needed to teach well

Think outside of the box

Legitimize research regarding: Teaching practices Curriculum design

and development The effectiveness of

team lead learning communities vs. traditional classrooms

The effectiveness of assessments

A Few Ideas…and Some Hope Sugatra Mitra’s award

winning TED Talk: “What if students

learn more quickly on their own, working in teams, than in a classroom with a teacher?

What if tests and discipline get in the way of the learning process rather than accelerate it?”

Exploring the role of technology in learning

Celebrating and nurturing natural curiosity and problem solving

Encouraging guidance over lecture, support and questioning over easy answers

Re-imagine the role of teachers within all classrooms – how can we be more effective

Just to Emphasize… You are the solution Your classrooms are

our learning communities

You do have the control and the power to make a difference

Talk Share Question Challenge Demand