Buiding Co-Requisite Reading Courses and Program leading to Completion by Dan Kesterson

CO-REQUISITE READING

Building a Co-Requisite Reading Course and Program that Leads to Completion Accelerated Redesign

DAN KESTERSON - CAN BE READ AS AN EBOOK AT HTTP://ISSUU.COM/TDKEST1/DOCS/ BUILDINGCO-REQUISITECOURSE

C HAPTER 1

Completion and Co-Requisite Reading Instruction At present developmental students face three levels of completion challenges. First, most developmental students have to complete a sequence of developmental courses, then they have to complete the entry-level courses in the developmental areas to which assessment testing has referred them, and lastly, they have to complete with a certificate(s) or degree. The research findings are clear. Of these three completion levels, completing sequences of developmental courses create the greatest barrier to completion. Efforts intended to catch students up are most often leaving them behind. The research is also clear; there are alternatives to the major barrier (time) for completing sequences of developmental courses.

S ECTION 1

Co-Requisite, Not Prerequisite

Why Build Completion Thinking into Planning a Developmental Reading Program? Completion is considered because it is the goal for which developmental reading students are aiming. Research is concluding that how developmental reading is delivered can dramatically affect learner completion (certificate, diploma and/or associate degree). Success is defined by the rates at which students: -Successfully complete remedial or developmental instruction and advance to credit-bearing courses -Enroll in and successfully complete the initial collegelevel or gateway courses in subjects such as math and English -Complete the courses they take with a grade of "C" or better -Persistence from one term to the next -Attain a certificate or degree Complete College America has documented the conclusion of an in depth study of completion data from 33 states in “Time

is the Enemy” and “Remediation: The Bridge to Nowhere” that sequences of developmental instruction introduce the factor of “time” and that time becomes a major barrier to persistence and completion. A developmental reading program that does not consider completion will lose students needlessly. In this case, reducing time is important. However, developmental reading programs set up to reduce time are not all equal in that time successfully completing initial entry-level and gateway course is another factor that contributes to completion. http://completecollege.org/state_data/ Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education: A Joint Statement - CHARLES A. DANA CENTER COMPLETE COLLEGE AMERICA, INC. EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE STATES JOBS FOR THE FUTURE

Principle 5. Students who are significantly underprepared for college-level academic work need accelerated routes into programs of study. Principle 6. Multiple measures should be used to provide guidance in the placement of students in gateway courses and programs of study. Principle 7. Students should enter a meta-major when they enroll in college and start a program of study in their first year, in order to maximize their prospects of earning a college degree.

-If they pass, do they enroll in the college-level course? 91% -If they enroll, do they pass the college-level course? 78% Total Completing Entry-Level Course: (0.66)(0.93)(0.75)(0.91)(0.78)=

If we increase the pass rate of the first developmental course, we still will not reach our goals: (0.66)(0.93)(0.75)(0.91)(0.78)= 33%

Why Prerequisite Will Not Work

(0.75)(0.93)(0.75)(0.91)(0.78)= 37%

Example: For too many developmental programs, students are succeeding, but “time” is the barrier in their complex lives to completion. Example:

(0.80)(0.93)(0.75)(0.91)(0.78)= 40%

Chabot College pipeline data for students beginning two levels down from college composition and tracked for three years: For students placing two levels below a college course in English/Reading/Math, there are 5 “exit points” where they fall away: (Katie Hern) -Do they pass the first developmental course? 66% -If they pass, do they enroll in the next course? 93% -If they enroll, do they pass the second course? 75%

33%

(0.90)(0.93)(0.75)(0.91)(0.78)= 45%

A Quick Look at Completion Rates : Jefferson is at the Bottom of the KCTCS Colleges How are We Doing? Kentucky Two-Year Colleges • 94.5% will not graduate within 3 years • 5.5% graduate within 3 years

Developmental students do not complete their sequences of developmental courses. Why? • The longer it takes, the more life gets in the way.

Tweaking sequences of developmental courses will not work.

• The longer it takes, the less likely the student will complete. Maybe they are capable of completing the sequences? • 4 out of 10 students complete the entire sequence; however, • Two thirds of students who fail to complete the sequence do so even while having passed all of the developmental courses in which they enrolled.

Students’ Lives are Complex Part-time students rarely graduate even when given twice the time. 2-year associate within 3 years • Part-time: 2.2% and did I mention that full-time developmental students rarely graduate? • Full-time: 8.5%

These are just averages, how are the those student s three or more levels below college level doing? • 1 out of 5 or fewer referred to a sequence three or more levels below college level actually complete it. How are we doing as a whole? • Something has to change dramatically. 4

S ECTION 2

Co-Requisite Reading Instruction A co-requisite reading program does not stand outside a larger completion agenda; it is an integral part of completion planning. By thinking of remediation as a co-requisite instead of a prerequisite, these strategies have focused not on the interim goal of improving pass rates in remedial courses, but instead on promoting successful completion of the gateway courses. The remediation class and the gateway class are taught in a combination, which effectively addresses the issue of attrition between classes and actually gets the student into the gateway class. (Complete College America) Students who place into high-level remedial classes can succeed in college-level academic classes, researchers say. One third to one half of students who place into remedial classes could succeed in college-level classes from the start— with the right support, argues Stan Jones, president of Complete College America. Learning basic skills should be a “corequisite” rather than a prerequisite, he argues. Under the co-

requisite model, students take a college-level course (for credit) and a linked remedial course (for no credit) at the same time. Complete College America Recommendation #2: “Start students in college-level courses with built-in, corequisite support. Immediately place freshmen with basic needs into entry-level, credit-bearing college courses with corequisite support. That is, make this co-requisite model the default. For students needing more support, offer two-semester courses of the same content with built-in tutoring. Meanwhile, offer students with significant academic challenges skill certificate programs with embedded remediation.” Students need a Clear Path to graduation day. The concept makes common sense. Instead of wasting valuable time and money in remedial classes for no credit, students have been proven to succeed in redesigned first-year classes with built-in, just-in- time tutoring and support. Imagine an English or Math 101 class that meets five days a week instead of just three times. Three days a week the students receive the regular instruction and the other two they get embedded support. extra academic help becomes a co-requisite, not a prerequisite. Institutions that have used this approach have seen their unprepared students succeed at the same rates as their collegeready peers. And best practices have demonstrated that as 5

many as half of all current remedial students can succeed this way. With results like these, it’s long past time to take this reform to scale. Complete College America Recommends End traditional remediation; use co-requisite models instead. • For students with few academic deficiencies, place them into redesigned first-year, full- credit courses with co-requisite built-in support, just-in-time tutoring, selfpaced computer labs with required attendance, and the like. The length of these courses should mirror the ordinary gateway courses so students stay on track for ontime graduation. • For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned full-credit courses and consider providing built-in, corequisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. • For students with the most significant academic needs, provide alternate pathways to high-quality career certificates by embedding remediation and adult basic skills development into their instruction.

Core Principles for Transforming Remedial Education: A Joint Statement - CHARLES A. DANA CENTER COMPLETE COLLEGE AMERICA, INC. EDUCATION COMMISSION OF THE STATES JOBS FOR THE FUTURE

Principle 1. Completion of a set of gateway courses for a program of study is a critical measure of success toward college completion. Principle 2. The content in required gateway courses should align with a student’s academic program of study ⎯ particularly in math. Principle 3. Enrollment in a gateway college-level course should be the default placement for many more students. Principle 4. Additional academic support should be integrated with gateway college-level course content ⎯ as a co-requisite, not a pre-requisite. Principle 5. Students who are significantly underprepared for college-level academic work need accelerated routes into programs of study. Principle 6. Multiple measures should be used to provide guidance in the placement of students in gateway courses and programs of study. Principle 7. Students should enter a meta-major when they enroll in college and start a program of study in 6

their first year, in order to maximize their prospects of earning a college degree. Resetting Assumptions About Remediation If the goal of college readiness is for students to succeed in college-level courses, students need access toâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; and experience inâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;college-level courses. We strongly believe that remediation should focus on preparing students for their programs of study, not on reteaching a full high school curriculum.

possible is the co-requisite model of developmental education (Commander, Stratton, Callahan, & Smith, 1996; Boylan, 1999; Edgecombe, 2011; Complete College America, 2011). Evaluations of such models indicate that co-requisite approaches are associated with higher grades and higher completion rates in introductory college-level courses, increased fallto-fall persistence in enrollment and higher total credit accumulation (Wilcox, et al., 1997; Jenkins et al., 2010; Tennessee Board

In terms of curriculum design, such a focus means that students should engage immediately with applications and contexts that historically have been delayed until a college-level course. In our new model, these applications and contexts are supported with instruction on developmental skills aligned to studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; majors and careers. When it comes to preparing students for success in college, stakeholders broadly agree that faster is better and, as an extension, that students should be referred to the highest level course that can be responsibly defended (Bailey, Hughes, & Jaggars, 2012; Complete College America, 2011). For many students, the emphasis on acceleration means they go directly into college-level courses that are bolstered with mandatory supports. An increasingly popular approach to achieving the goals of accelerating student progress and moving students to and through college-level courses as soon as 7

S ECTION 3

Their Lives are Complicated

The result is a yawning skills gap caused by too few trained workers for more high-skill jobs than ever. Incomes shrink. And America falls further behind.” (Time is the Enemy)

We Failed to Factor in “Time” in Our Developmental Programs “Colleges need to recognize that time is the enemy.

