bringing accelerated math and english to your campus

8/3/2019 Bringing Accelerated Math and English to your Campus

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B RINGING A CCELERATED E NGLISH

AND M ATH TO YOUR C AMPUS

S PRING 2011

R EGIONAL W ORKSHOPS AT F ULLERTON C OLLEGE , F RESNO C ITY

C OLLEGE , M IRAMAR C OLLEGE , S ANTA R OSA J UNIOR C OLLEGE , AND C ITRUS C OLLEGE



Katie Hern

English Instructor, Chabot CollegeCoordinator, 3CSN Statewide Acceleration InitiativeCalifornia Community Colleges’ Success [email protected]

Myra SnellMath Professor, Los Medanos [email protected]



The more levels of developmental coursesa student must go through, the less likelythat student is to ever complete collegeEnglish or Math.

Bailey, Thomas. (February 2009). RethinkingDevelopmental Education. CCRC Brief . CommunityCollege Research Center. Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity.



N ATIONWIDE D ATA

256,672FIRST

-TIME

DEGREE

-SEEKING

STUDENTS

FROM 57 COLLEGES PARTICIPATING IN A CHIEVING THE DREAM

Students’ initial placement in

developmental sequence

% of students whosuccessfully

complete college-level gatekeepercourse in subject

Reading

1 Level Below College 42%

2 Levels Below College 29%3 Levels or More Below College 24%

Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in CommunityColleges (CCRC Working Paper No. 15). By: Thomas Bailey, Dong Wook Jeong & Sung-Woo Cho.December 2008. New York: Community College Research Center, Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity. (Revised November 2009).



N ATIONWIDE D ATA 256,672 FIRST -TIME DEGREE -SEEKING STUDENTS FROM 57 COLLEGES PARTICIPATING IN A CHIEVING THE DREAM

Students’ initial placement indevelopmental sequence

% of students whosuccessfullycomplete college-level gatekeepercourse in subject

Math

1 Level Below College 27%

2 Levels Below College 20%3 Levels or More Below College 10%

Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in CommunityColleges (CCRC Working Paper No. 15). By: Thomas Bailey, Dong Wook Jeong & Sung-WooCho. December 2008. New York: Community College Research Center, Teachers College,

Columbia University. (Revised November 2009).



A CROSS THE C ALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE S YSTEM : S IMILARLY BLEAK PROSPECTS FOR STUDENTS PLACED INTO LOWEST LEVELS OF SEQUENCES

% completing college/degree-applicable course:

3 levels below College Math (Pre-Algebra): 24% 4 levels below College Math (Arithmetic): 13%

3 levels below College English: 21% 4 levels below College English: 17%

Perry, M.; Bahr, P.R.; Rosin, M.; & Woodward, K.M. (2010). Course-taking patterns, policies, andpractices in developmental education in the California Community Colleges. Mountain View, CA:EdSource.



A ND F URTHER LOWLIGHTS

FROM ACROSS C ALIFORNIA … Black students are more likely to be placed in the lowestlevel of remedial English than other ethnic groups.

Black students are much less likely to be placed in thehighest remedial English course than White students(40% of Black students vs. 64% of White students).

Both Black and Latino students are much more likely tobe placed into the lowest level of remedial Math thanWhite or Asian students.

Perry, M.; Bahr, P.R.; Rosin, M.; & Woodward, K.M. (2010). Course-taking patterns, policies, andpractices in developmental education in the California Community Colleges. Mountain View, CA:EdSource.



WHY HIGH ATTRITION RATES

ARE A STRUCTURAL PROBLEM

For students placing two levels below a college course inEnglish/Math, there are 5 “exit points” where they fall away:

Do they pass the first course? If they pass, do they enroll in the next course? If they enroll, do they pass the second course? If they pass, do they enroll in the college-level course?

If they enroll, do they pass the college-level course?Students placing three levels down have 7 exit points.



WHY HIGH ATTRITION RATES

ARE A STRUCTURAL PROBLEM

Chabot College pipeline data for students beginning twolevels down from college composition:

Do they pass the first course? 55% If they pass, do they enroll in the next course? 76% If they enroll, do they pass the second course? 79% If they pass, do they enroll in the college-level course? 86% If they enroll, do they pass the college-level course? 83%

(0.55)(0.76)(0.79)(0.86)(0.83)= 23%



H OW WOULD INCREASING FIRST -

COURSE SUCCESS IMPACT OVERALL COMPLETION RATE ?

(0.55)(0.76)(0.79)(0.86)(0.83)= 23%

Try it out…What if we got the first course to 65% success?

75% success?

85% success?

