RACHEL ANKNEYSUSAN ACHZIGERBRANDON FERES

ASHLEY MOORSHEADTHE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF AURORA

Rewriting the Story for ACE Students: Tales of Integrating and Accelerating

ENG and REA 060 Accelerating ENG 90Redefining REA 90

Overview

Where we were 3 years agoIntegrating English/Reading 060

Structural/Scheduling Changes Curricular/Instructional Changes

Changes to English 090 Structural/Schedule Changes Curricular/Instructional Changes

Changes to Reading 090 Curricular/Instructional Changes Structural Changes

The Traditional Approach

The majority of these students needed a developmental sequence with more time and less rigor because they needed to be fixed.

Messages of Marginalization

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

The “crucial difference between high and low groups constituted a marked inequality in access to knowledge,” and tracking creates an “instructionally disadvantaged subclass of students (since we set a different course content, encourage different behaviors and attitudes and relate and respond differently as teachers).”

John Goodlad:

Treat ‘Em Like It’s Harvard…..Rethinking Dev. Ed. Instruction

• Philosophy, approaches to learning, and teaching methods

• Structure and language around our courses

• Assumptions of and orientation toward our students – Message of ‘College Material’– Students are valued members

of academic community from the moment they step on campus

– We expect them to get a college degree and we will provide the necessary support to realize this….

Revised Guiding Assumption about Students and Instruction

The majority of these students remain out of educational and socioeconomic mainstreams not because they are deficient, lack ability, or will to succeed, rather because they have been directly marginalized by limited types of learning opportunities or have internalized messages of marginalization from previous academic experiences.

Focus is on transformation NOT remediation Students do not need increased quantity of instruction…. They

need increased quality of instruction. Students are on a never ending continuum of learning and

sophistication.

There is nothing to fix.

STRUCTURAL/SCHEDULE CHANGESCURRICULAR CHANGES

Changes for Students Testing into 060

Traditional Sequence

Four Distinct 15 week Courses Totaling 12 Credits

Semester 1

Semester 2

Semester 3

ENG 0603 Credits

ENG 0903 Credits

REA 0603 Credits

REA 0903 Credits

ENG 121Freshman

English

Students could complete series in 2-4 semesters.

Change 1:We Integrated Lowest Levels of English and Reading

Traditional Integrated

Semester 1

ENG 0603 Credits

REA 0603 Credits

ENG/REA 060

3 Credits+

Change 2: Shortened the Length of the Semester

Semester Pacing

Year 1 Fall 2009-Spring 2010 All Courses Were 10 Weeks• Met on M/W OR T/R

Year 2 Fall 2010-Spring 2011 All Courses Were 10 Weeks• Met on M/W OR T/R

Year 3 Fall 2011-Spring 2012 Courses were 7.5 Weeks• Met MWF

Courses were 15 Weeks• Met TR

Change 3: Offered an Accelerated Option: Students Could Complete All of Dev. Ed. in One Semester

Non-PACE Option

PACE Option

ENG 060/REA 60

3 Credits

REA 903 Credits

ENG 903 Credits

ENG 121Freshman English

ENG 060/REA 60

3 Credits

REA 903 Credits

ENG 903 Credits

ENG 121Freshman English

Semester 1

Semester 1

Semester 2

Semester 2

Semester 3

Why Integrate Reading and English?

It just makes senseEnglish and Reading are two

subjects which are inherently intertwined

How Did We Integrate REA/ENG?

Patterns of Organization/Text Structure: Both subjects are focused on recognizing

relationships within information Both TEACH students how to process and

organize information around these patterns

i.e. Compare and Contrast Facebook Running late to class

How Did We Address Affective Issues In our Curriculum?

We recognized that if we didn’t change beliefs, we couldn’t change behaviors.