Who are Our Students? “More students are working, and they are working more hours than ever before. Many can afford to attend only part-time, extending the years until they graduate. (Part-time students graduate at the rate of 2.2 percent in 2-year degrees in three years.) More come to our campuses underprepared for college — and then get trapped in broken remedial approaches that don’t help, as time keeps slipping away. More are overwhelmed by too many choices and too little structure, causing aimless wandering and wasted semesters and years. All of this adds up to more and more time.  As the clock runs and the calendar turns, we all know what happens: Students’ lives fill up with jobs, relationships, marriages, children, and mortgages; the list goes on and on. Not surprisingly, college often gets left behind: a few years of courses, no degree, and a lot of debt.

With today’s student population, more time and more choices often add up to less success. Being able to engage in an extended period of self-discovery or sample multiple courses out of catalogues the size of phone books might work for students who have the luxury of unlimited time and money. But this approach doesn’t work for the nearly 50 percent of students who work more than 20 hours a week or for the 25 percent of community college students who work more than 35 hours a week.” (Time is the Enemy) Our Assumptions Were Flawed We assumed that students could not succeed in entry-level courses. We knew that the students were underprepared, yet we did not consider in our planning that students could succeed in gateway courses in programs of study if they were given support and placed programs of study reflecting their level of deficiency. We still face the barriers of KCTCS placement policies that block many co-requisite courses.

S ECTION 4

Content of Co-Requisite Reading Reading

College Reading Readiness College readiness is about success in entry-level or gateway courses that prepares the student for subsequent courses. The goal of a college readiness reading course is to ensure that the learner has developed cognitive strategies and habits of mind that enable him or her to learn when reading in ways that develop competence in their gateway courses and in future courses in their program of study. First, to develop competence in an area of inquiry, discipline or program of study, the reader needs to be able to develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is not a memorized set of facts in a program of study, but rather sets of interrelated facts that are organized into a conceptual framework of knowledge - a neural network of interrelated information - not isolated facts.

Second, if the learner wants the information to be learned in ways that make the information learned transferrable to new situations where they can think, reason, make decisions, solve problems or apply the information, then the reader must understand the facts and ideas they are learning in the context of a conceptual framework. This requires knowing how to develop a conceptual framework for the subject matter in the course being studied. Third, retrieval and application is dependent on organizing the knowledge being learned. The learner needs to have strategies for organizing what is being learned within the conceptual framework of the subject and or discipline. Why Co-Requisite Reading? Kentucky has defined college readiness as the level of preparation a first-time student needs in order to succeed in a credit-bearing course at a postsecondary institution. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Successâ&#x20AC;? is defined as completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and proficiency that prepares the student for subsequent courses.

Kentucky - College Readiness For reading, the destination is clear. To reach that destination of success in credit-bearing courses, reading skill preparation must focus, not on sets of isolated skills or every core common standard the learner did not fully develop, but rather on cognitive strategies and habits of mind that specifically prepare the student for success in credit-bearing courses at a level of understand and proficiency that prepares the student for subse9

quent courses. The same is true for career readiness as defined below. What is Kentuckyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of career readiness? Career readiness is the level of preparation a high school graduate needs in order to proceed to the next step in a chosen career path, whether that is postsecondary coursework, industry certification, or entry into the workforce. These include core academic, critical thinking, and technical skills required in the workplace. Reading (RDG 185 and RDG 30) Instruction In the College Reading Course, you will learn many thinking strategies that will help you learn in ways that ensure deeper learning, better and more useful memory of facts and ideas you will learn in the psychology course.The course will organize these thinking strategies around what we now know about how humans learn. The organization of thinking strategies will be developed around the following: 1. Developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge. 2. Understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework. 3. Organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

To make the learning strategies more meaningful, each strategy will be explained within the framework of how the brain learns in ways that make that learned more useful. Reading instruction will focus on developing conceptual understanding of concepts in psychology in which the learner will apply core-learning strategies for dealing with the content they will encounter in their reading assignments. The reading course will help the learner learn thinking strategies that help the learner go beyond mere comprehension. Comprehension will no longer be the main goal, but rather developing competence in the study of psychology will be the goal. The conceptual understanding approach to reading and learning places more emphasis on helping the learner reflect and think about their thinking as they read; thereby giving them more control over the learning process. Conceptual understanding here also refers to grasping the meanings of concepts presented in the assigned reading in psychology and systematically organizing those ideas so that they are more easily retrieved when needed later by the learner. Competence here means that the learner will be able to develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge, understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. This is the foundation of all transfer learning (application) and makes learning of future related concepts easier, as well making that learned applicable in new situations.

“A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly…. Transfer is affected by the degree to which people learn with understanding rather than merely memorize sets of facts or follow a fixed set of procedures; the research also shows clearly that “usable knowledge” is not the same as a mere list of disconnected facts.” Also transfer not only requires organizing information into a conceptual framework, but also understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework. (Bransford, 2002) Remember, reading is a reconstruction and reorganization of meaning and psychology is an ongoing reconstruction and reorganization of our ideas of how the brain affects behavior - that is the definition of education and learning.

Introduction to the Student You are taking a co-requisite reading course. That means that you are taking an entry-level college course such as psychology, geology, sociology, biology, anatomy and physiology, history, etc. along with a reading to learn skills course or some other form of reading skill support. Every time you leave your

entry-level college class, you will have a reading assignment that you will work on in your reading class or support class. It also means that you and your instructors have the goal of seeing that you successfully complete both the reading and entry-level college course. Together we will work on strategies for increasing the likelihood that when you are reading to learn that you will learn more deeply. That is, you will learn in a way that increases the likelihood that what you learn in the entry-level college course will transfer to new situations and make learning related information in the future easier. Why a co-requisite model? The goal of the co-requisite model is accelerating student progress and moving students to and through college level courses as soon as possible. You will come out of your entry-level college course each day with a reading assignment that has lots of facts and ideas. Your goal as a student who is reading to learn is not to learn a lot of facts or ideas (although you will), but to understand the facts and ideas in relation to one another and in the context of a conceptual framework. If you have taken a reading class before, you will notice that there will be distinct differences in the reading instruction between what you have done before and what you will be doing in the co-requisite reading class. The reading class is not tutoring or a study hall; you will be learning reading to learn skills that will enable you to develop competence in the subject mat11

ter of your co-requisite college course. You also will not be learning reading skills in isolation from your entry-level college reading assignment. You will be learning reading skills relevant to your college course reading assignment and the focus of those skills will be on learning that will enable you to transfer what you are learning to new situations. These reading skills will focus on learning the content of the entry-level course as conceptual understanding that is directly related to how the brain learns naturally. Think of conceptual understanding as new concepts (think terminology) for which you are learning new meanings, and organizing into related patterns. For example, all new terminology, facts, and ideas are organized by how they are related to one another. It is understanding how they are related that is important. In order to develop competence in an area of inquiry (make useful the content and skills in you entry-level college course) John Bransford’s research found that the learner needs to: • develop a deep foundation of factual information • understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework • organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application Every reading to learn strategy you learn in the reading course will be organized around these three learner learning needs that enable the reader to develop competence in the subject matter in the entry-level college course. As learning specialist, we have been

able to take the latest research on learning and develop exactly those mental activities you will need to be successful. By focusing on those skills you will be able to spend more time learning how to learn deeply rather than learning a lot of skills shallowly.

The facts and ideas in every textbook, in every chapter in a textbook, and in every section in a textbook are dependent on understanding those facts and ideas in the context of the purpose of the the subject matter. For example,all ideas and facts in a psychology textbook are organized and meant to be understood around the idea that “the mind affects behavior and thinking.” Regardless of what you are reading in the psychology textbook it is related to how the mind affects behavior and thinking. The same is true for all entry-level college textbooks. For example, sociology is about group interaction and everything you read in the sociology textbook will be related to what sociologist have observed about group interaction. Anatomy and Physiology are about form and function (body parts and what they do). In the reading course you will be constantly balancing understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework and organizing new information being learned into a conceptual framework. “A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly” (John Bransford). 12

