This blog focuses on my scholarship in my five research projects: learning assistance and equity programs, student peer study group programs, learning technologies, Universal Design for Learning, and history simulations. And occasional observations about life.

David Arendale 10/17/13 David Arendale 10/17/13

Best Education Practice: McWrite Scholarly Writing Skill Seminar Series

McWrite: Developing Scholarly Writinig Skills. Wichita State University (KS) (approved Promising Practice 10/15/13) Taken from the abstract: "The McWrite model for developing scholarly writing skills was developed at Wichita State University to help students with difficulty mastering the mechanics of writing (punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, paragraph development) and scholarly writing required for graduate studies. According to Schumacher and Gradwohl-Nash (1991), three purposes of writing are fostering understanding, changing conceptions. and developing thinking skills. This is consistent with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (1958). All participants of the Wichita State University TRiO McNair Scholars Program participate in monthly, hour-long group sessions to develop increased competency in these three essential skills. McWrite benefits students in all areas of their academics, fostering increased confidence in their writing abilities, and success in graduate school. A unique feature of the McWrite program is the sustained and systematic approach to development of writing skills for all McNair Scholars, regardless of previous academic success. This program is part of the core of the TRiO McNair program rather than an optional activity with limited attention". [Click on this web link to download the education practice.]

David Arendale 10/16/13 David Arendale 10/16/13

TRiO Works: Who Has Been Served and Some of the Best Practices

David Arendale 10/15/13 David Arendale 10/15/13

Best Education Practice: Academic Advising Management System

Academic Advising Management System, Wichita State University (KS). (approved Promising Practice 10/11/13). From the abstract: "One service that the Wichita State University (WSU) Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) Program provides in support of its mission is academic advising.A key practice with the WSU approach is the data collection and management of information essential for effective advising of the students. This information includes students’ progress towards completion of their required curriculum and enrollment pattern in math and science courses. It is also used for strategic planning purposes by the UBMS program personnel for whom the information helps inform study group formation, tutoring needs and summer course design. While Upward Bound programs commonly provide academic advising services to its students, the WSU approach is more comprehensive and includes additional stakeholders. [Click on this link to download the education practice.]

David Arendale 10/15/13 David Arendale 10/15/13

CHANGING EQUATIONS: How Community Colleges Are Re-thinking College Readiness in Math

Complete Report available to download, http://www.learningworksca.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/LWBrief_ChangingEquations_WEB.pdf

From the Executive Summary: Because of their high enrollment and generally low completion rates, community colleges have been identified as central to efforts to improve higher education outcomes. But that improvement won’t be realized unless more students succeed in math. Together, the high proportion of community college students requiring math remediation, and the relatively low proportion who succeed in required remedial sequences, make placement in developmental math one of the single greatest barriers to college completion. Only 20 percent of students who place into remedial (also known as developmental) math courses ultimately complete the remedial sequence and pass a college-level math course - such as college algebra or statistics - that is required to graduate or transfer.

An increasing number of colleges in California and nationally are involved in experiments aimed at improving, reforming, or even eliminating math remediation in community colleges. This includes a new movement to construct alternative pathways for the majority of community college students, those whose educational goals may not require a second year of algebra. Through LearningWorks’ efforts to strengthen student achievement in the California Community Colleges, it has become clear that practitioners involved in such experiments are eager to learn about parallel efforts, and those not yet involved are curious about the work underway, whether in California or elsewhere in the nation.

LearningWorks commissioned this report, Changing Equations, to address those needs. Critics argue that intermediate algebra unnecessarily hinders some students pursuing degrees in fields such as English, history, art, and political science from ever graduating. The new pathways for non-STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students are course sequences including both remedial-level courses as well as credit-bearing gatekeeper math courses. Many of these new sequences stress skills in statistics or quantitative reasoning, which proponents say serve most students better in their lives and careers than does high-level algebra. While the de-emphasis on intermediate algebra remains controversial, the math pathways movement resonates with other initiatives to focus community college students’ education around structured pathways leading toward careers.

These experiments are informed by findings emerging from both research and practice that are starting to shift the understanding of math readiness. At the heart of that evolution are four key insights:

Math is a hurdle for the majority of community college students. Roughly 60 percent of community college students are placed in developmental math courses.
Most students deemed “unready” in math will never graduate. Only 20 percent of students who place into developmental math complete a required gatekeeper course in math.
The tests used to determine readiness are not terribly accurate. Research has estimated that as many as a fifth of students placed into remedial math courses could have earned a B or better in a college-level course without first taking the remedial class.
The math sequence required by most colleges is irrelevant for many students’ career aspirations. According to research, about 70 percent or more of people with bachelor’s degrees do not require intermediate algebra in their careers.

In sum, the reformers argue that, on the basis of a weakly predictive test, large numbers of students are being prevented from completing college unless they pass a challenging course that may be irrelevant to their futures. Nevertheless, until recently there have been very few experiments with alternatives, leaving intermediate algebra as an effective proxy for determining whether students are “college material.” Various national policy and disciplinary organizations, aware of the gravity of the remedial math dilemma, are urging colleges to re-think this approach and try out alternatives. These include the Developmental Math Committee of the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, Complete College America, and the National Center on Education and the Economy.

