ACCELERATION: A POWERFUL LEVER FOR INCREASING COMPLETION AND

CLOSING EQUITY GAPS

APPLICATION WORKSHOP – COMMUNITY COLLEGES BASIC SKILLS AND STUDENT OUTCOMES TRANSFORMATION

PROGRAM

Jason KalchikProfessor of English

San Diego Mesa College

Accelerated Basic English at San Diego Mesa College

THE CALIFORNIA ACCELERATION PROJECT

CAP supports colleges to increase student completion of transfer-level English and math through evidence-based practices that reduce or eliminate students’ time in remediation.

High-Leverage Practices: Transforming placement policies to broaden access to transfer-level courses

and enable all students to begin higher in the sequence Contextualizing math remediation to students’ program of study -- algebra

for math-intensive pathways, statistics & quantitative reasoning for others Redesigning curricula to accelerate students through remediation, including

co-requisite models at the transfer-level and single-semester remedial courses aligned with the transfer-level courses in students’ program of study

http://cap.3csn.org

ACCELERATED REMEDIATION: STATE-WIDE RESULTS The Research and Planning Group for the California Community Colleges

examined outcomes at 16 community colleges piloting accelerated remediation models in 2011-12

They found odds of completing a college-level course were 2.3 times greater in “high acceleration” models than traditional remedial pathways

“Low acceleration” models tended to show little or no acceleration effect Students saw significant gains regardless of whether they were assessed

as one, two, three, or four levels below college; students in the lowest levels saw the largest relative increases in their completion

“The implication is that students from an array of skill ranges can be prepared for success in transfer–level English. No specific placement level was associated with negative outcomes, indicating that these accelerated

pilots adhered to a ‘do no harm’ principle.”

- Craig Hayward & Terrence Willett(“Curricular Redesign and Gateway Completion: A Multi-College Evaluation of the

California Acceleration Project”)

ACCELERATED READING, WRITING AND REASONING

Fall 2010: 2 of 3 colleges in the San Diego Community College District piloted Accelerated Basic Writing:

Open-access

One-semester

4-unit course

Integrates reading and writing (based on Chabot College model)

Since 2010, San Diego Mesa has offered 95 sections.

CURRENT ENGLISH ACCELERATION AT MESA

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WHO MAKE IT THROUGH THE TRADITIONAL PATHWAY

70% 66%x x x =

Enrolled in

English 43

Completed

English 43

Enrolled in

English 49

Completed

English 49

Enrolled in

English 101/105

Completed

English 101/105 21%

81% 71% x 78%

1,248Students

260Students

Source: CCCCO Basic Skills Cohort Tracker, Fall 2010 –Fall 2012 cohorts; students tracked for 3 primary terms after their initial course enrollment

Within 4terms

Complete

Enrolled in English

47A

Completed English

47A

Enrolled in English 101/105

Completed English 101/105

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS WHO MAKE IT THROUGH THE ACCELERATED PATHWAY

70% 79%x x =

41%75%

335STUDENTS

139STUDENTS

Source: CCCCO Basic Skills Cohort Tracker, Fall 2010 –Fall 2012 cohorts; students tracked for 3 primary terms after their initial course enrollment

MESA’S ACCELERATED STUDENTS… place at the lowest levels of writing (far more

than those enrolling in the traditional sequence)

and represent disproportionate numbers of African-American and Latino students….

Bri Hays: “Examining Mesa College English Pathways”

THE DIFFERENCE? PERCENTAGE OF SUCCESSFUL OUTCOMES IN DIFFERENT PATHWAYS AT SAN DIEGO MESA COLLEGE Lowest placement in the traditional pathway:

21% Placement in an accelerated pathway: 41% Assessed as “1 below” in traditional pathway:

32%

NAYSAYER NUMBER 1: “YOU’RE JUST DUMBING DOWN CURRICULUM AND PUSHING STUDENTS THROUGH” Actually, those putting the core principles of

accelerated pedagogy into practice believe that the opposite is true

Principle 1: Backwards Design: More Rigorous, Collegiate Experiences

“Look at what students are asked to do in college English, then have them work on exactly those tasks. If they’re going to have to read books and write essays at the college level, that’s what they should be doing in their preparatory experiences. If college-level courses are not going to ask them to complete grammar workbooks, or write personal essays about their friendships, then developmental courses shouldn’t either” – “Toward a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum & Pedagogy”

