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.

21st Century Practice, Best Practices David Arendale 21st Century Practice, Best Practices David Arendale

Asst Secretary Ochoa Promotes Best Practices

Recently Assistant Secretary of Education Ochoa addressed the national leaders of federally-funded TRIO programs concerning priorities of the Secretary of Education's Office. Among topics in his speech were the need to identify, validate, and disseminate (IVD) best practices of TRIO programs. Following is part of a news report of his speech that concerns IVD.

“In TRIO programs, students are empowered to perform and succeed and there are many promising programs that demonstrate that fact,” he said, pointing to the Upward Bound summer program at the University of South Carolina as an example. Through the program, graduating high school seniors can take a college-credit research methodology course taught by one of the university’s professors.

“We know that TRIO programs work. But in this age of accountability, knowing that these programs do well is not enough,” Ochoa said. “We will need to develop a body of evidence that both quantifies the impact and cost effectiveness of these programs and that can demonstrate that effectiveness to legislators, policymakers and the public.” The Education Department plans to enhance existing data collection activities to measure outcomes and impact, help identify best practices and disseminate the results to all its grantees. (emphasis mine).

“To improve student outcomes, we need to spur the field to come up with innovative solutions to address the completion challenge and improve higher education productivity, build evidence of what works through rigorous evaluations and scale up and disseminate those strategies that prove successful,” he said.

Source: Jones, Joyce. (2011, March 8). Ochoa Hails Catalytic Impact of TRIO Programs on K-12 Level. Diverse Issues in Higher Education. Retrieved from http://diverseeducation.com/article/14862/

It is good to see public statements such as this by the Department of Education. I have been advocating for such an  approach for nearly twenty years. Before budget  cuts in the mid 1990s, the Department funded the National Diffusion Network (NDN). It was responsible for identifying promising and best practices, vigorously validating them regarding effectiveness, and disseminating those validated programs with the rest of the education community. I directed the national Supplemental Instruction program which was the only higher education program validated by the NDN. We already have a proven formula for IVD through a similar process used by the old NDN. It is time to get started again with IVD. I am working with a regional education association to conduct a pilot test of IVD with education programs located within a geographical region. Check back with this blog for updates on the progress.

 

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Social capital and learning assistance

Certain groups of students bring less social capital with them to college— students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, first-generation college stu­dents, and historically underrepresented students of color. Learning assistance services, especially developmental courses, are essential for overcoming disad­vantaged backgrounds. Learning assistance is essential for providing access to a broad range of institutions. This was certainly the case for me. I was the first person in my family to graduate from college (eventually my oldest brother would also graduate from college after a long and distinguished career in the military). My parents twere supportive of my decision to attend college, but had no prior experiences to share with me and provide guidance. On the other hand, there were many other supports they provided for me that helped me in college and life, but that is for another blog posting in the future.

The student groups that had not traditionally attended college before have a variety of overlapping identities, some of which pose barriers that impede success in college. Walpole (2007) analyzed this population and names one group “economically and educationally challenged.” “All [economically and educationally challenged] students, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity, face challenges in accessing, persisting, and graduating from college. The intersec­tions of these identity statuses and educational processes and outcomes are non-linear and deserve additional attention” (p. x). Walpole states that chal­lenges for these students are not the result of a failure to try or that they are somehow inferior to the students from dominate cultures. “Rather these stu­dents must cope with a structure and a system that defines merit in ways that do not privilege them” (p. 15).

Learning assistance can help these new students overcome the barriers that might limit their chances for succeeding in postsecondary education. Deciding whether to curtail or eliminate credit-based learning assistance such as developmental courses does not just affect campus economics or perceptions of institutional prestige. It is not a race- and class-neutral deci­sion. My report illustrates how a wide range of students at most institu­tions, regardless of their classification, use noncredit learning assistance activities such as tutoring, study groups, learning assistance centers, and the like. Lack of access to credit-based learning assistance, however, raises issues of class, race, and culture.

