How Successful are co-requisite and non-credit English courses in colleges?

How Successful are co-requisite and non-credit English courses in colleges? Presented by: Claudia Komperda

Conducting Research • I was interested in the Push-in vs Pull-out models of education for nonnative speakers and how it affects their academic performance and writing skills. The push in model: The pull out model: • take same class with others, but have “co-requisite” or ”studio” course (additional weekly meeting to talk about assignments, like a support group for 160) • Typically no cost, no credit, no new work or assignments • Take a separate class with other non-native speakers • Focus on more intensive language and writing strategies • Have to pay and receive no credit

Why am I interested? • My parents are immigrants from Poland • I am a first generation child who didn’t know English until I was 5 • I was in an ELL class in first and second grade • I was involved in the push-in model; I wasn’t mutually excluded from my class, but I was taken out for a few hours a couple of times a week • It was successful working alongside a polish-speaking teacher, but I felt confused and isolated My elementary school (attended 2002-2009)

How did I conduct my research? • I interviewed Ms. Williams, a professor teaching English 070, and Mr. Krall, a professor who teaches English 159. • English 070 uses the “pull out” method • English 159 uses the “push in” method • I then received feedback from students in 070 and 159 through an online survey sent to them by both instructors.

So what is 070 and 159? • English 070 is described in the UIC website as: Introduction to Academic Writing for the Nonnative Speakers of English • “This preparatory class for nonnative speakers for English emphasizes the second-language challenges for writing presented by syntax (structure), semantics (meaning) and pragmatics (use). No graduation credit.” • English 159 is described as: Academic Writing Workshop • “Critical reading and writing practices and exploration of the conventions of academic writing in support of coursework in ENGL 160.”

Differences between both

Results of writing placement exams into uic Most writers Developmental writers (native speakers who need extra support) Writers who are English Language Learners/Non-native speakers From Professor Krall’s “Disrupting Remediation Slides”

What is SEWW? “The Summer Enrichment Writing Workshop gives incoming freshmen placed into a preparatory writing course the opportunity to sharpen their writing skills before coming to UIC in the fall. Those who placed into ENGL 071, 070, or 060 as a result of the Writing Placement Exam will have the chance to petition for a higher course placement through compiling writing portfolios at the end of the six weeks.”

Why did students take 070/159 instead of seww? DIDN’T PASS • Based on the survey feedback of 19 students: • 7 were busy or had a time conflict • 4 said it wasn’t convenient or had vacation • 3 were advised to take 070/159 instead • 2 wanted to learn more basic knowledge • 1 didn’t pass SEWW • 1 didn’t see the newsletter sent their deleted email • 1 couldn’t commute there 5% 37% BUSY 15% ADVISED 21%

Who created English 159? Professor Aaron Krall, an English Professor at UIC teaching numerous English courses including 159 and 160, was a TA in Milwaukee in the early 2000’s who had always been interested in creating a studio/ co-requisite program. It wasn’t until 2014 when UIC partnered with Complete College America that funding was approved and administrators began showing interest in the topic that a program was finally piloted in 2015 by Krall’s and Professor Mark Bennett’s help. Professor Aaron Krall

WHY DO WE NEED 159? • Need for co-requisite program from the time trend he noticed that is slowly moving away from non-credit courses • Skepticism observed of admitting students into non-credit courses based on the opinion of what makes a student a basic writer and one can be placed in different levels of English based on a placement exam • Importance of students being unmotivated by such placement leads them to drop out or underperform UIC Graduation Rate

Goal of English 060: to create a paragraph in just 16 weeks (difficult considering language acquisition takes longer than 4 months to learn) Goal of English 070: to write communicative sentences that can be understood and interpreted by fluent English speakers, and to have a basic understanding of a paragraph, what it is and having the ability to communicate ideas at the level. Goal of English 159: to become aware of the writing choices students make individually that are usually committed unconsciously, and to focus on the writing process and reflect upon it.