(Keep the other numbers the same)



THE INEVITABILITY OF ATTRITION IN

SEQUENCES

Hern, K. & Snell, M. (June/July 2010). Exponential Attrition and the Promise of Acceleration inDevelopmental English and Math. Perspectives. Berkeley, CA: RP Group.



BOTTOM L INE

We will never significantly

increase completion rates of college English and Math unlesswe reduce the length of ourdevelopmental sequences andeliminate the many exit pointswhere students fall away.



A Working Definition:Curricular restructuring that reduces sequencelength and eliminates exit points. Ideally

includes a reconsideration of curricular content:Is what we are teaching what students truly needto succeed in college English or Math?

Key Student Outcome to Track:What percentage of students from differentstarting placements go on to complete collegeEnglish/Math?

A CCELERATED

DEVELOPMENTAL E DUCATION



S OME OF THE POSSIBILITIES Avoidance modelsPrograms and policies that provide alternativepathways and/or help students skip levels, such as

Changing cut scores to advance students in sequence Creating easy mechanisms for students to skip levels Allowing students who have passed Algebra II in highschool to move directly into college-level Statistics

Bridge programs that enable students to move into a

higher level of coursework Contextualized reading/writing/math/ESL embedded inCareer-Technical programs



S OME OF THE POSSIBILITIES

Compression Models

Combining levels of a sequence into an intensiveformat within the same semester, either keeping thetotal # of units the same or reducing the # of units

Elementary & Intermediate Algebra Developmental English 1 & 2 levels below college 1 Level below plus college English




Mainstreaming ModelsPlacing developmental students into a transfer-level

course with some kind of additional support built in Supplemental instruction Additional lab hours Student tutors embedded in class Support course paired with transfer-level course




Modular RedesignReplacing the traditional course sequence withindividualized learning modules; more fine-graineddiagnostic tests assess students’ incoming levels of skill/understanding and instruction focuses on theseareas, often aided by computer software




Sequence RedesignRestructuring curricula to engage developmental studentsin more complex reading, writing, and thinking taskssooner and prioritize the most essential skills andknowledge needed in college courses

Eliminating levels in sequence and enabling students withlower scores to enroll in more advanced courses

One-semester, open-access pre-statistics courses One-semester, open-access reading and writing courses



Chabot CollegeEnglish 102:Reading, Reasoning, and Writing (Accelerated)

A one-semester 4-unit developmental English courseleading directly to English 1A

• An alternative to two-semester, 8-unit sequence

• No minimum placement score, students self-place in either theaccelerated or two-semester path

• Developed with “backwards design” from college English:Students engage in the same kinds of reading, thinking, andwriting of college English, with more scaffolding and support

• College has expanded accelerated offerings in last decade:course now constitutes more than 66% of entry-level sections



82% 82%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

Non-Accelerated Eng 101A/B, 04-09 Accelerated Eng 102, 04-09



52%49% 50%

63%

54% 54%

63%

59%62%

44%

69%

63%

74% 72%68%

60%

74%

64%

73%

43%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Success in High-Enrollment G.E. CoursesFall 2007-Summer 2009

No English Courses Passed

Accelerated English Course Passed



S EQUENCE REDESIGN : A NOTHER IN -D EPTH E XAMPLE

Statpath, Los Medanos College A new one-semester developmental Math course with nominimum placement score:

• Bypasses the standard 4-course sequence leading to Calculus• Developed through “backwards design” from college statistics:

Includes only those elements of algebra and arithmetic sequencethat are directly relevant to statistics

• These are provided with “just-in-time remediation” as studentsengage in statistical analysis

• Offered as experimental course 2009-2011, recently approvedas permanent course



Hern, K. & Snell, M. (June/July 2010). Exponential Attrition and the Promise of Acceleration inDevelopmental English and Math. Perspectives. Berkeley, CA: RP Group.



(E MERGING ) E VIDENCE A CCELERATION

WORKS : Y EAR ONE OF STAT P ATH

Hern, K. & Snell, M. (June/July 2010). Exponential Attrition and the Promise of Acceleration in Developmental English and Math. Perspectives. Berkeley, CA: RP Group.



(E MERGING ) E VIDENCE A CCELERATION WORKS : S TAT P ATH Y EAR TWO



F INAL THOUGHTS ON OPEN -A CCESS ,

ONE -S EMESTER CLASSES People often have a hard time with theconcept of an open-access class one-levelbelow college English or Math:

“One semester? No minimum placementscore?!”

“But don’t some students need a slower path?The ones with very low skills?”

