Re-imagining Remedial Education: A Pathway to College Success

1. Re-Imagining Remedial Education 2013, Kristi K. Yorks

2. A Bit about Me • Associate editor and writer for numerous publications • Curriculum designer and narrative writer for Aventa& K12.com • Composition and literature instructor for CTU since 2010

3. Just a little inspiration…

4. Today’s Student • Traditionally non-traditional • A“can-do” optimism that knows no bounds • Lack of “book” knowledge and standardized skills • Their curiosity is driven by personal interest and need • Knowledge is based on first-hand experience • Ages vary as do skill levels, gender, socio-economic class, ambitions, etc.

5. Understanding the Dream; Facing the Reality

6. Off to College…

7. A College Degree • Intellectual and personal growth • Legacy • More options • Increased income • Careers • Meaningful Work • Happiness • Financial security • The list goes on…

8. Despite increasing enrollments, increasing funds, better teaching practices, better technology, and overall better resources, graduation rates are largely stagnant and in some communities, are even declining.

9. The Cause? Over Emphasize Access …

10. …without thought to process, method, or reform.

11. Current Rates of Completion

12. Remedial Programs What they are, How they work, and Why they don’t…

13. What is “Remediation?” • Students who lack the basic skills needed in either math or English to successfully complete college level course work. • 30-40 percent of students who enroll in traditional, four year colleges (and 60 percent who enroll in community colleges) will be held back and required to take one or more basic skills course in math and/or English

14. The Remediation Process • Open admissions policies allow students to enroll in college programs regardless of high school performance • Students enroll in a university or community college program • In addition to financial aid and other paperwork, they take a test to determine their skill level in basic math, writing, and reading. • The results of this test determine where students are placed: • Some will be admitted to normal course work and begin working towards their degree. • Most others will be assigned to remedial course work • An important note! • Assessments are generally not able to pin point specific strengths or weaknesses

15. The Facts 25% of all students who enrolled in higher education in 2000 needed to take at least one remedial course in either English or Math.

16. What predicts success in a college classroom? • It’s not race • It’s not gender • It’s not socio-economic class A better predictor of success at a college level is… • Quality of instruction • Quality of student support services • Proficiency in basic math and English • The more students who pass remedial courses, the more students graduate – it’s really that simple.

17. The “Elephant” in the Room • If a student enters a remedial program at a 2-year college, he/she has at most a 28% chance of receiving a degree in 8.5 years • In some states, the success rate of remediation is as low as 16%. • 4 year universities fare a bit better (around 50%)

18. “The education of the remedial student is the most important educational problem in America today,” Alexander Astin The Numbers The cost of remedial education is estimated at $1-2 Billion a year; the direct costs to families and students is around $700 million. Many critics complain that the state is paying “twice to teach skills students should have mastered in high school” The long term impact on our students…

19. Remediation: A System Born to Fail? The Gate Keeper The Drainer • Allows a university to open access to campus resources to all students but clearly divides them from “college ready” students • Courses are long and generalized • They rarely provide graduation credit, further enforcing the idea that remediation is a “waste” of time

20. What is Wrong with Remediation? “It seems naïve to believe that we can improve students’ college-level skills by making them do precisely the same thing in college that they failed to do in high school – only online…” - Stephen J. Handel

21. What are the issues within Remedial Education? Lack of information Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen (and no one’s talking) • no in depth studies have been conducted regarding remedial programs • Lack of communication between colleges, between high schools, between educators • Lack of research regarding curriculum design and teaching practices • A maze of complicated and contradictory guidelines, practices, and curriculum • Extreme diversity in remedial programs across the country – no standard • Lack of training or conferences • When something is working, we don’t share it!