We chose academic texts that addressed the most common misconceptions about success, work, practice etc. that often led to academic failure i.e.Carol Dweck’s Mindsets

Sample Integrated Assignment- Compare and Contrast

Reading Activity Section of “The Mindsets” – “The Two Mindsets,” pages 39-41.

Annotate Circle Signal Phrases Annotate key concepts and factors that make them similar and different

Chart Similarities/Differences

English Prompt Compare/Contrast: “Mindsets"-students are asked to analyze the fixed mindset versus the

growth mindset. Typically, they can choose to compare/contrast themselves to another person. They could also choose to do a self-analysis, comparing/contrasting a mindset they had earlier in life to the one they now possess.

  Paper is to be 2-pages in length and in MLA format. It must contain a complete

introduction, relevant body paragraphs, and a complete conclusion.

Instructor as Academic Coach

Coaching Treating “whole” student

Lack of confidence/Lack of expectations Life “issues” Lack of role models

Beyond academic issues Homelessness/Unemployment Domestic Abuse Single-Mom/Dad

Fall 2006, Fall 2007, and Fall 2008

Fall 2009, Fall 2010, Fall 2011

Placement Level and Cut Scores

Number of Students

% of Total Students in Traditional 060

Transfer level: 95 or Above

7 .83%

1 level below: 72-94

91 10.81%

2 levels below: 41-71

613 72.80%

3 levels below: 40 or lower

58 6.88%

No Accuplacer Score/ACT Placement

73 8.67%

TOTAL 842

Were the Same Level Students in the Integrated Courses as in the Traditional Courses?

Placement Level and Cut

Scores

Number of Students

% of Total Students in

Integrated 060

Transfer level: 95 or Above 4 .55%

1 level below: 72-94

101 14.05%

2 levels below: 41-71

548 76.22%

3 levels below: 40 or lower 12 1.67%

No Accuplacer Score/ACT Placement

547.5%

TOTAL 719

Placement levels determined by taking the average of SS + RC. All students placed two levels below transfer level in English or reading. Most students tested below in both reading and English.

THE DATA

Belief: Students testing 2 levels below college need more coursework to be successful in transfer courses.

Reality……. % of Successful Students in ENG 60 % of Successful Students in ENG 121 % of Successful Students compared to average ENG

121 student

How Did Students Perform in the Integrated Course Compared to Traditional Courses?

Traditional 060 Integrated 06050

52

54

56

58

60

62

64

% of Successful StudentsA/B/C

Fall 2006, 2007, 2008Fall 2009, 2010, 2011

62.86%

55.12%

3 Credits

N= 842 N=719

6 credits

How Did Students Perform in College English?

Traditional 060 Integrated 06055575961636567697173757779

Fall 2007, 2008

73.19%

6 Credits 3 Credits

68.53%

N= 143 N= 138

How Did Students Perform in College English Compared to the Average English Student?

Fall 2007 and Fall2008

Average 121 Fall 2009 and Fall

2010

Average 12160

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

68.53% 68.93%

66.95%

73.19%

Traditional 060Average 121Integrated 060

6 Credits 3 Credits

Integrated vs. Traditional Course Data

Belief: Students testing 2 levels below college need multiple semesters to be prepared for college level coursework

Reality…… % of Successful PACE students in ENG/REA 60 % of Successful PACE students in ENG 121

How do PACE Students Perform in Integrated REA/ENG 60?

Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 20110

1020304050

60708090

100

68.09%

52.91% 55.29%

85.71%

72.97%

87.72%

% of Students with A/B/C

CC60CC60 PACE

N=138 PACE students, 581 non-PACE students

How do PACE Students Perform in College-Level English?

Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 20110

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

73.53%70.83%

0

33.33%* Sample Size was 3

76.74% 75%

CC60CC60/PACE

N= 74 PACE students, 92 non-PACE students

How Does this Compare to Other Nationally Recognized Integrated Programs?