Data from Chabot and Las Positascolleges are useful to consider here…



A T FIRST GLANCE , IT LOOKS LIKE SOME STUDENTS MIGHT NOT BE WELL -SERVED BY AN ACCELERATED PATH …



A ND YET …

THEY DON ’T DO BETTER ON THE SLOWER PATH



THE SAME IS TRUE FOR STUDENTS WITH

EVEN LOWER SCORES …



If we know we’ll lose more students in the

longer sequence, and they don’t even passthe slower-paced courses at higher rates,can we really keep thinking the longer pathis the better choice for low-scoring students?

BOTTOM L INE :



IMPLICATIONS FOR A CTION :

COMMUNITY COLLEGES N EED TO … Shorten developmental sequences and reduce exit pointsto increase completion of college-level English/Math.

Redesign curricula away from front-loading discrete sub-

skills toward giving students practice in the core skillsand ways of thinking required at the college-level.

Reconsider the assumption that placement score equalsnumber of semesters remediation needed.

Consider the model of using placement scores to identifystudents who might need extra support in an acceleratedmodel, rather than to track them into a longer sequence.



A FINAL

C AUTION

ABOUT

BUZZWORDS

…

Just about anything can be called “acceleration”these days – adding a student success course,

using culturally relevant pedagogy, linkingcourses in a learning community…

While these interventions may be valuable,without curricular redesign, we will nevermeaningfully increase the number of studentscompleting college English or Math.



W INDOW INTO

A N

A CCELERATED

CLASSROOM

Video footage from Myra Snell’s pre-statisticscourse, Fall 2009

Los Medanos students grapple with a problemfrom the national statistics exam, CAOS

Video filmed and edited by Jose Reynoso, astudent co-inquirer working with Snell through agrant from the Faculty Inquiry Network

http://vimeo.com/9055488 (or go to Vimeo andsearch for “Statpath”)



W INDOW INTO

A N

A CCELERATED

CLASSROOM

Video footage from Katie Hern’s English 102

Students are working collaboratively to understand anexcerpt from Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

It is the fourth class session. The discussion builds onearlier readings about education by Malcolm X,Krishnamurti, and Mike Rose, along with a study by Anyondocumenting serious differences between schools in

different socio-economic communities.



S CAFFOLDING TO SUPPORT STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

WITH

THE

TEXT

Focus questions given with reading assignment:

1) What does Freire mean by the term “banking

model” education? Why does he say it is“oppressive” or “dehumanizing”?

2.) What does Freire mean by “problem posing”education? Why does he say this is “liberatory”?

http://www.vimeo.com/16983253 Produced as part of Faculty Inquiry Network, Fall 2009



TIME FOR LUNCH

This Afternoon’s focus…

Building an Action Plan

Thinking through what it will taketo bring new acceleration to

your own campus



WHERE IS YOUR COLLEGE IN

IMPLEMENTING

A CCELERATION

?

Phase One:Building Awareness

Phase Two:Developing Accelerated Pilots

Phase Three:Expanding and Refining Accelerated Approaches



PHASE

ONE

: BUILDING

A WARENESS

Objective for this part of workshop:

Become a more skilled idea champion toargue for the urgency of implementingacceleration



P HASE ONE : B UILDING A WARENESS

Work in groups of 3-4 at your table

Role play for a heated meeting on campus –

take turns raising objections and making anargument for acceleration

Make note of the most important objectionsyou expect to encounter – we’ll discuss theseas a whole group next…



P HASE TWO :DEVELOPING A CCELERATED P ILOTS

Small-Group Discussion:Look at your handout “Select Models of

Accelerated English and Math.” Pick the 1-2

models you are most interested in exploring foryour own campus and then discuss them with theother people at your table:

What advantages do you see for the model?

What disadvantages do you see for the model?

What institutional navigation will be required toimplement the model?



P HASE TWO :DEVELOPING A CCELERATED P ILOTS

Curriculum and PedagogyStructural redesign is only the first step. Onceyou have decided upon the model(s) to pilot, it’s

time to plan for the what and how of teaching anaccelerated course.

What does accelerated instruction look like?



A NOTHER W INDOW INTO THE CLASSROOM :S AMPLE S TAT P ATH M ATERIALS

College-level Thinking and Skills

Are cereals marketed to children less healthythan cereals marketed to adults?

Do cereals marketed to children appear to bedeliberately located on grocery store shelves toattract children’s attention?

