A Foundation Priority: Catalyzing a Networked Improvement Community for a Statistics Pathway

1. A Foundation Priority: Catalyzing a Networked Improvement Community for a Statistics Pathway Anthony S. Bryk September 2009

2. Establishing the Context:What are we working towards? ASSUMPTION We live in a knowledge-based economy Ambitious Learning For All Students ASSUMPTION More Efficient Systems Fierce competition for resources

3. But We Live in an Incoherent Environment for Improvement Foundation “X” Strategic Priorities CommercialMarketIncentives State Policies & Current Reform Priorities P P R P P P A Dense Array of Fragmented Activity R Current “Hot Topics” in the Academy R R R Local Institutional Considerations R P R Foundation “Y” Strategic Priorities R R Key: = Individual Researcher = Individual Practitioner R P

4. “The Horizon” Ambitious Learning For All Students The current educational R&D system will not get us to our goals More Efficient Systems Networked improvement communities needed • Problems of Practice Improvement Focus • Rapid prototyping-test-refine-retry (Engineering) • Co-development in an open resources environment • Not just can it work; How to make it work reliably

5. Why Focus on Developmental Mathematics in Community Colleges? • A major institution for advancing social equity and fueling 21st century labor needs. • Yet many students find their path to success blocked by developmental ed requirements. • A “bridge problem” between K-12 and post-secondary. • So let’s remove the wall and figure out how to effect greater success for larger numbers of students.

6. A Failure of Basic Education:The Problem is Everywhere • Nationally: • 60 percent of students enrolling in community colleges take remedial classes. • 90 percent for low-income and minority students at some community colleges. • The number of students moving from remedial education classes to college-level courses can drop as low as 15 percent

7. Many Different Claims about the Problem and Promising Solutions A sampler P: Assessments misplace students in developmental math ( taking test “cold turkey”) S: Summer Bridge Programs P: Incoherent Curriculum structure/schedule ( too many discrete hurdles) S: Integrated, intensive, course pathways P: Not allocating our best people to our hardest problems S: Change incentive/ rewards systems P: Weak instructional practices S: faculty improvement community P: Targeting the wrong learning goals for many students? P: We are out of touch. 21st century students S: exploit technology P: Students weakly connected to institution/peers S: learning communities P: Weak counseling support services S: case management system P: a problem analysis S: a promising solution claim

8. A Big Orienting Question: Are We Aiming at the Right Learning Goals? • What is that students actually need to know and do for success in work and life? • And taking a step back, what are they likely to know upon entry into a community college?

9. Revisiting the Question of Rigor:An “Immodest Proposal” • More content for more students along the path to Calculus? • Or, robust instructional systems where all students attain: • Deep understanding of basic concepts • Attain procedural fluency in use • Apply these fundaments in analyzing basic problems in work and personal life • Coupled with statistics, data analysis, quantitative reasoning • the mathematics for many occupations • the mathematics for many professions • the mathematics for citizenship--making decisions under • uncertainty about our life in an increasingly complex commons

10. An Improvement Network Organized Around Solving This Problem • A common analytic frame for organizing local improvements • Common measures (student background, processes, and outcomes) to inform continuous improvement • A shared technical capacity to support and build local capacity • Linked together in a community of participation (face-to-face and web 2.0)

11. A Student-Centered Statistics Pathway What do we need to know about the students? Mathematics skills, understanding& background Literacy and language capacities Schooling histories/ Experiences Work-family factors affecting persistence What must students know/do & do we know if we’re Improving? Computational skills Math understanding necessary for subsequent success Dispositions to succeed in college Acquired social capital to persist P: Assessments misplace students in developmental math ( taking test “cold turkey”) S: Bootcamps P: Incoherent Curriculum structure/schedule ( too many discrete hurdles; no “race course”; no continuity faculty & students) S: Integrated, intensive, course pathways P: Not allocating our best people to our hardest problems S: Change incentive/ rewards systems P: Weak instructional practices S: nurture faculty-research improvement community P: Targeting the wrong learning goals for many students P: We are out of touch. 21st century students S: exploit technology P: Students weakly connected to institution/peers S: learning communities P: Weak counseling support services S: case mngt. systems

12. An Improvement Network Organized Around Solving the Problem Program Improvement Map P Practice Nodes P Research Nodes R R P P P R R R P P R P Partnerships R P P Partnerships R Partnerships R R R P R Core R&D Relationships R&D Relationships Enhanced/Scaled via Commercial Partnerships An Open Resources Infrastructure

13. An Improvement Network Organized Around this Problem Program Improvement Map Hub P Practice Nodes P Research Nodes R R P P P R R R P P R P R P P R R R R P R OER/D-EE-D Platform

14. Seed the Network with Core Technical Support Capacity 1: Instructional Core Capacity 2: Integrated Assessments Capacity 4: Organizational Change Capacity 3: Faculty Learning • Nurture faculty community around this instructional system and its continuous improvement • Resources to enhance faculty expertise at they engage “this instructional system with these students” • Develop teaching performance assessments ( learning teaching) • Learning Goals/Curriculum Framework • Core Instructional Practices • Advancing student success -- how to engage the learner and provide social supports for learning • Entry assessments to inform and individualize instruction—understanding better who our students are • Embedded formative assessment tasks • Summative performance assessment • Leadership engagement support and press for change • Building capacity of change agents internal and external 1 Investigating the technology value-added possibilities 3 2 Building knowledge development & management capacity Infusing special attention to ELL students/language/literacy issues Cross-cutting Capacities

15. The End Goal: Measureable Success on a Statistics Pathway Math English GE1 GE2 . . . Transfer Level Credits Statistics (no pre-requisites) Inter. Algebra Just-in-time Elem. Algebra 1-YEAR Just-in-time Pre-Algebra Just-in-time