REDESIGNING TRANSITIONAL EDUCATION AT CARROLL COMMUNITY COLLEGE: ENGLISH AND READING Magdeleine Vandal, Associate Professor Department Chair, Transitional Studies and Academic Services Spring 2014

Impetus for the Redesign  Findings from Program Review  Lumina Grant for Course Redesign  Growing Student Frustration  Growing Controversy over developmental Education

Goals for our Transitional Program  Increase pass rates on 1 st attempts  Identify student needs to provide targeted instruction  Accelerate students through transitional courses  Provide opportunity for self-paced instruction  Provide opportunities for success (eliminating 2 nd and 3 rd attempts)  Lower DWF rates  Improve Course Integrity

Redesign Model: Modular Formatting  Individualized Instruction  Self-paced  Active Learning  Flexibility

Traditional Program READ 091: Basic Reading 4 hours READ 099: Reading in the Content Areas 4 hour Students starting at the lowest level in read, Eng, and math could take up to two semesters to complete transitional course work. ENG 091: Basic Writing 4 hours ENG 097: Writing Effective Paragraphs and Essays 4 hours

Modular Program Reading - 6 modules Read A: College Readiness Read B: Main Idea Read C: Supporting Detail Read D: Inference Read E: Author’s Purpose and Tone Read F: Sentence Relationships and Critical Reading English – 5 modules ENG A: Information Literacy ENG B: Review of Grammar, Mechanics and Punctuation ENG C: Writing Process and Paragraph Development ENG D: Essay Development ENG E: Argumentation

Traditional vs. Modular Format  Lecture  4 billable hours (students must take the entire course)  Set start and end date  70% passing grade  Failure means student repeats the entire course  Students must come to class  Students work at the instructor’s pace  Text and computer based  1 billable hour per module – students take only the modules needed  Staggered start dates  Pass/Fail (minimum 75% to pass – must master each objective within the module)  Students work at their own pace  Students have the flexibility to work from home TraditionalModular

Module Format  Objective  Introduction  Practice  Application  Assessment

Improvements to Instruction  Individualization  Self-paced format  Personalized help  Immediate feedback  Student engagement  Mastery Learning

Changes to Curriculum  Adding College Readiness  Added more on critical reading skills  Increased passing grade from 70 to 75%  Mastery Learning  Added Information Literacy component  Increased he complexity of assignments  Increased passing grade from 70 to 75%  Mastery Learning ReadingEnglish

Results: Reading Academic Year Reading Course Passed/ Successful Failed/ Unsuccessful Traditional Reading* 72%28% (pilot) Traditional Reading* 72%28% Reading Modules** 84%16% Reading modules* 79%21%

Results: English Academic Year English Courses Passed/ Successful Failed/ Unsuccessful Spring 2013 Traditional English* 56%44% Fall 2013 (Pilot) Traditional English* 70%30% Modular English** 75%25% Spring 2014Modular English 64%36%

Challenges to Overcome  Motivation  Poor work and study habits  Life  Weather!

What Works – The Good  Students are engaged  Students are responsible for their work  Students determine the pace – accelerate or slow down as needed  Students demonstrate mastery  Students have flexibility

What Doesn’t Work - The Bad  Students think they don’t have to come to class  Students don’t do homework  Students underestimate time needed to complete an objective  Students don’t read and follow instructions  Other classes take priority

What Doesn’t Work – The Ugly!  Students stop attending  Students do not complete the sequence in one semester

Addressing the Challenges!  Modularized Transitional English and Reading  Bridge Programs for Traditional and Adult Ed students  Placement Test Preparation

Resources  Accuplacer/Reading and English Diagnostics  Accuplacer/MyFoundationsLab – Pearson  Accuplacer Online Course and Practice Tests

Acknowledgements  Dr. Faye Pappalardo, College President  Dr. James Ball, Academic Vice-President  Mr. Steve Geppi, Dean  Redesign Advisory Committee  Full-time and adjunct faculty for Transitional Reading and English: Jennifer Dunn, Jennifer Gertz, Carolyn Gulmi, Diane Wittig, Linda Brown  Lumina Foundation - Redesign Grant

Contact Information Magdeleine Vandal Carroll Community College 1601 Washington Road Westminster, MD