Data set: 77 cereals, 14 variables (e.g. sugar, fat,sodium, weight, Consumer Report rating, shelf location, target audience, manufacturer)



COLLEGE -LEVEL THINKING WITH E MBEDDED DEVELOPMENTAL CONCEPTS

Excerpt from FirstStudent Paper

(6th week)

Statistical Concepts:• Distributional reasoning• Measures of center and

spread• Distinction betweenexplanatory and responsevariables in data analysis

Developmental Concepts• Unit conversions• Percentages• Relative vs. absolute

difference



S CAFFOLDING AND SUPPORT

Instructional cycle:

Introduction to the unit : discussion of motivating question

Cycles of investigation and presentation

Group work with a rich data set: preliminary work reasoning with data. Poster presentations with rotating audience: communicating preliminary findings

Computer lab: Tinkerplots investigation (same variables, large n). Projectstudent work and discuss preliminary findings to motivate need for statisticaltechniques

Structured development of statistical/mathematical conceptsGroup work, class discussion of group work, mini-lecture

Cycles of investigation and presentation

Computer lab: application of statistical tools to analysis. Speed dating withstructured “listening and responding” routines.

Culminating paper/presentation/exam



S CAFFOLDING AND SUPPORT : ZOOMING IN Example of structured development of statistical/mathematicalconcepts for measuring variability

For each set, use your own visual sense to order the distributions from least amount of variability to most amount of variability .

For each set of 3 graphs, measure the variability in the 3 distributions in a

way that makes sense to you. Your measurement should help us identifywhich of the 3 distributions has the least amount of variability and which hasthe most. Give your variability measurement for each graph in the set. Whenyou move to the next set, you may have to devise a new measure.

Follow-up:Make up two data sets withsame mean and different ADM

Make up two data sets withdifferent means and same ADM

Multiple choice items fromARTIST



S AMPLE E XAM P ROMPTS Example of data analysis portion of exam: apply concepts to newcontexts with a simple data set

Pick ONE of the following questions to answer:

Do new drivers pay a higher insurance premium than experienced drivers?Do males pay a higher insurance premium than females?

Create a graph(s) to answer the question you chose. Demonstrate your understanding of course concepts through your choice of statistical tools andin your discussion.



S AMPLE E XAM P ROMPTS Example of multiple choice portion of exam: conceptual questions

Which of the classes would you expect tohave the largest interquartile range?

Class A because it has the highest peakClass B because it has over half of itsvalues toward the ends of its range

Class C because there are roughly thesame percentage of scores close to themedian as far from it

Class E because it looks normal.



W INDOW INTO THE E NGLISH CLASSROOM :S AMPLE E SSAY P ROMPT

Essay #3, Option #2:

“Were Harry Harlow’s experiments on monkeysethical? Harlow’s research taught us a lot about

the nature of attachment and what infants need.But in the process, he did a lot of damage to themonkeys in his experiments. Do you think hisresearch was ethical? Do the benefits(knowledge) outweigh the costs (harm to livingcreatures)?”

“Materials from Katie Hern’s Accelerated EnglishClass,” available through 3CSN website:http://3csn.org/completion-initiative/developmental-sequences/



COLLEGE -LEVEL THINKING AND S KILLS

Essay requires students to synthesizeand evaluate conflicting positions fromthe class text and make a clear, carefully

considered argument of their ownGuidelines to Students:“Show that you have carefully read [the] chapter… andthat you have fully digested and considered the differentviewpoints and evidence on all sides of the debate. Feel free

to also include other sources....”

“Show you are really thinking about the topic – these arecomplex questions, so don’t settle for easy answers. Anddon’t feel that you have to take an either-or position…”



S CAFFOLDING /S UPPORT :

After each reading, in-class activities let studentsprocess, clarify, and engage with the text.

Activities are designed by teacher and/or student“teaching teams.” Typical activities:

Small groups discussing then reporting back about aparticular section or topic from the reading

Debates between teams of students representingdifferent positions on an issue

“Speed-Dating”: Students sit in pairs and spend 2minutes discussing a question from the assignedreading; then they switch partners and discussanother question from the reading; repeat.



S CAFFOLDING /S UPPORT Before writing an essay, students take anopen-book quiz to show their understandingof key ideas/info from the assigned readings:

“In your own words, explain the concept of ‘contactcomfort.’ Then, describe how Harlow’s experiments withmonkeys led him to come up with this idea.”

“What happened to the monkeys raised with the terry-clothsurrogate ‘mother’ when they grew up? According toHarlow, why did this happen?”

“In your own words, explain the animal rights argumentthat ‘the use of animals in research delivers very littlevalid information’ (Slater 149). Be sure to summarize someof the evidence activists use to support this argument.”