The following is the most important information you need to know and learn in the reading course, which will be applied to reading to learn in the entry-level content course every day. 1. The information you are reading to learn in the entry-level college course textbook is never a piece of isolated information; everything you read about is always related to the overarching conceptual framework of the subject matter. For example, psychology is about how the mind affects behavior and thinking (overarching conceptual framework). If you are reading a chapter about abnormal behavior in the psychology textbook, it is important to understand how abnormal behavior is a mental illness that affects behavior and thinking. If in the chapter on abnormal behavior you will read about the of abnormal behavior; you will need to understand how the criteria for determining if behavior is abnormal behavior and how it is different from normal behavior. Everything you learn in an entry-level college textbook is related and those relationships need to be understood in the context of a conceptual framework. Rule: understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework. 2. Any reading skill you will be learning only becomes maximally efficient when it is used with other reading skills such as strategies for moving newly learned information to longterm memory, which must also incorporate strategies for organizing the information in ways that facilitate retrieval. You will not be learning one skill, then another in isolation; all skills aid or reinforce all other skills. Rule: reading re-

quires a lot of mental interaction with the text and your brain (the strategies you use). 3. If you have identified new information as important to learn when reading, you will want to stop and apply strategies you will learn in the reading course for ensuring that deep learning is occurring. Learning to make a habit of stopping and reflecting as you read is a crucial habit to acquire. New information requires re-exposure with elaboration of those ideas. Elaboration is about making connections with what you already know about the information being learned. For example, stopping and having an internal dialogue with yourself about what you already know about the information, or how it is like or different that what you already know, or how you might use the information. There will be many internal dialogue questions that you will learn how to use in the reading course. Rule: if it is important to learn, learn it before going on with your reading. We will be learning the strategies for doing that more efficiently. 4. When you know how the brain learns and know what it takes to ensure that what is learned is not forgotten and how to increase the speed with which the brain processes information, and how to organize information in ways that facilitate retrieval and application, you will be able to think about your thinking as you learn while reading and understanding more deeply why you are learning the reading strategies you will be learning. Rule: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Peak mental performance (example, reading to learn) requires a combination of 13

knowing your brain, and being able to observe your brain processing occurring” (Rock, 2010). 5. Depending on the subject, the ability to use or create visual images of the information being learned is very important. For example, the harder the science, the more important it is to connect what is being learned to a visual image. In fact, some concepts in the hard sciences cannot be understood without an accompanying visualization. Whether the entrylevel college course you are taking is a hard science or not, visualization is a very powerful learning tool. 6. Learning new terminology (concepts) is not about memorizing definitions. That violates everything we know about how the brain learns and especially how the brain learns if the reader (you) want to use the information later in new situations. Here is where John Bransford’s research on developing competence in the subject matter you are learning in the entry-level college course becomes invaluable. The goal is not about learning new terminology; it is about learning in which that which is learned transfers to new situations (problem-solving, decision-making, etc.). Instead of learning new vocabulary or terminology, the focus shifts to learning new concepts (how information being learned is useful and relates to everything else you are learning as you reading in the entry-level college content course). Rule: never memorize; construct meaning by connecting what you are learning to what you already know and the other related concepts in the text readings. For example, in sociology, a “norm” is a rule or guideline about how to behave in a given

situation. It would be easy for you to memorize the definition of “norms”; however, if you do so, it will not be useful later as you read about other types of norms and related information and will be quickly forgotten. The brain stores meaning, but first must first make connections with what you already know about rules about how to behave. If you have not stopped and reflected on what you already know about rules about how to behave in given situations and connected it to examples, the information gets stored in isolation in the brain and quickly forgotten. 7. You and Your Brain You can expect to learn in the reading course about how the brain learns and how every mental strategy you will learn reinforces how the brain learns naturally. This will serve two purposes. First, it provides a reason for using any given reading strategy and second, as you learn how the brain learns, you can begin to think about your thinking and you will begin selecting appropriate learning strategies based on how you learn. There will be four areas of brain learning that you will need to understand: First, how the brain learns naturally: Dendrites, synapse, and neural networks grow only from what you already know. This is why activating prior knowledge in the construction of meaning is so important (Smilkstein). 14

Second, you will learn how neural pathways are strengthened to increase the speed of transmission and reduce forgetting: “Every human skill is created by chains of nerve fibers carrying a tiny electrical impulse – basically a signal traveling through a circuit. Myelin’s vital role is to wrap those nerve fibers in a fatty insulation the same way that rubber insulation wraps a copper wire, making the signal stronger and faster by preventing the electrical impulses from leaking out. When we fire our circuits in the right way our myelin responds by wrapping layers of insulation around the neural circuit, each new layer adding a bit more skill and speed. The thicker the myelin gets, the better it insulates, and the faster and more accurate our thoughts become” (Coyle, 2009). This is why re-exposure with elaboration to new information being learned is so important and why deliberate practice is important. Third, how organizing newly learned information builds neural networks that facilitate retrieval and application: The brain contains many billions of very special kinds of cells - the nerve cells or neurons. These cells are organized into a very complicated intercommunicating network. Typically each neuron is physically connected to tens of thousands of others. Using these connections neurons can pass electrical signals between each other. The better organized these networks are the easier it is to retrieve related information which facilitates retrieval and application. You will learn how to organize the informa-

tion you are learning to maximize retrieval, thus making new information more useful. Fourth, is the concept of working memory and the role attention plays in manipulating and constructing meaning and storing those constructions in long-term memory. With this understanding we will be able to: • Apply re-exposure techniques for moving new information from working memory to long-term-memory. • Apply elaboration techniques for moving new information from working memory to long-term-memory. • Apply organizing techniques for moving new information from working memory to long-term-memory. • Re-expose memory strategies in time intervals that facilitate moving new information from working memory to longterm-memory.

8. You will be doing a lot of writing to learn activities in the reading course that will focus on clarifying what you are learning. The writing to learn activities will balance the internal dialogue strategies you will be developing with what you write to learn. Think of it as an integrated internal and external dialogue. The writing to learn activities will also focus on organizing the ideas you are learning in the entrylevel college course, which is crucial for later retrieval and usefulness. 9. You will also be learning habits of mind that takes advantage of the “use it of lose it” balancing act the brain is con15

stantly performing for building new brain structures as you learn and tearing down those structures (forgetting) that are not used. Did you know that if you re-expose yourself to what you are learning within 90 minutes of learning it that your are far more likely to remember what you have learned and also increase the likelihood that you will be able to use that information in the future? We will build on these nine areas of learning from day one throughout the semester. You will not be learning a strategy, then dropping it to learn another strategy and so on throughout the semester. You will instead be learning strategies much like building an orchestra with may instruments (learning strategies) to produce a sympathy of mental processes. Your Co-Requisite Instructors The content the reading course will come from the entry-level college course; the reading to learn skills from the reading course. The entry-level course instructor and reading skills instructor work together to identify the aspects of the entrylevel course which might pose particular problems for you as a learner. Co-Requisite From the Literature for the Instructor Only I have modified some note from the Dana Center below: The Dana Center notes that “if the goal of college readiness (learning the reading skills students need of college work) is

for helping students to succeed in college-level courses, students need access to— and experience in—college-level courses. We strongly believe that early college (learning), whether it is developmental or college-level, should focus on preparing students for their programs of study, not on reteaching a full high school curriculum. In terms of curriculum design, such a focus means that students should engage immediately with applications and contexts that historically have been delayed until a college-level course. In our new model, these applications and contexts are supported with instruction on developmental skills aligned to students’ majors and careers. When it comes to preparing students for success in college, stakeholders broadly agree that faster is better and, as an extension, that students should be referred to the highest level course that can be responsibly defended (Bailey, Hughes, & Jaggars, 2012; Complete College America, 2011). For many students, the emphasis on acceleration means they go directly into college-level courses that are bolstered with mandatory supports. An increasingly popular approach to achieving the goals of accelerating student progress and moving students to and through college-level courses as soon as possible is the co-requisite model of developmental education (Commander, Stratton, Callahan, & Smith, 1996; Boylan, 1999; Edgecombe, 2011; Complete College America, 2011). 16

Evaluations of such models indicate that co-requisite approaches are associated with higher grades and higher completion rates in introductory college-level courses, increased fallto-fall persistence in enrollment and higher total credit accumulationâ&#x20AC;? (Wilcox, et al., 1997; Jenkins et al., 2010; Tennessee Board of Regents, 2009). http://www.utdanacenter.org/mathways/downloads/higher-ed-issuebrief-1-june2012.pdf

S ECTION 5

Co-Requisite Reading: Learning Outcomes Co-requisite reading learning outcomes should reflect the kinds of cognitive strategies and habits of mind that lead to transfer learning. Learning Outcomes Skill: Does the learner recognize chapter text clues? Learning Outcome: given a textbook chapter, can the learner identify the chapter’s text clues. Skill: Does the learner recognize the organization of the chapter using the chapter’s text clues? Learning Outcome: given a textbook chapter, can the learner recognize the chapter’s organization. Skill: Does the reader stop and step back mentally to reflect on what they have read? Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection, the reader stops frequently to reflect on what they have read.

Skill: Does the reader during reflection use re-exposure strategies for moving the information from working memory to long-term memory. Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection, the reader while reflecting uses re-exposure strategies for moving the information from working memory to longterm memory. Skill: Does reader during reflection use elaboration strategies for moving the information from working memory to longterm memory. Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection, the reader while reflecting uses elaboration strategies for moving the information from working memory to longterm memory. Skill: Does the learner ask the following type questions when they come to text clues (title, headings, pictures): 1. What do I already know? 2. Are there examples in the book and do I know any examples of the concept being considered? 3. Can I predict where this is going? Learning Outcome: Given a reading selection with text clues, the reader ask questions about what they read.

Skill: Does the learner have strategies for organizing the concepts in a content reading selection? Learning Outcome: Given a content reading selection, the reader can organize the concepts around relationships. Skill: Does the learner have strategies for creating a conceptual framework for helping understand facts and ideas? Learning Outcome: Give an organized introduction to the textbook or a chapter, the reader can create a conceptual framework (organized overview of the textbook or chapter content). Skill: Does the learner visualize or create mental images of concepts being learned? Learning Outcome: Given a reading passage in which the concepts are descriptive or has accompanying illustrations or pictures, the reader can create mental images of the concepts. Skill: Does the learner have strategies for developing deep understanding of new concepts (terminology)? Learning Outcome: Given a textbook chapter, can the learner strategies for developing deep understanding of new concepts (terminology)

C HAPTER 2

Programs of Study Co-requisite reading courses are built around entry-level or gateway courses in programs of study.

