C ALIFORNIA C OMMUNITY C OLLEGES ’ S UCCESS N ETWORK C ALIFORNIA A CCELERATION P ROJECT Tales From the Second Year: San Diego Mesa College Wendy Smith Pegah Motaleb Leyden Daniels Accelerated Learning Project Baltimore JUNE 7, 2012

A G IFT

A CCELERATED R EADING, W RITING, R EASONING : O UR V ELVETEEN R ABBIT Fall 2010-Fall 2011: 2 of 3 colleges in the San Diego Community College District piloted English 265B An open-access, one-semester, 4-unit course that integrates reading and writing (based on Chabot College model) 18 courses

U NOFFICIAL P HILOSOPHY * Throughout the sequence of developmental and transfer-level English courses, students develop increasing mastery in college-level academic literacy, specifically the ability to: Independently read & understand complex academic texts Critically respond to the ideas and information in those texts Write essays integrating ideas and information from those texts FROM THE CHABOT ACCELERATION REPORT BY KATIE HERN, 2012

F ALL 2012: I T ’ S A R EAL R ABBIT ! English 47 begins as an official course: Mesa will offer 4 courses Some challenges: Skeptical colleagues Need for data No accelerated offerings in Spring 2012 (contradiction?!) Administrators and the curriculum review process One college not on board

“O NCE YOU ARE REAL, YOU CAN ’ T BECOME UNREAL.”

C URRENT SEQUENCE

C OURSE R ETENTION AND S UCCESS * F ALL -S PRING 2010/11 (M ESA AND C ITY C OLLEGES ) Retention %Success % Accelerated course84%69% Traditional sequence88%66% *Data collected by Susan Mun, Bri Hanson, and XI Zhang, SDCCD Campus-Based Researchers

E NROLLMENT IN AND C OMPLETION OF 101 F ALL 2010 C OHORT (M ESA AND C ITY C OLLEGES ) Starting cohort Completed Course Enrolled in 101 the next semester Completed Completion Rate Accelerated course % of starting cohort; 46% of those who completed accelerated course Traditional pipeline 4,0863,3421, % of starting cohort; 27% of those who completed 42, 43, 48 or 49

F ALL 2011 M ESA C OLLEGE A CCELERATED AND T RADITIONAL S TUDENT R EADING L EVELS

F ALL 2011 M ESA C OLLEGE A CCELERATED AND T RADITIONAL S TUDENT W RITING S KILL L EVELS

F ALL 2011 M ESA C OLLEGE A CCELERATED C OURSES : Y OUNG, N EW, L OW - PLACEMENT 4 Sections 98 Students 57% Male 79% between ages 18 and 24 27% placed one level below transfer reading; 18% placed two levels below transfer reading; 24% had no placement 18% placed one level below transfer writing; 42% placed two levels below transfer writing; 24% had no placement 62% had not earned any units prior to fall % were enrolled full time (12+ units)

F ALL 2011 A CCELERATED AND T RADITIONAL C OURSE O UTCOMES : M ESA

N OW …. Big call for research at all levels of administration and all 3 colleges (even the lone holdout) Team participating in the California Acceleration Project’s Community of Practice (and not the usual suspects) Ongoing dialogue Research continues: comprehensive report out in Fall 2012

A new beginning….

S O WHY D O Y OU T HINK A CCELERATION W ORKS ? Psychological and emotional Educational Psychologist Carol Dweck “growth-mindset” vs. “fixed mindset” Assignments

T HESIS S TATEMENT S WAPS Topic+subject(context)+argument Context- Social, cultural, political, psychological, economical, religious, educational, and geographical Ex: As depicted in contemporary American fiction, in times of war, mothers suffer the most. Write a thesis statement of your own, answering the following question: What is the value of education and why?

D IRECTIONS On one side of the page, write your thesis statement (answer to the question of the prompt.) On the same side, instead of writing your name, draw a symbol so that you will recognize your paper On the back of the page, make two columns and title them “Strengths” and “Gifts” When you are finished, hand me your paper You have two minutes

S ECOND S ET OF D IRECTIONS I will give you someone’s paper If you recognize your own paper, please say “That’s my paper” and I will give you another Read the thesis statement Write at least one positive comment in the “Strengths” column and explain why (use specific language from the thesis statement) Write at least one advice for revision in the “Gifts” column and explain why (use specific language from the thesis statement) Remember, your opinion is important, but your explanation is more important Once you are finished writing in both columns, hold your paper in the air and I will come over and give you another We will do this activity for three minutes

T HIRD S ET OF D IRECTIONS Identify your paper as I hold it up Read the comments that your fellow classmates have written What are your thoughts and opinions about these comments? How do you feel about the comments you have received? Are there any comments that you especially value? Which ones are they? Place a star next to them. Are there comments that you disregard? Ask yourself why you disregard this comment? Put a line through it. What do you want to do now? How do you want to revise this thesis statement?

K ATIE AND M YRA Six categories in which instructors can work with affective issues 1) Establish and Maintain Positive Relationships Not just between teacher and student, but between students and their peers Create a learning cohort and a learning environment where students feel empowered to critique one another (of course constructive criticism.) 2) Give students ample class time to understand content and practice Each student should not leave if they do not understand the assignment Make writing and developing questions a part of their daily work (get them in the habit of asking questions and seeking help)- Most of the time, students do not know how to ask questions

3) Opportunities for metacognitive reflection Ask them what they think frequently? What are your thoughts? Opinions? Comments? 4) Incentives and accountability for doing work Students keep track of their own progress (see progress report handout) 5) Intrusively intervening when students show signs of struggle or disengagement Conversation after or before class 6) Maintain a growth mindset approach in feedback and grading “You can easily turn this into an ‘A’ essay if you revise the errors I have pointed out to you.”

T HE E ND