Completion of Entire Dev. Sequence

52%

59.96%

Accelerated Chabot vs. PACE Students

Chabot Accelerated (2 Levels Below)CCA PACE

How Many Students Persisted Through College English Within 2 years (7 semesters)?

Traditional 060 Fall 2007

Traditional 060 Fall 2008

Integrated 060 Fall 2009

Integrated 060 Fall 2010*

10.00

12.00

14.00

16.00

18.00

20.00

22.00

20.33%

17.57%

21.07%20.00%

*Students had 4 semesters to complete 121

How Many PACE Students Complete College English?

Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 20110

510152025

3035404550

21.28%

9.88%

0

14.29%

44.59%42%

Chart Title

CC60CC60/PACE

N= 74 PACE students, 92 non-PACE students

BOTTOM LINE: Myrna Snell, March 9th

We will never significantly increase completion rates of college English and Math unless we reduce the length of our developmental sequences and eliminate the many exit points where students fall away.

Common Concerns about Developing an Integrated Class

But, I’m not a reading instructor; I’m not a writing instructor….. Role of Reading Professor

“Intimidation”/ “Fear” of such a new class Role of Writing Professor

“Trial by Fire” Mentoring

Is this a program that can work for any institution?

Common Concerns about Developing an Integrated Class

Fall 2007 Fall 2008 Fall 2009 Fall 2010

Sections 060 15 14 13 13

ENG 90 16 15 20 19

REA 90 6 8 9 14

Total 37 37 42 46

Job loss due to integration?

STRUCTURAL/SCHEDULE CHANGESCURRICULAR/INSTRUCTIONAL CHANGES

ENG 090

Accelerated ENG 90: Writing Workshop

Semester One

ENG 907.5 Weeks

MWF3 credits

ENG 1217.5 Weeks

MWF3 credits

Courses are now co-requisites

“If students are not engaged in writing at least four days out of five…they will have little opportunity to learn to think through the medium of writing. Three days a week are not sufficient. There are too many gaps between the starting and stopping of writing for this schedule to be effective. Only students of exceptional ability who can fill the gaps with their own initiative and thinking can survive such poor learning conditions. Students from another language or culture, or those who feel they have little to say are particularly affected by this limited amount of time for writing. . . .Teaching requires us to show students how to write and how to develop the skills necessary to improve as a writer. And showing students how to write takes time. They need daily writing time to be able to move their pieces along until they accomplish what they set out to do.”

Donald Graves:

Philosophical Comparison

Traditional English 090Writing Workshop

25% Grammar Instruction (often more)

Grammar taught mostly in isolation

75% Traditional Writing Instruction

Grade of “C” moves students to English 121

Grammar taught only through context of student writing

Writing is focusedStudent exits with

successful portfolio completion (3 essays) at a standard of 80% or better (as students who get a “C” generally are not successful in Eng121)

Students write every day (and come planning to write every day)

Students have the freedom to choose topicsStudents have time to exercise that freedomStudents need response (feedback; one-on-

one) to support and extend student writingThe individual’s rigorous pursuit of his/her

own ideas in writing is the main course content

Guiding Principles for Good Writing Programs

Want students and teachers to focus only on writing.

Want students to see this as something different from a “Dev. Ed Class” to avoid marginalization.

Students work must receive an 80% or better on each category of the rubric

All time spent in class should be time for development of writing skills.

Shift in Focus

When students turn in their essays, the instructor will identify no more than 2 skills to teach to the student in an editing conference.

Skills taught are recorded by both the student and the teacher.

Skills taught must be edited by the student on the next essay, or it will be returned to be reworked.

If student needs more instruction, it will be provided (either by teacher or through software).

Grammar Instruction

“…traditional grammar has been shown by an overwhelming number of studies to be of little or no benefit.”