S ECTION 1

Programs of Study

Why Co-Requisite in Programs of Study? Traditional remediation often seems irrelevant and disconnected from future ambitions, robbing students of precious time, money, and motivation. What’s the result? Many students veer off course onto another dropout exit ramp. Completion does not stand in a vacuum. Completion is about completing programs of study. One of the dominos of completion that is woefully underdeveloped in Kentucky’s community and technical colleges are institutional structures for helping students commit early to a program of study. Too many students wonder aimless in our halls and classes. They come to us to get an education and for them that education is about getting a job. We continue to believe or at least act like that they will find themselves in our institutions through exploration. That today is a recipe for early exiting. “There is a new American majority on campus. Seventy-five percent of today’s students are juggling some combination of families, jobs, and school while commuting to class; according to the U.S. Department of Education. Colleges need to recognize that time is the enemy. With today’s student population,

more time and more choices often add up to less success. Being able to engage in an extended period of self-discovery or sample multiple courses out of catalogues the size of phone books might work for students who have the luxury of unlimited time and money. But this approach doesn’t work for the nearly 50 percent of students who work more than 20 hours a week or for the 25 percent of community college students who work more than 35 hours a week.” (Time is the Enemy, 2011) The Dominos of Completion Completion does not stand in a vacuum. Completion is about completing programs of study. One of the dominos of completion that is woefully underdeveloped in Kentucky’s community and technical colleges are institutional structures for helping students commit early to a program of study. Too many students wonder aimless in our halls and classes. They come to us to get an education and for them that education is about getting a job. We continue to believe or at least act like that they will find themselves in our institutions through exploration. That today is a recipe for early exiting. “There is a new American majority on campus. Seventy-five percent of today’s students are juggling some combination of families, jobs, and school while commuting to class; according to the U.S. Department of Education. Colleges need to recognize that time is the enemy. With today’s student population, more time and more choices often add up to less success. Being able to engage in an extended period of self-discovery or sample multiple courses out of catalogues the size of phone 21

books might work for students who have the luxury of unlimited time and money. But this approach doesn’t work for the nearly 50 percent of students who work more than 20 hours a week or for the 25 percent of community college students who work more than 35 hours a week.” (Time is the Enemy, 2011) In Remediation: The Bridge to Nowhere, is the message for the need for committing to programs of study as a motivator for moving toward completion are clearly stated. “Most students come to our college campuses to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure a good job and a better life. A logical first step is to commit to a program of study. Remarkably, many students never do — and broken remediation programs are often to blame. Committing to a program of study is much more than simply declaring a major. Anybody can declare a major, but completing the initial courses necessary to legitimately be on track in a program of study is a completely different matter. And it’s in these fragile, early stages of college when remediation programs do the most damage.” Researchers at the Community College Research Center at Columbia University have found that students who complete at least three required “gateway” courses in a program of study within a year of enrollment are twice as likely to earn certificates or degrees. Remediation programs, designed as prerequisite hurdles that must be jumped before getting to college-level classes, slow students’ progress into programs of study. Studies prove that

being trapped in endless remediation sequences or being unable to pass associated gateway courses in math and English are the primary reasons students do not enter programs of study during their first year. And the longer it takes for students to commit to programs of study, the less likely they ever will. Worse, traditional remediation often seems irrelevant and disconnected from future ambitions, robbing students of precious time, money, and motivation. What’s the result? Many students veer off course onto another dropout exit ramp. Get students to commit to programs of study ASAP. Using placement scores, high school transcripts, and predictive toolsto determine student aptitude, guide all students to choose among a limited number of first-year pathways — for example, health, business, liberal arts, or STEM — as soon as possible. Students should make the big choices of programs of study informed with an understanding of program requirements and available supports to achieve their career goals. Once they do, place them into structured program pathways constructed of relevant, sequenced courses chosen for them. establish “default” programs for students not ready to commit. No longer allow students to be considered “unclassified.” Upon enrollment, nudge them into first-year pathways — for example, health, business, liberal arts, or STEM. This ensures a coherent pathway from the beginning, with core collegelevel credits that will count toward certificates and degrees. By doing so, students avoid excessive course-taking while wander22

ing the curriculum, shortening the time it takes to graduate.” (Remediation, the Bridge to Nowwhere, 2011) The evidence continues to grow that committing to a program of study directly impacts completion rates. “Entering an academic or vocational program is strongly correlated with degree completion” (Community College Research Center). “Having clear goals, and being in programs with well-defined pathways, increased persistence, completion and transfer. We must provide institutional structures with more timely and deeply developed support for helping developmental students commit to programs of study. Programs of study are what make an education relevant and relevancy is the key motivator. Logical First Steps Complete College America recommends these first logical steps: • A logical first step is to commit to a program of study. • No longer allow students to be considered “unclassified.” • Nudge them into first-year pathways — for example, health, business, liberal arts, or STEM.

C HAPTER 3

Skills or Strategies

From a constructivist perspective, much integrated system software, and standalone software falls short of promoting critical reading or critical learning.Â For example, rather than prompting students to formulate their own questions about what they have read, many programs ask their questions in a multiplechoice format and designate the correct answer. - Caverly, David, Handbook of College Reading and Study Strategy Research

S ECTION 1

Students Need Strategies

Skills or Strategies Skills: “Skills are automatic procedures that do not require thought, interpretation, or choice. Strategies do require thought, interpretation, or choice. Skills are product-oriented, observable behaviors such as answers to questions, answers on tests, skills lists, and taxonomies. Skills instruction stresses repeated practice in applying skills until they become habitual responses to particular tasks.” http://curriculum.meridianschools.org/ Strategies: “Strategies do require thought, interpretation, or choice. A strategy is a conscious plan under the control of the reader, who must make decisions about what strategies to use and when to use them. Strategies are process-oriented, cognitive operations the reader engages in. Strategy instruction stresses the reasoning process readers go through as they interact with and comprehend text: how the strategies one uses

change when one reads different texts or reads for different purposes. Strategy instruction teachers what to do with a skill, how and why to use it, and why it is important. Strategy instruction focuses on ways to help students understand what they are learning.” http://curriculum.meridianschools.org/ A strategy is a plan selected deliberately by the reader to accomplish a particular goal or to complete a given task (Paris, Lipson, & Wixson, 1983; Paris, Wasik, & Turner, 1991). When students are able to select and use a strategy automatically, they have achieved independence in using the strategy. Along with the strategies that expert readers use, they also use a number of comprehension and study skills. It is clear from research that readers develop the use of strategies and skills by reading and writing and being given the support they need to grow in these processes (Wells, 1990). The goal of all reading instruction is to help students become expert readers so that they can achieve independence and can use literacy for lifelong learning and enjoyment. Learning to use strategies effectively is essential to constructing meaning. Readers who are not strategic often encounter difficulties in their reading (Paris, Wasik, & Turner, 1991). These early difficulties in reading may influence the way readers learn throughout the rest of their lives (Anderson, Hiebert, Scott, & Wilkinson, 1985). http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/literacy/st_read0.html Success in college depends to a considerable degree upon students' ability to engage in strategic reading of extensive aca25

demic or informational text. Simpson and Nist (2000) reported that 85% of college learning requires careful reading. Extensive reading is also needed, as lower-division students often must understand 150-200 pages per week to meet sophisticated reading tasks in writing research papers and preparing for tests at both the university (Burrell, Tao, Simpson, & Mendez-Berrueta, 1997) and community college level (Colarusso, 2000). As we can see from the conceptualization of reading below, reading is not an automatic process; it requires thought, interpretation, or choice. Reading requires strategies for taking control of reading. Reading is conceptualized as a • dynamic, • interactive, • constructive process • requiring thought and • elaboration on the part of the reader” (elaborated on from NCTE’s definition of reading) Dynamic

Reading should be a continuous and productive activity resulting in changing the reader’s understanding and developing a conceptual framework. Interactive The learner brings their prior knowledge to the content being learned and the content Constructive Process “Learning” means different things to different people. Säljö classified the conceptions held by respondents in his interview-based study into five categories: 1. Learning as a quantitative increase in knowledge. Learning is acquiring information or “knowing a lot” 2. Learning as memorising. Learning is storing information that can be reproduced. 3. Learning as acquiring facts, skills and methods that can be retained and used as necessary. 4. Learning as making sense or abstracting meaning. Learning involves relating parts of the subject matter to each other and to the real world.

5. Learning as interpreting and understanding reality in a different way. Learning involves comprehending the world by reinterpreting knowledge. 6. There is a clear qualitative shift between conceptions 3 and 4. It has been argued that 1, 2 and 3 are views which underpin surface learning strategies, while 4 and 5 relate to deep learning. http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/ deepsurf.htm

Constructive Processes 1, 2, and 3.

