Getting Started: a CUNY START approach for struggling writers

Sarah Eisenstein, Professional Developer, College Transition Teaching Initiative Thomas Dieter, Lead Instructor, CUNY Start City University of New York ALP Conference Baltimore, MD, 2014 Getting Started:a CUNY START approach for struggling writers Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Welcome! Please read the student essay on your seat and make some notes while considering the following questions: • What do you observe about this student’s writing? • What strengths and weaknesses do you notice? • Some context: This is an intake essay written by a CUNY Start student in response to an article about a couple who won the lottery but gave away their winnings. Pre-workshop analysis Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

CTTI & CUNY Start: A Brief Introduction • Characteristics of Developmental Writers • Approaches to Scaffolding Writing • Cognitive Apprenticeship: Modeling, Scaffolding, Fading and Coaching • Closing: Personal Reflection workshop Agenda Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Cuny college transition teaching initiative (CTTI) • CTTI provides research-based professional development and curriculum development for college transition. • CTTI has worked with a range of programs and faculty, most notably helping to create and develop CUNY Start. Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

A television still from a recent NY1 story. Robert Stolarik for The New York Times Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

A brief History • CUNY Start began in 2007 as an intervention for GED recipients at two community colleges in the CUNY system. • Today, the program has expanded to eight CUNY campuses and now serves both GED recipients and HS graduates. • Total students served to date: 3,400 cuny start Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

cuny start Results Outcomes: Fall 2009 – Fall 2013 • Most students in the full-time program enter with remedial needs in all three skills areas. • After one semester, 49% of students become fully proficient. • Those who don’t become fully proficient make significant gains. Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Program structure & training • 15-18 week program with two opportunities to retake CUNY Assessment Tests • $75 student fee; no financial-aid drawdown • Intensive study: - Full-time Program: 25 hours/week, or - Part-time Program: 12 hours/week • Rigorous instruction by highly trained teachers and advisors using a model of cognitive apprenticeship. cuny start Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Characteristics of Developmental writers • Developmental writers need support in many ways, including: Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Characteristics of Developmental writers • Developmental writers need support in many ways, including: • Development • Organization • Analysis • Clarity • Control Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Approaches to scaffolding writing • Using the writing process to support students to develop their own voices: • Brainstorming • Free-writing • Drafting and revising Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Approaches to scaffolding writing Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Get overwhelmed and not know how to get started • Not understand the rationale for teachers’ feedback; revisions can be rote and not carry over to the next essay • Misuse scaffolds Without mental models of essays, students May: Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Cognitive apprenticeship • Modeling • Scaffolding • Fading • Coaching Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Cognitive apprenticeship • MODELING • Scaffolding • Fading • Coaching Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Please read the model essay in response to the “What Are Friends For?” CATW prompt, then fill out the model essay analysis sheet. • As you read, make notes on the following: • What benefits do you see to starting with this kind of model essay analysis activity? • How do you anticipate students will struggle with this activity? model essay ANALYSIS& Student Sample Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Starting with Fully-Written Models • In a traditional shoe-making apprenticeship, apprentices could see the master make the whole shoe. Seeing how it looked as a complete whole was necessary for beginning to start work on even one piece of the shoe. • Similarly, students need a mental model of a fully developed, coherent essay because having the big picture enables them to work meaningfully on any particular part. Model essays should be fully written and coherent to give a complete picture. (Collins, Brown & Holum, 1991). Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Structured analysis of Accessible models • For models to work, students need to be able to see how they’re constructed. • Students should interact with models in structured ways, so that they can easily identify and reproduce salient features. (Macbeth, 2010; Ponsot & Deen, 1982) Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Reflections on the use of models • Model Essay Analysis gives teachers and students a grounded starting place. • Over time, weaker students become more comfortable using the model-essay structure, and teachers can begin coaching them to strengthen sub-skills. • Some students’ essays may become formulaic after a while; students need support and coaching to infuse their own voices into their writing. Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Personal reflection • How is the model analysis from this workshop similar to and/or different from the scaffolds and models teachers use in your program? • How do you imagine you might be able to adapt or use model analysis in your program? Closing Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Thank you! Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Collins, Allan, John SeelyBrown & Ann Holum. “Cognitive Apprenticeship: Making Thinking Visible.” American Educator Winter (1991): 1-18. Web. Grubb, W. Norton & Robert Gabriner. Basic Skills Education in Community Colleges: Inside and Outside of Classrooms. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print. Macbeth, Karen. “Deliberate False Provisions: The Use and Usefulness of Models in Learning Academic Writing.” Journal of Second Language Writing 19(2010): 33-48. Web. Ponsot, Marie & Rosemary Deen. Beat Not the Poor Desk: Writing: What to Teach, How to Teach It and Why. Portsmouth: Boynton/Cook Publishers 1982. Print. Works cited Sarah Eisenstein Thomas Dieter sarah.eisenstein@mail.cuny.edutdieter@lagcc.cuny.edu

Getting Started: a CUNY START approach for struggling writers