E.F. Haynes:

Encourages student/faculty contactEncourages cooperation among studentsEncourages active learningGives prompt feedbackPromotes time on taskCommunicates high expectationsRespects diverse talents and ways of learning

7 Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education

Class lasts 2 hours each day (3 days a week)Mini-lesson (10-15 minutes or less)Student check-inWorkshop time

Writing Conferencing Genre study Work on editing skills

Organization of Actual Class Session

Must produce 3 successful essays in different genres

All three essays must meet established criteria successfully before exiting.

Students Produce a Portfolio

Percentage of Successful (ABC) Students in Traditional and Accelerated English 090

Fall 2009, 2010, 201156

58

60

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

Traditional ENG 9064.00%

Acceler-ated ENG

90 72.85%

N= 1114 N=372

Spring 2010, 2011, 2012

Comparison to National ProgramsSuccess in Accelerated/ALP/Chabot ENG 90 or

Equivalent

Fall Semester 1 ALP= 07; ACC=09;

Chabot=Average

Spring Semester 1 ALP=08; ACC=10; Chabot=Average

Fall Semester 2 ALP=08; ACC=10;

Chabot Average

Spring Semester 2 ALP=09; ACC=11;

Chabot Average

6062646668707274767880 79%

74%

79%

75%74.29%

77.78%

76%

66.67%

68% 68% 68% 68%

ALP ACC Chabot AcceleratedALP Data: http://alp-deved.org/ccbc-faculty-accelerated-learning/what-results-has-alp-produced/Chabot Data: Myrna Snell March 2012 Presentation; Slide 25- Students 1 Level below 72-94

Percentage of Successful (ABC) Students in ENG 121

Fall 2009, 2010, 201150

55

60

65

70

75

80

85

TraditionalENG 90 74.11%

Accel-eratedENG 9078.98%

N= 176 N=367

Spring 2010, 2011, 2012

% of Students that start in ENG 90 and Enroll and Complete ENG 121

Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Fall 20110

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

33.71% 34.45%

18.13%

45.71%42%

33.33%

Traditional Accelerated

% of Students That Start in Accelerated Dev. Ed. English and Complete Freshman English Compared

to ALP Model

Fall 09 Spring 100

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

45.71%

31.75%

66% 65%

ACC ALP

ALP Data: http://alp-deved.org/ccbc-faculty-accelerated-learning/what-results-has-alp-produced/

BOTTOM LINE: Myrna Snell, March 9th

We will never significantly increase completion rates of college English and Math unless we reduce the length of our developmental sequences and eliminate the many exit points where students fall away.

CURRICULAR CHANGESFUTURE STRUCTURAL/SCHEDULE

CHANGES

Changes for REA 90

Out With the Old: Goodbye SQ3R

“Several researchers have reviewed the theoretical and empirical foundations used to support the use of SQ3R for college developmental readers. These reviewers conclude that although some individual steps may have merit, little evidence validates the use of the entire system designed by Robinson (1946). Further, their analyses found little empirical evidence to suggest that SQ3R is more effective than reading or rereading. Nevertheless, it is still one of the most prevalent study-reading strategies.” pg. 126 Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research

Goodbye Outmoded View of Reading

Reading Comprehension is a set of skills that transcends all texts, tasks, and can be generally applied to all subjects

Goodbye Surface Level Reading Strategies and Generalized View of Literacy

Generalized literacy approach lends itself to only quick and surface explorations of text

Complex concepts are mentally processed as a mish mash of unrelated facts, which are quickly forgotten

Assumption is that generalized strategies will transfer from one area to another, but they often do not

Assumption is strategies to read literature, the newspaper, magazines will transfer to other academic texts. They don’t…..