Isolated Skill Instruction Abnormal behavior as a mental illness does not affect a. thinking b. behavior c. social interaction d. nature

Constructive Processes 4, and 5. Deep Transfer C0-requisite Instruction Questions the Learner Should be Trying to Answer in the Context of the Larger Conceptual Framework Questions in the Larger Conceptual Framework What does anorexia nervosa have to do with the purpose of psychology? What does anorexia nervosa have to do with the study of the mind and mental processes, especially in relation to behavior. What makes anorexia nervosa an abnormal behavior or psychological disorder? Does anorexia nervosa one or more of these criteria? 1.Abnormal behavior is deviant. Abnormal behavior is certainly atypical or statistically unusual. 2.Abnormal behavior is maladaptive. Maladaptive behavior interferes with ones ability to function effectively in the world. 3.Abnormal behavior involves personal distress over a long period of time. Transfer or Application: Without understanding anorexia nervosa in the context of the larger conceptual framework (merely memorizing the definition), future transfer may not occur, problems cannot be solved or decisions made. To illustrate how understanding new concepts (anorexia nervosa) in the context of the conceptual framework enables transfer learning, take the following example: 27

Application Problem Sue is to be married in two months. She is restlessly pursuing thinness by eating as little as she can. Does she have a psychological disorder or an eating disorder? This illustrates how understanding in the context of a conceptual framework provides the big picture for learning, making associations, and making interconnections between new information and prior knowledge, which is the foundation of constructing meaning. Application Answer: As one can see, Sueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behavior does not fit the criteria for being a psychological disorder as it is not deviant (atypical), maladaptive (interferes with her functioning in the world, not does it involves personal distress over a long period of time. The key to answering the question hinged on understanding the concept of anorexia nervosa in the context of the larger conceptual framework as do most applications of new information in new contexts.

S ECTION 2

Limitations of Isolated Skills Instruction A Quick History of Reading Instruction “Many reading instruction programs, among them computerbased reading programs emphasize learning isolated reading skills and then testing for those isolated reading skills and declaring success if the student can successfully use those isolated reading skills. For example, MyReadingLab, emphasizes learning isolated skills such as main idea, supporting detail, patterns of organization, inference, and purpose and tone. Many studies have found that the teaching of these isolated skills did little to foster transfer of learning. For examples, Complex processes appear to be more than the sum of heir parts, and skills do not seem to transfer automatically from one domain to another. Learning seems to take place best in the context of complex experiences and problem solving” (Starko. 2001); “Many critics have observed that instructional approaches to finding the main idea often involved sophisticated conventions that became ends in themselves and were too time consuming” (Carnegie, 2010).; and “For many years, reading comprehension instruction was based on a concept of reading as the application of a set of isolated skills such as finding main ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships,

comparing and contrasting, and sequencing.” Durkin found that this type of instruction did little to help students learn how or when to use the skills, and these skills were not shown to enable comprehension” (Keys to Literacy). Why Isolated Skill Instruction is Antiquated? “Thinking cannot be divorced from content; in fact, thinking is a way of learning content (Raths and others). In every course, and especially in content subjects, students should be taught to think logically, analyze and compare, question and evaluate. Skills taught in isolation do little more than prepare students for tests of isolated skills (Spache and Spache). Norton Grubbs in From Black Box To Pandora’s Box: Evaluating Remedial/ Developmental Education states it this way, “By far the most common approach to developmental education within community colleges is the approach I have labeled “skills and drills.” This tends to focus on arithmetic procedures, on grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, on math “problems” of the most contrived sort, and passages from texts that have been simplified for low reading levels. Computer programs in remedial classes invariably involve drills. Following a rigid progression through topics, students move to the next level only when they have passed a short “test” on one subject. Often, students work on these programs in large labs overseen by a “manager” who typically has neither the time nor the training for instruction: students who get stuck have to go back in the computer program to try to 29

work out the problem. There is no teaching in the conventional sense of the term. Conventional “skills and drills” approaches violate all the maxims for good teaching in adult education (Grubb and Kalman, 1994). Traditional Vocabulary Development College reading textbooks often approach vocabulary with discrete exercises for developing, improving, or expanding vocabulary by using discrete skills, such as content clues, wordstructure clues, or using an outside authority – dictionary. This isolated approach, used alone, neglects what we know about learning – primarily if we want transfer and ease of learning newer related information, facts, words, and ideas must be understood within the context of a conceptual framework. What’s Missing from Isolated Skill Instruction? Conceptual Understanding and Metacognition Metacognition and Internal Dialogue (thinking about thinking; making thinking visible). Metacognition must be taught: Metacognition is not an instinctive process; therefore deliberate efforts must be made by teachers and students to call attention to it when it is occurring. Doing so can be difficult because the process often occurs as an internal dialogue, meaning there are no tangible or verbal cues to aid in awareness (Bransford et al., 2000; Wolfe

& Brush, 2000). Second, the most successful strategies for teaching metacognition require the complete reorganization of a student’s thinking process, which involves much more than simply pointing out when metacognition is occurring (Perkins & Grotzer, 1997). Internal Dialogue Must Be Taught: Bransford et al. (2000), warned that educators often make the misguided assumption that because metacognition takes the form of selfimposed internal conversation that students will develop this internal dialogue on their own. They emphatically state that this is not true. The point is that the better understood the entire concept of metacognition becomes, the more sophisticated the thinking process becomes. When given metacognitive training, the degree to which transfer occurs in different settings has been shown to increase (Bransford et al. 2000). However, significant discussion and practice with metacognition are required before students are able to sufficiently comprehend and accommodate the concept. In a highly recommended book by Bain (2004) that discusses the practices of the best college teachers, the concept of metacognition is mentioned and strongly implied throughout. To get students thinking about their thinking is an essential first step to their mental processes of learning and synthesis that are critical harbingers of transfer. (Ramocki, 2007) The conceptual understanding approach does just that - develop metacognition strategies, The focus is not on discrete skills as much as it focuses on more basic questions of what 30

readers mentally and actively do while reading idea of a text metacognition.

content being learned – cognitive strategies, inquiry, and internal dialogue – Rules of Consolidation.

Cognitive strategies for developing conceptual understanding do not act in isolation.

Learning Isolated Reading Skills Does Not Add Up to Being Able to Tackle ENtry-Level College Textbooks

Reflection is Key

Textbooks Have Too Many Limitations

“Reflection is a meaning-making process that moves a learner from one experience (in this case reading) into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experiences and ideas. It is the thread that makes continuity of learning possible” (Carol on Dewey, 2012).

The limitations of many textbooks is often due to the limited background (prior knowledge) the reader brings to the textbook and the limited space textbooks have to ensure that a foundation of prior knowledge is developed. David Caverly has noted the following:

The first thing you should know is that stopping and reflecting as you read is essential for the information you are learning while reading to move to that part of your brain which enables you to meet the overarching goals of this course. That part of the brain is called the prefrontal cortex and it is where you make decisions. The prefrontal cortex, the part of the frontal lobes lying just behind the forehead, is often referred to as the “CEO of the brain.” A key finding in the learning and transfer literature is that organizing information into a conceptual framework allows for greater “transfer”; that is, it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly. The reader must be able to recognize, and where needed, construct the conceptual framework for the

Large, comprehensive textbooks do not invite reader construction of meaning, honor the knowledge the reader brings to the text, or lend themselves to critical reading. These textbooks usually have most if not all to the following characteristics: high conceptual density; compression of information; a paragraph may represent a volume of research; use of special terminology, often as the object of learning, multiple ways of presenting information through print, including prose, tables and graphs, photos and illustrations, boxed anecdotes, advanced organizers, and summaries; organization that reflects the logic of the discipline represented or patterns that dominate thinking in the field” focusing on red(Caverly, 2000).

C HAPTER 4

Transfer is the Goal of Education “Experts (those who have developed competence in their area of inquiry) have acquired a great deal of content knowledge that is organized in ways that reflect a deep understanding of their subject matter. We turn now to the question of how experts’ knowledge is organized and how this affects their abilities to understand and represent problems. Their knowledge is not simply a list of facts and formulas that are relevant to their domain; instead, their knowledge is organized around core concepts or “big ideas” that guide their thinking about their domains. Experts’ thinking seems to be organized around big ideas in in their discipline (area of inquiry), such as Newton’s second law and how it would apply, while novices tend to perceive problem solving in in the discipline as memorizing, recalling, and manipulating equations to get answers” (Bransford, 2001).

S ECTION 1

Transfer Learning: the Goal of Education

Conceptual Understanding and Metacognition This is where the conceptual understanding approach to reading instruction shines. Most approaches teach skills that are “ends in themselves” - main idea and details for example. The isolated skills don’t add up to producing a learner who can read to develop competence in an area of inquiry. What Do We Know about College Students and Transfer Learning?