Strategies/Techniques Used in Class • 159: • Collaborative teaching method: working together with students to figure out what can be done (student-led instruction mimicking tutoring strategies in the Writing Center) • Group discussion about a piece of writing by separating class in half and examining two pieces in each group • Foster discussions led by students pertaining the writing, word choices, audience, genre, sentence structure • Reflective writing: bringing awareness to writing choices • Journal writings due each week • Student-ness non-writing: instructor asks the student about personal issues, such as grades, extra help, campus resources, etc. • 070: • Vocabulary words given each week to strengthen knowledge of English words • Incorporating a workshop that attends to each students’ writing • Giving out small assignments with individual feedback so the work is not too overwhelming • Creating connections from native language to English by trying to target what they’re going to say • Requirement to attend meetings twice a semester with the instructor

Stigma of Being Developmental writer for students 160/159? Placing students in English 159, while still taking English 160, is an important factor in the course, because it fosters the idea of belonging that is so essential to those students, and since the 160 instructors don’t know who is in 159, there is no bias directed towards any student and everyone is held to the same expectation. The term “ESL” is not an accurate portrayal of the writers in 159, because their placement presents them to be a developmental writer that needs writing improvement, not language.

English 070 • The stigma surrounding the term “ESL” can be explained by the student’s prior experiences towards that word. The main difference would be the context and time they encountered with the term. For example, • The immigrants taking ESL classes don’t perceive the label to be negative, because it’s a known fact they are an English Language Learner • Those who grew up in America speaking a nonnative language and then English and were involved in the pull-out method in schools recognized the stigma that ESL has and were subjected to that. • The more receptive and accepted term has recently been “ELL” because it signifies a change in attitude.

Success Rate for English 160 Taken from Aaron Krall’s “Disrupting Remediation” Slides

Writing and Student performance in English 160 Taken from Aaron Krall’s “Disrupting Remediation” Slides Blue = Top Third (Strong Writer/Student) White = Middle Third (Average Writer/Student) Red = Bottom Third (Weak Writer/Student) *Based on 98 Responses

How do the students rate their writing and skills development? • 7 (37%) said their writing skills have improved • 7 (37%) said their grammar skills improved • 4 (21%) said they can better structure their papers • 2 (10%) said they know how to organize better • 2 (10%) said they know how to make clearer and concise sentences • 2 (10%) said their writing is still improving or hasn’t developed in the course at all • 1 (5%) said the feedback from other students helped the revision process

1: not confident at all, didn’t feel like I was a good writer 5: very confident-I knew I was capable of good writing when I want to invest the time Confidence after taking 070

0: not confident at all-I felt like I was not a good writer 5: very confident-I knew I was capable of good writing when I want to invest the time

Issues that arose in 070 • Skipping required meetings with the instructor • Those who resent the course and feel like their placement has been a mistake often perform worse and are less motivated • Stigma surrounding the term “ELL” can make students resent the class because they see it as an ELL class instead of a developmental course • Not being financially secure and struggling to pay tuition affects their attitude towards the course

Four options to close remediation exit ramps 74.4% complete remediation 36.8% complete remediation AND associated college-level courses in two years 35.1% graduate within 6 years • Strengthen high school preparation (too many students start in remediation) • Start students in college level courses with built-in co-requisite support (remediation barely helps) • Embed needed academic help in multiple gateway courses (too few complete gateway courses) • Encourage students to enter programs of study when they first enroll (too few graduate) From insidehighered.com

What did 159 students like best? WHAT DO THEY RECOMMEND FOR INSTRUCTORS? • Group discussions and peer reviews • Feedback from students • The environment to make friends • Learning new writing skills • More group discussions with drafts • Have the writing samples be anonymous

References • Aaron Krall, personal communication, December 6, 2017 • Aaron Krall. “Disrupting Remediation Slides” • Aaron Krall. “Disrupting Remediation: The Completion Agenda at UIC” • Charitianne Williams, personal communication, December 6, 2017 • Complete College America (2012). Remediation-Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere. https://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/files/CCA%20Remediation%20ES%20FINAL.pdf • Survey with English 070 students. Google Forms. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1lDZE5vHvOU53dTaPFdktjBKv6EL2qFZdU_gtvB_mpno/edit#responses • Survey with English 159 students. Google Forms. • https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1piddVFvSklbC0q2_mjQjZJvGB2QMKFPtCuky0BDYi1o/edit#responses • https://catalog.uic.edu/all-course-descriptions/engl/UIC Academic Catalog • https://diversity.uic.edu/diversity-data/ UIC Diversity

How Successful are co-requisite and non-credit English courses in colleges?