Thinking happens during fluent reading. Goodbye end of text questions

Knowledge and approaches to information of subject matter is central to understanding

Experts demonstrate the highest level of understanding Able to identify problems, organize information,

interpret evidence, and create solutions in highly sophisticated ways that are unique to their discipline

Opposite of experts are novices, who hold misunderstandings or naïve approaches to information (often which have a detrimental effect on deeper levels of understanding and problem solving)

Academic Reading IS Thinking

Novice Academic Readers

Students have little to no background knowledge

Students lack sophistication with their epistemological approaches Knowledge is an accumulation isolated and unrelated

facts and do not attempt to integrate or connect information

Memorize, memorize, memorizeStudents lack the disposition to read for

precision (which is crucial to successfully organize information in a disciplined way)

Goal of Disciplined Approach to Reading

Provide students with an adequate set of examples and experiences to enable them to see how an established member of a discipline approaches information, organizes information and reasons truth.

Create the habits of mind, dispositions, and approaches to information that lead to deep and meaningful understanding.

-Howard Gardner: The Disciplined Mind

Text and Task Matter

Use Authentic Texts Use the same academic texts students will encounter in transfer level

classes- trade books, textbooks Textbooks are the dominant texts

Highly conceptual in nature Information is compressed and organized by ‘macrostructures’ that are

specific to a discipline Information is compressed Contains many visual aids Text is written with neutral tone Critical thinking- inferencing, drawing own conclusions etc. are not

required

Use Authentic Tasks Study reading Reading to take a test Reading to write a paper

Which Texts and Tasks?

 Total Enrollments Failure/Attrition

BIO 111

2245 40.5%

BIO 106

1922 39.0%

HIS 2012031 33.7%

PSY 101

3967 32.7%

PSY 235 1967 25.4%

                                            Courses with High Enrollment and High Failure/Attrition Rates, Fall 2006-Summer 2012

Failure Rate: Percentage of F, U/F, D, or U/D grades

Delivery Options

REA 090 Workshop Model

Reading for Science

Reading for Behavioral Science (PSY, SOC, ANT)

Reading for English

S Sections of Bio 111

REA 076Reading for Behavioral

Sciences

REA 077Reading for History

REA 075

Reading for Behavioral Science

Reading for History

Role of the Instructor: An Apprenticeship Model

Make visible strategies and approaches that established readers use

Assist in transitioning student from approaching information as something to memorize and towards the disposition of understanding information as interrelated information

Assist student in identifying and organizing the main ideas and macrostructures of a discipline with the same level of precision as an established reader

Facilitate activities that enable the students to develop stamina for academic reading

Three Parts of Instruction

Determine How Established Academic Readers Navigate a Text in a Disciplined Manner What is their approach to the text? How do they connect and organize concepts? How to they remember concepts?

Make “Expert Like” Thinking Visible Think A Loud Protocols

Often hidden and automatic mental tasks and strategies are demonstrated to novice readers

Provide Students with Strategies/Paradigms That Enable them to Effectively Organize, Remember, and Retrieve Concepts Based on specific disciplines; History is different than Psychology

3 Parts of Reading

Before ReadingDuring Reading- Annotations

Annotations are connecting concepts NOT summarizing

After Reading- Graphic Organizers

Biology Example

Novice/Experienced: Focus on topic, key terms, supporting concepts and their definitions

Established or Expert Reader: Examines topic, key terms, supporting concepts AND the relationships between the topic and key terms, as well as the relationships between the key terms and supporting details

Annotating Biology

Charting Biology

Student Feedback

At first I thought the diagrams were dumb however, I started to use them for my other classes and now I see the purpose of the charts.

I learned how to pick apart a subject, read it and understand what I had read. this is a big accomplishment for me. Reading effectively has always been a struggle for me. This is changing every day.

I have found myself using what I learned outside of the classroom

I thought the instruction was great! This class was great. I love reading, but this was a different level of reading for me. I could even understand textbooks at the end of this course.

Contact Info

Ashley.Moorshead@ccaurora.edu=Chair of AcE

Brandon.Feres@ccaurora.edu=AcE Faculty

Rachel.Ankney@ccaurora.edu=English Faculty

Susan.Achziger@ccaurora.edu=English Faculty