Isolated skills do little to foster transfer learning. The key is transfer learning. Transfer learning means that what you learn about must be learned in a way that it can be easily retrieved from memory and can be used in new contexts to make decisions or solve problems. Resent research (Bransford, 2001) has found that in order to develop competence in an area of inquiry, the learner needs to: • develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge, • understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and • organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application. (Bransford, 2002)

The research on transfer learning has consistently found that college students are generally not successful in developing a deep foundation of factual knowledge, learning facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, or organizing knowledge in ways that are easily retrievable, which can be applied to new situations (problem-solving and decision making). “Educators and educational psychologists recognize transfer of learning as perhaps the most significant issue in all fields of instruction. Transfer of learning cuts across all educational domains, curricula, and methods. Despite its importance, research and experience clearly show that significant transfer of learning in either the classroom or in everyday life seldom occurs” (Haskell). Resent research has found that there are cognitive strategies and habits of mind that result in higher levels of transfer in learning (rigor). It is essential that the learner either brings a conceptual framework of prior knowledge, or that they build one with the help of the textbooks’s author, or with help from the instructor or all the preceding to the learning experience; otherwise learn33

ing is shallow. For example, the psychology textbook the introductions in each chapter can provide the context for learning facts and ideas presented in later in each chapter. This provides the learner the opportunity to broadly define overarching concepts about entry-level content courses and systematically organize them so that later learning can be deeper and transferable. New information only becomes “useful” once it has been interconnected to prior knowledge; it is the further interconnection with conceptual frameworks that make the information “useful” (transferrable to new situations). Isolated skill instruction does not teach this strategic approach to reading to learn or transfer learning. Learners often read for meaning, but too often do not read to make the content useful. To make what is read “meaningful” the reader must interconnect what is read with their prior knowledge; however, to make what is read “useful”, the reader must understand the information in the context of a conceptual framework. That is, “it allows the student to apply what was learned in new situations and to learn related information more quickly” (Bransford, How People learn). College readiness is about success in entry-level or gateway courses that prepares The student for subsequent courses..

that develop competence in their gateway courses and in future courses in their program of study. First, to develop competence in an area of inquiry, discipline or program of study, the reader needs to be able to develop a deep foundation of factual knowledge. Factual knowledge is not a memorized set of facts in a program of study, but rather sets of interrelated facts that are organized into a conceptual framework of knowledge - a neural network of interrelated information - not isolated facts. Second, if the learner wants the information to be learned in ways that make the information learned transferrable to new situations where they can think, reason, make decisions, solve problems or apply the information, then the reader must understand the facts and ideas they are learning in the context of a conceptual framework. This requires knowing how to develop a conceptual framework for the subject matter in the course being studied. Third, retrieval and application is dependent on organizing the knowledge being learned. The learner needs to have strategies for organizing what is being learned within the conceptual framework of the subject and or discipline.

The goal of a college readiness reading course is to ensure that the learner has developed cognitive strategies and habits of mind that enable him or her to learn when reading in ways

C HAPTER 5

ACLRM: Co-requisite Reading Model Accelerated Co-Requisite Reading to Learn Model (ACRLM) Co-requisite Courses is Conclusion of Two Reports The conclusion in two reports by Complete College America is “Mainstream as many students as possible into college-level courses.” Recommendation “The current remediation system is broken; too many students start in remedial courses and never earn a credential of any kind. Colleges need to: Mainstream as many students as possible into college-level courses. Provide co-requisite and embedded support for those needing extra help.” (Time is the Enemy, 2011, Complete College America) http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Time_Is_the_E nemy.pdf

I want to succeed. Give me the tools.

S ECTION 1

ACLRM: Co-Requisite Reading Model

Accelerated Co-Requisite Reading to Learn Model (ACRLM)

The Research “Nearly 4 in 10 remedial students in community colleges never complete their remedial courses. Research shows that students who skip their remedial assignments do just as well in gateway courses as those who took remediation first.” Extra academic help becomes a co-requisite, not a prerequisite.

The conclusion in two reports by Complete College America is “Mainstream as many students as possible into college-level courses.”

“Institutions that have used this approach have seen their unprepared students succeed at the same rates as their collegeready peers. And best practices have demonstrated that as many as half of all current remedial students can succeed this way. With results like these, it’s long past time to take this reform to scale.”

Recommendation

Specific Placement Recommendations

“The current remediation system is broken; too many students start in remedial courses and never earn a credential of any kind. Colleges need to:

“End traditional remediation; use co-requisite models instead.

Co-requisite Courses is Conclusion of Two Reports

Mainstream as many students as possible into college-level courses. Provide co-requisite and embedded support for those needing extra help.” (Time is the Enemy, 2011, Complete College America)

For students with few academic deficiencies, place them into redesigned first-year, full- credit courses with corequisite built-in support, just-in-time tutoring, self-paced computer labs with required attendance, and the like. The length of these courses should mirror the ordinary gateway courses so students stay on track for on-time graduation.

http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Time_Is_the_Enemy. pdf

For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned full-credit courses and consider providing built-in, co36

requisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. For students with the most significant academic needs, provide alternate pathways to high-quality career certificates by embedding remediation and adult basic skills development into their instruction.

courses that are necessary for success in students’ fields of study. For students to succeed in these course, they should have built-in tutoring and/or additional instruction time. Encourage students to enter programs of study when they first enroll.”

Expand co-requisite supports for additional collegelevel courses. Additional introductory courses serve as gateway classes for programs of study, not just English and math. Given high failure rates, they have become gatekeeper courses instead, too often blocking students’ entry into their chosen fields. To help unprepared students get a strong, early start, build extra supports around introductory courses necessary for success like entry-level anatomy, biology, physiology, physics, accounting, and drafting.

Provide Co-Requisite Courses Aligned with Programs of Study

Start students in college-level courses with built-in, corequisite support. Immediately place freshmen with basic needs into entry-level, credit-bearing college courses with corequisite support. That is, make this co-requisite model the default. For students needing more support, offer two-semester courses of the same content with built-in tutoring. Meanwhile, offer students with significant academic challenges skill certificate programs with embedded remediation.

“Remediation programs, designed as prerequisite hurdles that must be jumped before getting to college-level classes, slow students’ progress into programs of study. Studies prove that being trapped in endless remediation sequences or being unable to pass associated gateway courses in math and English are the primary reasons students do not enter programs of study during their first year. And the longer it takes for students to commit to programs of study, the less likely they ever will.

Embed needed academic help in multiple gateway c o u r s e s .  To help unprepared students get a strong, early start, build extra supports around all of the early gateway

“Researchers at the Community College Research Center at Columbia University have found that students who complete at least three required “gateway” courses in a program of study within a year of enrollment are twice as likely to earn certificates or degrees.” Conclusion of Complete College America Report

Worse, traditional remediation often seems irrelevant and disconnected from future ambitions, robbing students of pre37

cious time, money, and motivation. What’s the result? Many students veer off course onto another dropout exit ramp.”(Remediation: The Bridge to Nowhere, 2012, Complete College America) http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-su mmary.pdf An Accelerated Developmental Reading Plan One accelerated developmental reading plan might be modeled after the Accelerated Learning Project at the Community College of Baltimore in which developmental reading students with few reading skill deficiencies are enrolled in regular content courses. The regular content courses would reserve eight seats for the developmental reading students and an hour developmental reading course would be scheduled immediately after the content course for the eight students. A summary of the model for writing is below. Substitute reading for writing and incorporate the reading content and skills suggested in this work. A Promising Model: ALP Community College of Baltimore Summary Based on four semesters of data and 227 students, compared to traditional developmental writing:

at slightly less cost per successful student http://www.rpgroup.org/sites/default/files/ALP_using_Acce lerationpdf.pdf Accelerated Learning Projects At the community college level, mainstreaming has tended to focus on integrating developmental education students into a traditional semester-length, college-level course and on providing additional supports to enhance students’ success. For example, in the Accelerated Learning Project (ALP) at Community College of Baltimore County, a limited number of developmental-level students are placed into a college-level English composition course along with students who tested directly into that course. While the standard college-level curriculum is followed, the developmental-level students also enroll in an additional hour-long companion section, in which the same instructor provides extra assistance and guidance. A similar type of immersion program has been run in Aptos, California, through Cabrillo College’s Digital Bridge Academy (now the Academy for College Excellence), whereby developmental English students receive a two-week basic skills foundations course followed by enrollment in six integrated courses, including the college-level English course. The program also features supplemental supports for students, including study groups, counseling, and other services.

ALP doubles the success rate.cuts the attrition in half does it in half the ALP time 38

Students with More Severe Skill Needs The I-Best program combines basic skills and professional technical instruction so that basic skills students can enter directly into college-level coursework. So does Accelerated Opportunity Kentucky (AOK). The Enriched Enrichment Services (EES) could deliver build co-requisite reading instruction in their reading programs for courses requiring lower level reading. I-BEST Program Characteristics. “I-BEST was developed in response to the recognition that although adults with a high school education or less could benefit from postsecondary occupational education and a credential, too few such individuals enter and succeed in collegelevel training. This includes students in adult basic skills programs, which in Washington State are offered by the two-year colleges. Few such students make the transition to collegelevel programs. I-BEST seeks to address this problem by combining basic skills and professional technical instruction so that basic skills students can enter directly into college-level coursework. In the I-BEST model, basic skills instructors and professional- technical faculty jointly design and teach college-level occupational classes that admit basic skills-level students. I-BEST courses must be part of a coherent program of study leading to college credentials and jobs in demand, thus providing a structured pathway to completion and career-path employment so students do not have to “find their way on their own.” (How I-Best Works, CCRC)

http://www.ncwe.org/resource/resmgr/workforce_dev_repo rts/how_ibest_works.pdf For Students with Skill Needs Between and ALP and an I-Best Programs of instruction, It has been suggested that students who are in need of skills between a program like Baltimore’s ALP and an I-Best Program, strengthen redesigned full-credit courses and consider providing built-in, co-requisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. Complete College America has made the Following Suggestion: • For students with few academic deficiencies, place them into redesigned first-year, full- credit courses with co-requisite built-in support, just-in-time tutoring, self-paced computer labs with required attendance, and the like. The length of these courses should mirror the ordinary gateway courses so students stay on track for on-time graduation. • For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned fullcredit courses and consider providing built-in, co-requisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. For students with the most significant academic needs, provide alternate pathways to high-quality career certificates by embedding remediation and adult basic education. 39

http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-su mmary.pdf

Scheduled Co-Requisite Courses COMPASS Reading Scores 75-84

Create Co-requisite courses with sociology, psychology, history, and/or biology COMPASS Reading Scores 70-74

Fall 2011

Create two semester co-requisite courses with sociology, psychology, history, and/or biology or

CMS 185 - DT

Create one semester co-requisite courses with addition required support â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tutoring or supplemental instruction.