David Arendale 10/6/13 David Arendale 10/6/13

New Research Confirms Some TRiO Best Education Practices

Dr. Shawn Harper previews research findings he'll be releasing formally today about the black and Latino male students who succeed in New York City high schools (and he said there was no reason to believe similar qualities don't help similar students in other urban high schools). The study wasn't of elite charter schools or wealthier parts of the city, but of students who had achieved academic success in regular high schools. Harper found not only that such students exist (no surprise to him, but perhaps to those who lament the dearth of such students) but that many of them have no idea that they would be attractive candidates for admission to some of the most elite colleges in the United States.

Harper -- director of the Study of Race and Equity in Education at the University of Pennsylvania -- attracted considerable attention last year for a study in which he identified successful black male college students and examined the factors that led to their success. This new study is in a way the flip side of that research -- as his focus was on students in New York City high schools who could succeed in college (although he also included a group of New York City high school graduates who were in college for comparison purposes).

But what were the common characteristics that seemed to propel these students to succeed?

Parental value of education. Many spoke of parents who related their own lack of education to their lack of money, and told their children they wanted better options for them.
High expectations. The report says that "almost all" of the students in the study "remember being thought of as smart and capable when they were young boys."
Learning to avoid neighborhood danger. Those who lived in unsafe neighborhoods reported parents who kept them inside whenever possible. Likewise, many of the students reported spending after-school hours in school buildings, in settings where they could study and also socialize in safer environments than were available to them near their homes.
Avoiding gang recruitment. Many said that by becoming known as smart, and by having parents who didn't let them spend time outdoors, they weren't recruited into gangs.
Teachers who cared and inspired. Harper asked the students to name and describe favorite high school teachers, and he noted that none of them had difficulty doing so, describing challenging teachers who knew and cared about them. He said that the teachers of these students are working in ways counter to the image of out-of-control urban schools.
Reinforcement of college-going culture. One student noted that, at his high school, every day that a student was accepted at a college, the entire school was told about this over the public address system. While college-going might not be the norm for his socioeconomic group, he came to think of college-going as the norm from hearing these messages over and over again.

David Arendale 9/30/13 David Arendale 9/30/13

MAEOPP Best Education Practices Center Posts Promising Practices

As I have shared previously through this blog, I lead a team of volunteers working to identify best education practices for TRiO and GEAR UP federal grant programs. These programs focus on assisting first-generation college, poor, and historically-underrepresented students complete high school and college. It is called the MAEOPP Best Education Practices Center. It is cosponsored by the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning at the University of Minnesota and the Mid-American Association of Education Opportunity Program Personnel. To help highlight the MAEOPP Center through this web page I have added a new tab to the top menu bar, "Best Practices." The web page displays my thoughts about best education practices and then provides web links to the MAEOPP Center web site.

We are beginning to post best education practices to the MAEOPP Center web site that have been approved through an external expert panel. The practices range in age from middle school through college. As new ones are approved, they will be posted to the web site. Each submission will be complete enough to provide basic information about it and how to implement. Contact information is provided so you can follow up with the developers to talk more.

David Arendale 9/30/13 David Arendale 9/30/13

New Research Confirms Old Findings for Improving Academic Success of Students of Color

From Inside HigherEd. Click on this link for the entire article. His research identifies practices that many TRiO programs use to support academic success of the students they serve.

Dr. Shawn previews research findings he'll be releasing formally today about the black and Latino male students who succeed in New York City high schools (and he said there was no reason to believe similar qualities don't help similar students in other urban high schools). The study wasn't of elite charter schools or wealthier parts of the city, but of students who had achieved academic success in regular high schools. Harper found not only that such students exist (no surprise to him, but perhaps to those who lament the dearth of such students) but that many of them have no idea that they would be attractive candidates for admission to some of the most elite colleges in the United States.

But what were the common characteristics that seemed to propel these students to succeed?

Parental value of education. Many spoke of parents who related their own lack of education to their lack of money, and told their children they wanted better options for them.
High expectations. The report says that "almost all" of the students in the study "remember being thought of as smart and capable when they were young boys."
Learning to avoid neighborhood danger. Those who lived in unsafe neighborhoods reported parents who kept them inside whenever possible. Likewise, many of the students reported spending after-school hours in school buildings, in settings where they could study and also socialize in safer environments than were available to them near their homes.
Avoiding gang recruitment. Many said that by becoming known as smart, and by having parents who didn't let them spend time outdoors, they weren't recruited into gangs.
Teachers who cared and inspired. Harper asked the students to name and describe favorite high school teachers, and he noted that none of them had difficulty doing so, describing challenging teachers who knew and cared about them. He said that the teachers of these students are working in ways counter to the image of out-of-control urban schools.
Reinforcement of college-going culture. One student noted that, at his high school, every day that a student was accepted at a college, the entire school was told about this over the public address system. While college-going might not be the norm for his socioeconomic group, he came to think of college-going as the norm from hearing these messages over and over again.