It is a serious decision to tell essentially an entire group of students who share common demographic identities such as first-generation college students, students of color, and low socioeco­nomic students to begin their college career at a two-year college, while privileged students can begin wherever they want. No one quite says it that way. The impact is the same, however, if the needed resources are not avail­able and the campus culture is not welcoming to the new students. The risk is de facto resegregation of postsecondary education in the United States and all the disastrous results for individuals and society that would occur (Bowen, Chingos, and McPherson, 2009). A later blog posting will investigate this issue more indepth and raise the issue of civil rights violation for providing services to previous genrations but denying them to the new students attending college. Social and culture capital must be available for all students, not just those from the privledged classes.

  • Bowen, W. G., Chingos, M. M., and McPherson, M. S. (2009). Crossing the finish line: Completing college at America’s public universities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  • Walpole, M. (2007). Economically and educationally challenged students in higher education: Access to outcomes. ASHE Higher Education Report, volume 33, number 3. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

This posting was excerpted and expanded from my recent book, Access at the crossroads: Learning assistance in higher educationpublished by Jossey-Bass/Willey. For more inforamtion about the book, click this link.

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No such thing as a developmental student

A myth persists that learning assistance serves only “developmental stu­dents.” Actually, no such thing as a “developmental student” exists.

Rather, it is more accurate to say that some students are not academically prepared for college-level work in one or more academic content areas (English, mathe­matics, or writing) or in specificskills such as reading or study strategies. The relative need and usefulness of learning assistance for an individual student depends on the overall academic rigor of the institution, the subject matter studied, or even how one faculty member teaches a particular course compared with another from the same academic department.

Therefore, the same indi­vidual could be a major consumer of learning assistance at one institution and not at another or even in one academic department and not another in the same institution. The need for learning assistance services is not a character­istic or universal defining attribute of the student; it depends on the condi­tions and expectations of the specific learning environment for a particular course. All college students are on a continuum between novice and master learner. Learning assistance serves students located along this continuum through a wide range of activities and services. The same student is often located at different places on multiple continuum lines simultaneously, one for each academic context and skill area.

Another way to look at this issue is to say that ALL students are "developmental". All people are "developmental". We are all changing and "developing". We are all at different stages in all aspects of our lives. To be human is to be developmental. However, I do not advocate for this perspective since the word "developmetnal" has been steroetyped by so many in a negative way. The argument has been lost among the public and many with the academic world. Therefore, I argue there is no such thing as a "developmental student."

This posting was excerpted and expanded from my recent book, Access at the crossroads: Learning assistance in higher education published by Jossey-Bass/Willey. For more inforamtion about the book, click this link.

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Developmental Education is More Than Remedial Classes

Reading the popular and professional press reports about developmental education and learning assistance would suggest the only service provided is enrollment in remedial and developmental-level courses. I use those two terms interchangeably in this blog posting, but most of the time I will use "learning assistance" for reasons revealed in future entries to this blog. There is so much more in terms of services and so many more students participating in academic assistance and enrichment. The stereotype that the only service is nongraduation credit college courses is wrong and harmful to the field and the wide variety of students served. With the President's priority to raise college graduation rates dramatically, this field is more vital than ever.

Learning assistance meets the demands of rigorous col­lege courses through highly varied activities and approaches. The historic role of learning assistance in the larger scope of U.S. higher education is sig­nificant though sometimes low profile. Learning assistance bridges access for a more diverse student body. From students’ perspectives, it helps them meet institutional academic expectations and achieve personal learning goals. From the institution’s perspective, it expands access to the institution and supports higher expectations for academic excellence.

There is no universal manifestation of learning assistance. On some cam­puses, it expresses itself through noncredit activities such as tutorial pro­grams, peer study groups, study strategy workshops, computer-based learning modules, or drop-in learning centers. Other institutions add to these activities by offering remedial and developmental courses, study strat­egy courses, and other services. A few colleges support learning assistance for graduate and professional school students through workshops on disser­tation writing and effective studying, strategies for graduate school exami­nations, and preparation for licensure exams at the conclusion of their professional school programs. Students from broad demographic back­grounds access one or more of these services from all levels of academic preparation and at various times during their academic career. The diverse language used to describe learning assistance depends on institutional cul­ture and history. Some terms associated with these activities throughout his­tory include preparatory, remedial, compensatory, developmental, and enrichment, to name just a few.