226 students tested into CMS 185 (COMPASS 80-84) RDG 30

COMPASS Reading Scores 70-74

446 students took RDG 30 (COMPASS 70-79) (Those students testing below 70 on the COMPASS are referred to the Adult Basic Education Program (EES) on campus, which has a seamless program for students who applied for admission to the college and were assessed, as well as an Accelerated Opportunity Program modeled on the I-Best Program.)

Refer to ABE (EES or Accelerated Opportunity Kentucky).

S ECTION 2

ACLRM Co-Requisite Reading Model

Accelerated Learning Projects

Based on four semesters of data and 227 students, compared to traditional developmental writing:

At the community college level, mainstreaming has tended to focus on integrating developmental education students into a traditional semester-length, college-level course and on providing additional supports to enhance studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; success. For example, in the Accelerated Learning Project (ALP) at Community College of Baltimore County, a limited number of developmental-level students are placed into a college-level English composition course along with students who tested directly into that course. While the standard college-level curriculum is followed, the developmental-level students also enroll in an additional hour-long companion section, in which the same instructor provides extra assistance and guidance. A similar type of immersion program has been run in Aptos, California, through Cabrillo Collegeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Digital Bridge Academy (now the Academy for College Excellence), whereby developmental English students receive a two-week basic skills foundations course followed by enrollment in six integrated courses, including the college-level English course. The program also features supplemental supports for students, including study groups, counseling, and other services

ALP doubles the success rate.cuts the attrition in half

Students with More Severe Skill Needs

does it in half the ALP time

The I-Best program combines basic skills and professional technical instruction so that basic skills students can enter directly into college-level coursework. So does Accelerated Opportunity Kentucky (AOK). The Enriched Enrichment Services (EES) could deliver build co-requisite reading instruction

An Accelerated Developmental Reading Plan One accelerated developmental reading plan might be modeled after the Accelerated Learning Project at the Community College of Baltimore in which developmental reading students with few reading skill deficiencies are enrolled in regular content courses. The regular content courses would reserve eight seats for the developmental reading students and an hour developmental reading course would be scheduled immediately after the content course for the eight students. A summary of the model for writing is below. Substitute reading for writing and incorporate the reading content and skills suggested in this work. A Promising Model: ALP Community College of Baltimore Summary

at slightly less cost per successful student http://www.rpgroup.org/sites/default/files/ALP_using_Acce lerationpdf.pdf

in their reading programs for courses requiring lower level reading. I-BEST Program Characteristics. “I-BEST was developed in response to the recognition that although adults with a high school education or less could benefit from postsecondary occupational education and a credential, too few such individuals enter and succeed in collegelevel training. This includes students in adult basic skills programs, which in Washington State are offered by the two-year colleges. Few such students make the transition to collegelevel programs. I-BEST seeks to address this problem by combining basic skills and professional technical instruction so that basic skills students can enter directly into college-level coursework. In the I-BEST model, basic skills instructors and professional- technical faculty jointly design and teach college-level occupational classes that admit basic skills-level students. I-BEST courses must be part of a coherent program of study leading to college credentials and jobs in demand, thus providing a structured pathway to completion and career-path employment so students do not have to “find their way on their own.” (How I-Best Works, CCRC) http://www.ncwe.org/resource/resmgr/workforce_dev_repo rts/how_ibest_works.pdf For Students with Skill Needs Between and ALP and an I-Best Programs of instruction,

It has been suggested that students who are in need of skills between a program like Baltimore’s ALP and an I-Best Program, strengthen redesigned full-credit courses and consider providing built-in, co-requisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. Complete College America has made the Following Suggestion: • For students with few academic deficiencies, place them into redesigned first-year, full- credit courses with co-requisite built-in support, just-in-time tutoring, self-paced computer labs with required attendance, and the like. The length of these courses should mirror the ordinary gateway courses so students stay on track for on-time graduation. • For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned fullcredit courses and consider providing built-in, co-requisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. For students with the most significant academic needs, provide alternate pathways to high-quality career certificates by embedding remediation and adult basic education. http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-su mmary.pdf

Reading to Learn Model (ACRLM) The following information represents students who tested into CMS 185 (COMPASS 80-84) and RDG 30 (COMPASS 70-79) on the largest campus in a large community college in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). Fall 2011 CMS 185 - DT 226 students tested into CMS 185 (COMPASS 80-84) RDG 30 446 students took RDG 30 (COMPASS 70-79) (Those students testing below 70 on the COMPASS are referred to the Adult Basic Education Program (EES) on campus, which has a seamless program for students who applied for admission to the college and were assessed, as well as an Accelerated Opportunity Program modeled on the I-Best Program.) Scheduled Co-Requisite Courses COMPASS Reading Scores 75-84 Create Co-requisite courses with sociology, psychology, history, and/or biology COMPASS Reading Scores 70-74

Create two semester co-requisite courses with sociology, psychology, history, and/or biology or Create one semester co-requisite courses with addition required support â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tutoring or supplemental instruction. COMPASS Reading Scores 70-74 Refer to ABE (EES or Accelerated Opportunity Kentucky). Proposed Accelerated Reading To Learn Co-Requisite Courses Goal: to match the success rates for reading that was achieved writing at the Community College of Baltimore using the co-requisite acceleration approach for developmental writing. Specifically: double the success rate; cut attrition in half; reduce the time to completion at lower costs. The Co-Requisite Structure In the ACRL model each co-requisite instructor integrates their instruction with that of the other instructor. The content of the developmental class directly supports the content of the college course. Ten seats are reserved in the co-requisite content class for developmental students referred to the highest level developmental course (COMPASS 80-84), students begin earning college credit right away, and transition points between courses are eliminated. 43

For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned full-credit courses and consider providing built-in, corequisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. (COMPASS reading score (75-79) Create a 3 Hour for Credit Co-Requisite Reading Course. Why Create a Co-Requisite Course? Co-Requisite Courses In co-requisite courses students are placed in both a content course and a skills course. There are many versions of corequisite courses. In ALCRM, courses would be designed so the content of the developmental class directly supports the content of the college course. IMPORTANT: Getting Past Go offers the following consideration: Redesign the entire course structure of both the developmental and college-level course, don’t just add a co-requisite to your existing course. Make sure content and instruction are aligned between the two courses” (Getting Past G, 2011) http://gettingpastgo.org/blog/2011/03/21/co-requisite-mode l/ Learning Outcomes for Developing Rigor in Reading to Learn

The learner will be able to Identify the concepts making up the larger conceptual framework (the big picture, or mental scaffold) of the discipline content course textbook readings) Systematically organize the concepts in discipline content reading into a mental scaffold or conceptual framework. Understand the facts and ideas in the discipline reading in the context of the conceptual framework. Structure the details of the discipline content reading within the larger conceptual framework to build a mental scaffold for thinking like a scientist in the discipline. Apply re-exposure techniques for moving new information from working memory to long-term-memory. Apply elaboration techniques for moving new information from working memory to long-term-memory. Apply organizing techniques for moving new information from working memory to long-term-memory. Re-expose memory strategies in time intervals that facilitate moving new information from working memory to long-termmemory. Use writing to learn activities to clarify information in the learning process.

Use writing to learn activities to organize information being learned in ways that facilitate retrieval.

http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-su mmary.pdf

Co-Requisite Courses Aligned with Programs of Study

Placement by Reading Level

“Get students to commit to programs of study ASAP. Using placement scores, high school transcripts, and predictive tools  to determine student aptitude, guide all students to choose among a limited number of first-year pathways — for example, health, business, liberal arts, or STEM — as soon as possible. Students should make the big choices of programs of study informed with an understanding of program requirements and available supports to achieve their career goals. Once they do, place them into structured program pathways constructed of relevant, sequenced courses chosen for them. Establish “default” programs for students not ready to commit. no longer allow students to be considered “unclassified.” Upon enrollment, nudge them into first-year pathways — for example, health, business, liberal arts, or STEM. This ensures a coherent pathway from the beginning, with core college-level credits that will count toward certificates and degrees. By doing so, students avoid excessive course taking while wandering the curriculum, shortening the time it takes to graduate.” (recommendations of Complete College America)

For students with few academic deficiencies, place them into redesigned first-year, full- credit courses with corequisite built-in support, just-in-time tutoring, selfpaced computer labs with required attendance, and the like. The length of these courses should mirror the ordinary gateway courses so students stay on track for ontime graduation. (COMPASS reading score 80-84) For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned full-credit courses and consider providing built-in, corequisite support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task. (COMPASS reading score (70-79) For students with the most significant academic needs, provide alternate pathways to high-quality career certificates by embedding remediation and adult basic skills development into their instruction. (COMPASS reading score below 70) Class Size Based on the rationale for the pilot now in place at the Community College of Baltimore to ascertain whether their successful Accelerated Project works with 10 students in developmental classes, the class size for the hypothetical Accelerated Co45

Requisite Reading to Learn Model (ACRLM) would be 10 students in the reading to learn class. See Baltimore rationale at: http://alp-deved.org/2012/07/the-community-college-of-balt imore-county/ Professional Development One of the most important considerations for implementing the Accelerated Co-Requisite Reading to Learn Model (ACRLM) is professional development for the co-requisite instructors, advisors. This book was written as written with professional development in mind and therefore can be used in professional development. Beyond professional development for the co-requisite instructors, professional development should be required of advisors and academic and student support.

