Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and...

17
Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature will support new and promising efforts to improve access and completions for low-income young adults in Washington state over the next three years. The $5.521 million grant will help break down key barriers to student completion in the community and technical college system by funding three projects: Open Course Library $1,801,000 (Project Director: Cable Green) Re-Thinking Pre-College Math $1,970,000 (Project Director: Bill Moore) I-BEST for Developmental Education $1,750,000 (Project Director: Tina Bloomer)

Transcript of Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and...

Page 1: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

WashingtonStudent Completion Initiative

The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature will support new and promising efforts to improve access and completions for low-income young adults in Washington state over the next three years. The $5.521 million grant will help break down key barriers to student completion in the community and technical college system by funding three projects:

Open Course Library $1,801,000

(Project Director: Cable Green) Re-Thinking Pre-College Math $1,970,000

(Project Director: Bill Moore) I-BEST for Developmental Education $1,750,000

(Project Director: Tina Bloomer)

Page 2: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Re-Thinking Pre-College Math:Project Overview and Proposal

Submission Process & Guidelines

Bill Moore, Project Director

Policy Associate, SBCTC

Page 3: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Re-Thinking the Pre-College Math Curriculum

The traditional developmental math program was designed to remediate high school algebra deficiencies. Students were required to study topics not relevant to their majors, take an entire course even though they were deficient in only some topics and to learn at the same pace using the same instructional strategies as the entire class…

Carol Twigg, National Center for Academic Transformation,“Increasing Success in Developmental Math:

SMART Math at Jackson State Community College”

Page 4: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Project Overview• Builds on and extends the Transition Math Project (TMP),

shifting focus to pre-college math programs

• Focus includes all of pre-college math courses (both Adult Basic Education and Developmental Math levels)

• Long-term ends: improving student achievement in math– Persistence through pre-college-level math sequence– Adequate preparation for college math expectations– Performance in math courses and beyond

• Primary means: Support selected colleges in re-thinking their pre-college mathematics programs

Page 5: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Defining Characteristics of Project

• Collective approach, supported by department/ program as a whole

• Addressing core areas of educational practice

• Taking an inquiry stance toward practice (emphasis on evidence)

• Collaborating in going to “scale” (community of practice)

Page 6: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Re-Thinking Pre-College Math:Joining a ‘Joyful Conspiracy’

TMP 2009 Institute

September 8-10, 2009

http://transitionmathproject.org/pro-development/09summer-institute/resources.asp

Page 7: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Core Areas of Educational Practice

We put an enormous amount of energy into changing structures and usually leave instructional practice untouched…We are attracted and drawn to these [efforts] because they’re visible and, believe it or not, easier to do than to make the hard changes, which are in instructional practice…

Richard Elmore, January 2002,

“The Limits of ‘Change’”

Page 8: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Faculty support through professional “community of practice”

Improving Student Learning in Math:Core Educational Practice

Page 9: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Taking a Stance of Inquiry Toward Practice

• Emphasize evidence around student learning, instructional approaches

• Consider how new ideas, other resources and knowledge might be useful (as tools rather than “truth”)

• Shift the emphasis from implementing program to adapting innovations, generating new knowledge

Deborah Loewenberg Ball, 1994, Developing Mathematics Reform…”

Page 10: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Building a Project Community of

Practice

• Common language, conceptual framework

• Shared experiences, exposure to multiple approaches/methods

• Forum for sharing resources and practicesScale at the organization level means, are people working in concert around a set of

ideas about what curriculum and pedagogy should look like, and is it obvious in their practice?

Richard Elmore, “Improvement of Teaching at Scale”, January 2006

Page 11: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Project TimelineSeptember 2009 TMP Institute

Oct. 2009- Jan. 2010 Site visits to interested colleges

January 28-29 Re-Thinking Pre-College Math convening for college teams

February 17 Grant proposals due to SBCTC

February 25 Review group recommends colleges to be included

March 17-18 Grants approved at SBCTC meeting

April 1, 2010 Selected colleges formally begin project

April 20-21, 2010 (tentative)

Kick-off event for core teams from colleges

August 23-26, 2010 1st RPM Project Summer Institute

September 2010 Phase II Funding begins

September 2011 Phase III Funding begins

August 2012 Grant funding ends

Page 12: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Selection Criteria Clarity of Goals: strategies and goals that are clear and consistent

with conceptual framework for project, focusing on defined core areas of educational practice

Commitment: clear and strong support for project from institutional administrative leadership and the math department and grounds proposed plans in institutional priorities

Capacity: demonstrated evidence of institutional and faculty capacity to accomplish project plan

Sustainability: potential for sustaining, and if possible scaling up, the work beyond the grant period

Feasibility: work plan and budget that is realistic given the time frame of the grant and the existing institutional capacity

Page 13: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Expectations of Participating Colleges

• Demonstrate clear and visible department-wide and institutional commitment to the project

• Engage relevant faculty (including adjuncts) in substantive focus on core areas of educational practice

• Support cross-campus connections and sharing of practice within the project and across the system

• Utilize technical support and assistance provided by project leadership

• Address sustainability (life after the grant) from the beginning

• Participate in project-wide data collection and analysis for the purposes of formative and summative evaluation

Page 14: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Expectations of Project Leadership Team

• Provide technical assistance and support to coalition colleges

• Encourage and assist grantees in the development of linkages across projects and to other state and national math initiatives

• Maintain ongoing communication with and between project colleges through variety of means

• Orchestrate and oversee evaluation studies and data collection activities

Page 15: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Logistical Details

• Duration: Fall 2009-Fall 2012 (college sub-grants begin April 2010)

• Grant Amounts: Up to $120,000 per college in 3 phases: $20,000 (max.) 4/10-8/10, $50,000 (max.) for 9/10-8/11 & 9/11-8/12 (new application updates for Phase II and III)

• Proposal submission process: deadline 2/17, 11:30 p.m., submitted electronically through the Online Grants Management System (OGMS)

Page 16: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Applications must be submitted through the SBCTC’s Online Grants Management System (OGMS)

OGMS: http://apps.sbctc.edu/onlinegrants

Contact your college OGMS security contact for system and grant access

User Manual available under “How To” tab

Questions? Lynette [email protected]

Application Process

Page 17: Washington Student Completion Initiative The Student Completion Initiative, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Washington State Legislature.

Program Questions?

Questions about the overall Re-Thinking Pre-College Math project:

Contact Dr. Bill Moore, 360-704-4346,

[email protected]

http://transitionmathproject.org/dev-ed/index.asp