J UST -I N -T IME REMEDIATION

While working on drafts, students receivetargeted in-class writing guidance, including:

Activities on brainstorming and outlining their essay

6-8 students write their draft thesis statements onboard for discussion; instructor models how to usesubordinate clauses to make concessions: “Althoughwe learned a lot from these experiments…”

Before final draft is due, instructor briefly reviewsstrategies for proofreading and reminds students tolook for the patterns of mistakes they typically make(instructor used previous papers to alert students totheir individual patterns)



J UST -I N -T IME REMEDIATION After papers complete: Instructor gives extensivepositive feedback, calls attention to specific areasfor improvement, and tells students she’ll belooking for progress on these areas in next essay

Common areas for attention in essay #3:

Parts of student argument could be strengthened withmore specific examples/details/quotes from text

Unintentional plagiarism – specific phrases from original

text lifted into essay without quotation (as students writetheir next essay, we’ll practice paraphrasing in class)

Inconsistent proofreading and the presence of errors thatare common to class (homophone spelling errors) as well asparticular to individuals (fragments, trace ESL errors)



BOTH M ODELS : A TTENTION TO THE A FFECTIVE DOMAIN

Instructors use intentional strategies to fostersustained student engagement (and counteractstudent tendencies to disengage during difficulty)

Integrating Carol Dweck’s education research intohow having a “growth mindset” about intelligenceproduces learning, while a “fixed mindset” does not

Attendance policies (e.g. firm boundaries limitingmissed classes, incentive for perfect attendance)

Emails to students who have missed class, reachingout to struggling students for one-on-one conferences

Use of re-dos (rewrites on papers, redoing test items)



GENERAL A DVICE FOR P HASE TWO

Think carefully about the front-end:How will students enroll in the pilot? How will theyknow the option exists and why it will benefit them?

Watch out for anything that could derail the experimentor distort the results

e.g. Sometimes experimental courses fill up only after theregular classes are closed. At Chabot, “late arriver” studentshave had some of the lowest success and persistence rates, so

you wouldn’t want your experiment dominated by this group.

Build good connections with counseling to ensurestrong enrollment




Think carefully about the back-end:Building an Evaluation Plan

Key Question for Every Pilot:What percentage of students who start atdifferent levels of our developmentalsequences go on to pass the college-level/degree-applicable course?

Compare results from your pilot with resultsfrom the traditional sequence




Think carefully about the back-end:Building an Evaluation Plan

Locally-Specific Measures:If your department has a portfolio review, commonexam, or other assessment process, you mightexamine how students from the pilot compare withstudents from the traditional sequence. You mightalso build illustrations of sample student work, toprovide a “window” into the classroom.

Take care not to burden the pilot with expectationsfar outside what happens in the traditional sequence.



A ND A F EW WORDS A BOUT P HASE THREE Your main goal here is to increase the number of students in accelerated pathways and continue toraise the rate at which developmental studentscomplete your college-level courses

Phase One continues, as you keep making the case foracceleration

Phase Two continues, as you experiment with additionalapproaches – e.g. expanding upon your compressed modelby adding a pilot in sequence redesign – and you evaluate

the impact of pilots on completion rates

And Phase Three reflection and refinement occurs – e.g.fine-tuning how to provide support to particularly weakstudents without adding layers



RESOURCES A VAILABLE TO Y OU

http://3CSN.org/developmental-sequences

Sample curricular materials and classroom videos

Materials to build a case for acceleration oncampus

Links to established acceleration programs

“Spotlight” features on colleges implementing

acceleration across California

The site will be updated regularly as morecolleges share their work with the network



RESOURCES A VAILABLE TO Y OU Support from 3CSN Regional Coordinators re: building acase on campus, developing an implementation plan

Phone consultations with Katie Hern & Myra Snell:For colleges ready to develop a pilot, help thinkingthrough logistics, politics, curriculum, and pedagogyContact: [email protected]

National Acceleration Conference June 15-17, 2011Community College of Baltimore Countyhttp://tiny.cc/alpconference2011



E ND -OF -D AY SHARE OUT

Please share one important Ah-Hah moment youhad today…



BEFORE Y OU GO…

Please complete two forms and leave them in thecenter of your table:

The information sheet “Bringing Accelerated English and Math to

Your Campus”

The workshop evaluation form



P ORTIONS OF THIS PRESENTATION WERE DEVELOPED AS PART OF THE FACULTY INQUIRY NETWORK , FUNDED BY THE W ILLIAM

AND F LORA H EWLETT F OUNDATION , THE W ALTER S. J OHNSON F OUNDATION , AND THE B AY A REA W ORKFORCE C OLLABORATIVE

s

bringing accelerated math and english to your campus

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