S ECTION 3 The First Year at LaGuardia Community College

Integrating Developmental and Disciplinary Work A central aspect of community college education--certainly a large part of who we are and what we do at LaGuardia--is defined by developmental courses. At many institutions, basic skills reside at the fringe of the curriculum in a set of "precollege" courses that students must complete before pursuing courses in the major. At LaGuardia, for example, basic writing, reading, and English as a Second Language (ESL) are noncredit courses and are prerequisites to many introductory courses in the majors. Unsurprisingly, incoming students have complained that their developmental course work is not connected to their reason for coming to college--that is, to study a particular field. As a result, students in developmental courses often do not feel connected to the college, their classes, and their academic aspirations. Seeing this disconnect, we asked: How can we challenge our students, foster connection-making, and incorporate basic skills learning into the disciplines? Our answer has been to contextualize skills development within disciplinary coursework. We believe that students learn best when they can apply their skills to academic subject matter, rather than when skills instruction is separate from and prior to discipline-area in-

struction. In fact, LaGuardia has a long history of integrating basic skills and discipline-area instruction through our firstyear learning communities, which have paired ESL classes with courses such as accounting, introduction to business, and biochemistry. Despite their success, our learning communities have historically served a relatively small percentage of incoming students. We saw a need not only to expand the learning communities, but also to connect extracurricular activities with the curriculum and provide students with more information about career development. We knew we could extend the learning communities' reach and improve our existing program in multiple ways. First Year Academies To create the cohesive and comprehensive first-year experience we envisioned, the college established First Year Academies. Linking student development services with curricular offerings, the academies are designed to focus the first-year experience around the major. Based on their intended majors, all incoming students now enter one of three academies (business/technology, allied health, and liberal arts). These academies function as "schools-within-a-school" combining a range of activities including discipline-specific New Student Seminars, a newly developed second-semester career development course titled Fundamentals of Professional Advancement, initiation of student electronic portfolios (e-portfolios), and an array of discipline-relevant cocurricular activities (such as career orientation and speaker events). 47

The academies' learning communities are particularly important to this integrative approach. The academies have both embraced existing ESL learning communities and created new communities focused on non-ESL basic reading, writing, and mathematics. Each academy now offers a series of learning communities that link developmental courses with creditbearing disciplinary courses. Thirty-six percent of eligible students (that is, day students who need basic skill training) enroll in these communities. The faculty within each learning community collaborate to forge connections between classes. Learning communities place students who require basic skills courses in contact with their majors upon entering college, providing the opportunity to earn credits toward the major or general education requirements. ESL, for example, has been paired with courses such as Accounting, Introduction to Business, Introduction to Computers, Introduction to Sociology, and Biochemistry. The learning communities also include a freshman seminar that offers academic and career guidance, as well as a "studio hour" where students begin constructing e-portfolios. Most importantly, the learning communities provide all students with the chance to be college students, both in name and through meaningful academic and social experiences.

lege as a whole). Pass rates in academy learning community courses average 77.1 percent, versus 72 percent for the same courses offered as "stand-alones." For the learning communities' basic writing course, the pass rate is six percentage points higher than in stand-alone sections (69.5 percent versus 63.6 percent).

Outcomes While these programs continue to expand and evolve, we have been encouraged by their outcomes to date. Semester-tosemester retention rates for academy learning community students are 75.6 percent (compared with 71.7 percent for the col48

S ECTION 4

The Suppose Completion Model: it takes more than courses THE SUPPOSE MODEL (Support to Completion) Suppose Completion Model The Suppose Completion Model was created to stimulate thinking about how to provide students support on their road to completion. Co-requisite courses alone will not result in significant increases in completion. The Suppose Completion Model offers recommendations for significantly increasing completion (certificates or credentials). 1. Placement assessments based on multiple measures of student preparedness for student’s program of study; current standard placement tests are not predictive

3. Encourage students to commit to programs of study as soon as possible; however, establish “default” programs for students not ready to commit http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=967 http://careerladdersproject.org/docs/Building%20pathways %20to%20success%20for%20low%20skill.pdf In addition, track the certificate and degrees that at least pay off student loans. http://completionarch.collegeboard.org/ http://completionarch.collegeboard.org/p://www.thefiscalti mes.com/Articles/2012/05/01/Whats-the-Value-of-a-College -Education.aspx#page1 4.

Eliminate sequences of developmental courses

http://www.jchea.org/summits/Math/2009docs/Supporting Research/ReferralEnrollmentCompletionDevEd.pdf Either: mainstream developmental students into college-level courses with additional supports or,

http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=1030 2. Assigned developmental advisor and/or education coach to advise, track, and support to completion

provide modularized or developmental education to include academic support that is co-requisite, not prerequisite to college-level courses or

http://www.thecb.texas.gov/files/dmfile/DevelopmentalEduc ationPlan.pdf

compress courses to allow remedial students to more quickly complete their developmental work, or 49

offer contextualized remedial education within occupational and vocational programs

support for two semesters instead of one. Students get the same content but more time on task.

http://www.postsecondaryresearch.org/i/a/document/18000 _unlockingFull.pdf

• For students with the most significant academic needs, provide alternate pathways to high-quality career certificates by embedding remediation and adult basic skills development into their instruction.

5. Create statistics, quantitative, and algebra pathways; then place students in pathways most appropriate to prepare them for their chosen programs of study or careers http://www.utdanacenter.org/mathways/downloads/new-ma thways-implementation-2012april16.pdf http://communitycollegespotlight.org/tags/mathways/ 6. Expand co-requisite supports for additional college-level courses, not just English and math Consider three levels of co-requisite models (extra academic help should become co-requisite, not prerequisite) • For students with few academic deficiencies, place them into redesigned first-year, full- credit courses with co-requisite built-in support, just-in-time tutoring, self-paced computer labs with required attendance, and the like. The length of these courses should mirror the ordinary gateway courses so students stay on track for on-time graduation. • For students needing more help, lengthen redesigned fullcredit courses and consider providing built-in, co-requisite

http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-su mmary.pdf 7. Redesign curriculum that reconsiders the key skills that academically underprepared students will need in their careers (focus on competency learning skills); common core standards should align with career pathways http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309070368 8. Expand the functional definition of developmental education to - promotes the cognitive and affective growth of all postsecondary learners, at all levels of the learning continuum http://www.nade.net/ 9. Improve faculty support for developmental and contextualized or co-requisite courses faculty for the transitions above http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/BT_toolkit_June7.pdf http://www.jff.org/sites/default/files/BT_Documentation_J une7.pdf

http://www.jff.org/publications/education/breaking-through -practice-guide/1059 http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=583 http://crw.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/07/22/0091552 111416227.full.pdf+html http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=1007 http://www.careerladdersproject.org/docs/CTL.pdf http://www.calpro-online.org/eric/docs/pab00021.pdf http://www.cord.org/uploadedfiles/Teaching_Math_Context ually.pdf http://occrl.illinois.edu/files/Projects/shifting_gears/Present ation/Perin-CCRC.pdf

C HAPTER 6

Quick Resources

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S ECTION 1

Resources

http://www.jchea.org/summits/Math/2009docs/Supporting Research/ReferralEnrollmentCompletionDevEd.pdf Testimony at Hearing by Stan Jones Watch the hearing. <http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=fb524b1e1eeb7ec6ddf6b102b 7ea3630d67843285251daf48069e3547b260450>

What would be a good reading recommendation for building a conceptual framework within which to understand the related ideas about developmental students and completion? Unlocking the Gate: What We Know about Improving Developmental Education - Rutschow and Scheider - 2011

Read the testimony. <http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=fb524b1e1eeb7ec6a9986df46 85d41b1f326bc2b07ecd125609a04b0ce39803d>   Learn what your state can do.

http://www.postsecondaryresearch.org/i/a/document/18000 _unlockingFull.pdf

<http://cl.s4.exct.net/?qs=fb524b1e1eeb7ec6abf8c6559a c8fbc1dfc2faca49bb31f2343be8d116af2fd8>

Time is the Enemy

Adult Education

http://www.completecollege.org/docs/Time_Is_the_Enemy. pdf Remediation The Bridge to Nowhere http://www.completecollege.org/docs/CCA-Remediation-su mmary.pdf Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colleges - Thomas Bailey Dong Wook Jeong Sung-Woo Cho December 2008

The Adult College Completion Toolkit has been developed by the Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). OVAE developed the Toolkit to help policymakers at the state and local level implement practical evidence-based solutions that increase the number of graduates who earn high-quality degrees and certificates required to compete for good jobs in the 21st century global economy. College completion is a shared responsibility; this Toolkit also provides resources for adult education administrators, teachers, and students.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ovae/resource/a dult-college-completion-tool-kit.pdf