22. Hierarchy of Higher Education “…developmental teaching is one of the most difficult teaching challenges and needs to be rescued from its second-class status” – W. Norton Grubb

23. Effective teachers rarely teach remedial courses (where they are needed most) • Lack of engaging, interesting, or challenging remedial curriculum • Course work that stresses memorization and uniformity over critical thinking and creative problem solving • Curriculum that doesn’t connect with student interests or college course work • Lack of communication between the curriculums of high school and college programs • Pass/fail assessments that do not pinpoint student strengths and weaknesses • Little interest in prevention or research • Many programs do not advertise, talk about, or put funds towards their remedial programs The Intellectual Class System

24. A Big Question… • “Success rates are so low that the intentions of remedial programs have been called into question. Does the larger community within higher education want these students to succeed? Or, rather, is remedial education a feel-good way to seem inclusive while maintaining an intellectual class system? In other words, are our interests truly centered upon our students’ needs or are we more focused on our own institutional guidelines and imagined intellectual superiority?” ~Associate Professor Kristi K. Yorks

25. The Two Schools of Thought 1. Well… 2. What if… • Some students just aren’t meant to go to college… • College isn’t for everyone… • Some kids just can’t learn… • …we are the problem? • …we are getting it wrong? • …we are too focused on delivery methods • …we lost sight of how we teach, of how we serve student interests

26. Understanding Remedial Students • Diverse • Age, race, socio-economic class, gender, career goals • Wide variety of skills and interests • Highly motivated – driven by incredible optimism and self-awareness • Many have failed in the past, are familiar with the system and are determined to succeed this time. • Hesitant to ask questions, to attend office hours, to involve themselves within the class or the college environment • They rarely participate in moderated discussions; while they take notes, they rarely take effective notes or engage critically with the material • Trouble managing time and assignments • Lack the ability to form “future” memories

27. How can students this motivated, fail? • They know how to “go to school” but not how to think critically, to remove themselves from the routine of education • Lack the ability to self-assess • Fearful and suspicious of the education system • Driven by a sometimes intense fear of failure which affects their ability to ask questions or ask for assistance • They know how to memorize knowledge, but lack the confidence and experience to create knowledge

28. An important note… • A major issue isn’t getting remedial students to pass… • It’s getting them to enroll…

29. Dispelling Myths… • Remedial students are notlazy • They are not unmotivated • They lack: • Support systems • Time • Positive education experiences • They are: • under-prepared • Unfamiliar with the nature of and systems within higher education

30. Charging ForwardFinding Solutions“to address the success of academically under-prepared students…colleges and university must stop tinkering at the margins of institutional life, stop the tendency to take an “add-on” approach to institutional innovation, and adopt efforts that restructure the learning environments.”Catherine Engstrom and Vincent Tinto

31. Strategies for Success Teacher - Student • Good teachers make a difference • So, what do teachers need to be more effective? • Communication • Faculty development • Conferences, discussion boards, etc. • Flexibility within the classroom • Real Support • Financial • Professional

32. Best Teaching Practices • Clear guidelines and expectations • Structure • Collapsing the hierarchy • Less talking, more doing • Encouraging students to share and draw upon personal experience • Providing a forum for debate • Connecting skills and knowledge to student experiences and real world skills • Writing emails • Drafting cover letters • Addressing student strengths and weaknesses – small class sizes • Or classes focused on vocation • Increased availability and human contact • Encouraging student involvement • Allowing students to pursue meaningful and challenging work • Develop their own writing prompts • Develop their own research questions

33. Big Ideas and Long Term Goals • Student support services • Mentors • Counselors • Tutors • Human interaction • Teachers who can afford to devote more time to their students • Smaller classrooms • Challenging and meaningful curriculum • Experiential approach • Building bridges between high school and college curriculum • Individual approach • Learning communities • Connecting student’s vocational interests with remedial curriculum

34. For Higher Education to work… • It needs to devote itself to its students and to meeting their needs above its own • A change in higher education philosophy • Honor its professors, providing the tools, funding, and salaries needed to teach well • Think outside of the box • Legitimize research regarding: • Teaching practices • Curriculum design and development • The effectiveness of team lead learning communities vs. traditional classrooms • The effectiveness of assessments

35. A Few Ideas…and Some Hope • SugatraMitra’s award winning TED Talk: • “What if students learn more quickly on their own, working in teams, than in a classroom with a teacher? • What if tests and discipline get in the way of the learning process rather than accelerate it?” • Exploring the role of technology in learning • Celebrating and nurturing natural curiosity and problem solving • Encouraging guidance over lecture, support and questioning over easy answers • Re-imagine the role of teachers within all classrooms – how can we be more effective

36. Just to Emphasize… • You are the solution • Your classrooms are our learning communities • You do have the control and the power to make a difference • Talk • Share • Question • Challenge • Demand