Learning assistance provides a universal description for this wide variety of expressions, activities, and approaches. It is the term used most generally in the report, Access at the Crossroads: Learning Assistance in Higher Education. I will be sharing excertps from this recent publication by Wiley/Jossey-Bass. For more information about the book and how to obtain a copy, click on this link http://z.umn.edu/bookinfo Enjoy.

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More College Students Require Developmental-Level Courses

  • Statewide, about 90 percent of California's community college students need remedial math and 75 percent need remedial English. ON THE WEB California Partnership for Achieving Student Success High School to College: The New Alignment The Early Assessment Program helps students measure their readiness for college-level English and mathematics in 11th grade and improve their skills in 12th grade Statistics from the Riverside Community College District show that it's even worse here. Almost 96 percent of first-time freshmen must take remedial math, and 82 percent must take remedial English. It's not just precalculus or even algebra that students haven't mastered. Some high school graduates need remedial arithmetic, according to the community colleges. At Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa, 97 percent of new students need at least one pre-collegiate class, said Cheryl Marshall, vice president for instruction.
    (tags: developmental_level_courses college_completion learning_assistance,_de,_access)
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Revising the Pedagogy of Developmental-Level Courses

Remediating Remediation

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/09/09/03remedial.h30.html?tkn=RQXFv0%2B3wuWsWyAGD4LmnmT3unYFVtl7U2He&cmp=clp-edweek

The article does a good job demonstrating how remedial or developmental-level courses are being revised and repackaged to increase their effectiveness for students. Sixty percent of community college students need to enroll in those courses. Public statements to simply eliminate the courses cannot occur if the U.S. is really committed to access and success for all students, especially those from historically underrepresented populations. Following is selected text from the article:

"Once students arrive on campus, their developmental education programs can be part of the problem. Too often, developmental courses involve worksheets and drills that are “deadly dull,” said Tom Brock, the director of Young Adults and Postsecondary Education for the MDRC, a policy-research organization in Oakland, Calif. Remedial courses don’t earn credit toward a degree, and the low expectations, inadequate tracking, and lack of support can leave students feeling demoralized. If the course content doesn’t bear relation to why they came to college, students can lose interest. Some colleges are addressing the dullness factor by developing fast-track programs in which students who need the least help can move along more quickly. Computer software can differentiate the instruction to each student’s needs, accelerating his or her learning.

At Zane State, President Paul Brown recognizes the importance of supporting students in that first year. Sustaining the college’s 15 percent growth rate is contingent on retaining students and working with the 75 percent who enter in need of developmental education, he said. If students can make it through the first year—often with additional supports—Zane State has found that 87 percent will graduate. To keep freshmen engaged, the college implemented an early-intervention system that identifies students who are repeating courses and provides support before they drop out. The college is also using technology and individualized instruction to tailor developmental education courses to students’ needs, Mr. Brown said.

Valencia Community College developed a Learning in Communities program for its developmental education students in which courses are paired, keeping a cohort of students together, and trained student learning leaders help organize study groups outside the classroom. Next fall, the college is planning to group 125 freshmen into a learning community working closely with four faculty members. They will move through developmental education together in the first term and co-enroll in college-credit courses in the second term, explained Nicholas Bekas, the project director of the Developmental Education Initiative on the campus. The graduation rate at Valencia rose from 35 percent to 43 percent between 2006 and 2010 for first-time, degree-seeking students. Among those with a developmental education mandate, the numbers are up from 16 percent to 21 percent in the same time frame.

The Gates Foundation is investing in effective models because too many students get lost in developmental education, and getting a college degree is what can transform lives, said Mark Milliron, the foundation’s deputy director for postsecondary improvement. “What [colleges] are doing now is painfully unsuccessful,” Mr. Milliron said. “The whole idea is to get in there early.” Several promising approaches are being developed, including working with high schools, providing deeper diagnosis to find academic areas of weakness, and designing modular, technology-assisted instruction to get students through developmental education faster, he said."

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