Principle 2: Relevant, Thinking-Oriented Curriculum: Re-envisioning What We Ask Students To Do, and How We Use Class Time Increases student

motivation Demonstrates skill/degree

utility Unites class in shared focus Increases agency and

inclusion in conversations that matter to students

Can model and instruct

composition and reading skills more effectively (and more interestingly) within this shared context

Wrestle with open-ended problems

Reach and defend their own conclusions

“Class readings, assignments, and lectures should provide opportunities for students to make explicit linkages between what they are learning in class and their lives. This approach will better enable students to interrogate misinformation and to recognize how the information they are learning can lead to a better life for themselves and their families.” - Teaching Men of Color in the Community College

NAYSAYER NUMBER 2: “YOU’RE COVERING THE SAME MATERIAL IN FAR LESS TIME. SOME STUDENTS WILL INEVITABLY BE LEFT BEHIND” This is a real concern which requires “targeted

support designed to address class-wide deficiency as well as provide differentiated support to help each student learn

Principle 3: Just-in-time remediation“Students’ writing shows us that each individual tends to make just a handful of errors, and that patterns of mistakes vary from one student to the next. Students have enough intuitive grasp of the language that they don’t need to be taught all of English grammar, including its opaque and alienating terminology. With an individualized, just-in-time approach, our focus is not to ‘teach grammar,’ but to help students recognize and correct their own mistakes.” – “Toward a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum & Pedagogy”

Principle 4: Intentional Support for Students’ Affective Needs: Mitigating the Disadvantages Presented by Non-cognitive Issues Keep students coming back

and submitting work Understanding self-sabotaging

behaviors Being flexible and

understanding when appropriate while maintaining high expectations

Building in incentives and

accountability Intrusive interventions Structure grading with revision

in mind, emphasizing a “growth mindset”

“Those who are the least conversant with the norms of higher education are at a distinct disadvantage; they are more likely to feel like outsiders and to doubt their ability to fit in. Indeed, for fearful students, every interaction in the classroom and with their professors outside class holds the potential to confirm their feelings of inadequacy.” – The College Fear Factor

Principle 5: Low-Stakes, Collaborative Practice Help students develop mastery of

ideas and skills Student-centered, student-directed Expect errors, withhold corrections,

allow space for productive struggle and self-correction

Direct with guiding questions Praise demonstration of

thoughtfulness or skillfulness

Note patterns of errors and provide

instruction after group work as a follow up (invert the traditional model: “just-in-time” remediation)

Keep a running metacognitive conversation going

“We’re focusing on pair work with a product, not just large group discussion where students who haven’t read, or didn’t understand, can hide. We are really challenging the students to come prepared and be ready to do something in class and not just to sit there and wait for other, prepared students to do the work.” – Melissa Reeve, Solano College

EQUITY IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR CURRENT ONE-BELOW ACCELERATED COURSE Completion rates are greater for accelerated

students than comparison groups across all ethnicities.

Since we know that Latino and African-American students are generally more likely to enroll in accelerated English than other students, we know we’re doing a good job of getting them into the accelerated pipeline.

Assuming our course mirrors statewide trends, we are improving overall transfer English completion rates for these groups

Source: Bri Hays, San Diego Mesa College Campus-Based Researcher

“EVERY SYSTEM IS PERFECTLY DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE THE RESULTS IT GETS.” –PAUL BATALDEN, M.D.

“This is no small task. The approach advocated here represents a significant break from traditional models of developmental reading, writing, and math, which UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus Norton Grubb observed have been dominated by ‘remedial pedagogy: drill and practice on sub-skills, usually devoid of any references to how these skills are used in subsequent courses or in adult roles.’ Making change even more difficult is the fact that most of the products on the developmental education market—textbooks, online programs, tests—also are geared toward decontextualized sub-skills.”

– “Toward a Vision of Accelerated Curriculum & Pedagogy”