Thursday, January 27, 2011

Guest Post: Where the Innovators Lie

Although the amount of food consumed this past holiday season might prove otherwise, sometimes you can’t get too much of a good thing…like this new Developmental Education Initiative blog.

This blog is the right thing at the right time, and adds another welcome element to a sea change that is reshaping the entire landscape of career pathways and developmental education. One of the greatest challenges to our economy today is giving lower-wage/lower-skill/lower-educated workers the boost they need to attain the educational credentials to qualify for higher-skill/higherwage jobs. This is a role for developmental education and other bridge programs.

Too often, in the past, such educational programs have been criticized as ineffective and, at times, even worse. But as the national movement to improve college completion shows, many educators have gotten the message and are changing the face of bridge education.

And there is evidence that really good things are happening and making a difference. We at Workforce Strategy Center, with the generous support of The Joyce Foundation, this summer completed BridgeConnect, the first national survey of bridge programs. The full report is available on the Resources section of the DEI website under “Curricular and Instructional Revisions”. Among the survey findings based on reporting from 515 programs in 47 states and the District of Columbia:

  • Over 67% of the students who enter the programs go on to higher training
  • Over 50% are ready for college-level courses.
One of the most interesting findings was that virtually everybody in the field wanted to know more about what others are doing. So many seem to feel that they have been fighting the good fight alone. Social media such as this blog can change that. It will allow us to share best practices and lessons learned.

This battle to educate our workforce is too important for anyone to fight alone. And thankfully, it turns out, there are a lot of innovators out there already eager to share their experiences. Change is not coming. It is here. And information-sharing blogs like this can only help us get where we need to go.

Julian L. Alssid is the Executive Director of the Workforce Strategy Center.


A DEI Bridge Program
One of the DEI institutions that is innovating on the bridge program front is North Central State College in Mansfield, Ohio. NC State’s Solutions adult transition program is a collaborative effort involving the college, Mansfield City Schools Adult Basic Literacy Education, and Richland County Job and Family Services. This unique program is integrated within the Tutoring Resource Center at North Central State College. The Solutions program provides self-paced, individualized instruction for students who have tested into developmental education at NC State College. Participation in Solutions is mandatory for students with COMPASS Reading scores of 59 or below, and is strongly recommended for those who place two levels down in writing or three levels down in mathematics.

89% of Solutions participants improve at least one developmental level in at least one subject before transitioning to college classes, and 92% subsequently pass the higher- level class they have tested into. Students who complete Solutions and then transition to college consistently outperform their non-Solutions counterparts on success metrics such as developmental course completion, gateway course completion, and persistence.  

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Guest Post: Driving the Golden Spike – Aligning State Developmental Education Policy

After reading Stephen Ambrose’s “Nothing Like It in the World,” it occurred to me that setting state and system education policy is much like the story of the Transcontinental Railroad—different groups trying to get to the same point, but taking separate paths. While the Transcontinental Railroad resulted in the driving of the golden spike linking the two coasts of the United States, policy processes that are not coordinated often times never get on track and fail to achieve their goals.

Through our policy framework, Getting Past Go has challenged states and systems to align their developmental education policies into a cohesive whole that contribute to state higher education goals. In reality, states and system leaders are faced with disconnected policy processes that have the same goal, but are on parallel tracks. As a result, leaders must creatively and thoughtfully seize opportunities to move these processes onto a single track.

Tennessee’s new developmental education policies provide a wonderful example of how efforts that are not coordinated can still lead to sound and promising policy. Together, the Complete College Tennessee Act and the Tennessee Board of Regents’ (TBR) new A-100 guideline connect results-oriented developmental education reform to statewide higher education goals.

The A-100 guideline, which was developed as part of the Tennessee Board of Regents’ Developmental Education Redesign Initiative, incorporated the lessons learned from six course redesign pilot projects to set clear achievement benchmarks and empower institutions to develop their own evidence-based course redesign plans. Institutions that don’t hit the performance benchmarks must revise their plans until they hit the benchmarks.

While the new TBR policy was taking shape, the Complete College Tennessee Act was making its way through the Tennessee legislature. Among the legislation’s provisions were state goals to increase college completion and a new performance-based funding model that would reward institutions for, among other things, success in developmental education. As these two policies moved toward implementation, it became clear that the benchmarks set in the A-100 made sense for the Complete College Tennessee Act’s performance funding model. Consequently the two policies, while taking separate paths, drove a golden spike into large-scale developmental education reform in Tennessee.

Tennessee’s policies create funding incentives, clear direction on how institutions can earn the incentives, and the institutional flexibility to implement the approach that makes sense.  Only time will tell if this lack of coordination in the policy process will turn out as well as the Transcontinental Railroad.

For more stories about how other states are charting their own path in developmental education, I encourage you to check out the state developmental education profiles on the Getting Past Go Web site at http://gettingpastgo.org

Bruce Vandal is Director of the Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development Institute for the Education Commission of the States.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Guest Post: Levers for Change

Institutional change can be even more transformative (and sustainable) when it’s backed by supportive state policy. That’s why the Developmental Education Initiative—with leadership from Jobs for the Future (JFF)--also includes six state policy teams.They’re tackling questions like: In which policy areas should states concentrate their efforts to improve outcomes for students who test into developmental education? And how do those areas interact to accelerate change? They’re already well on their way to answering them, using the Developmental Education Initiative State Policy Framework and Strategy. 

The Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) builds on the foundation of Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. After collaborating with DEI state leads, consulting the research literature, and receiving advice from national experts, JFF identified six priority state policy levers:
  • Aligned expectations (P-16)
  • Assessment and placement
  • Data performance and measurement
  • Developmental education innovation and redesign
  • Integration of academic and student services,
  • Finance
But developing consensus on policy levers is not sufficient to improve student success.  Thus, we developed the DEI State Policy Strategy, a state-level developmental education improvement strategy that incorporates the above levers into three innovation-focused action priorities:
  • A Data-Driven Improvement Process that ensures the right conditions for innovation. This includes data and performance measurement activities, specifically identifying the right success measures (including intermediate measures that indicate if a student is on track for success) and protocols for systematic sharing of results as a part of state-level processes for continuous improvement.
  • A State-Level Innovation Investment Strategy that helps states align and coordinate support from multiple sources to provide incentives for the development, testing, and scaling up of effective models for helping underprepared students succeed.
  • Policy Supports that provide a foundation for improved outcomes for underprepared students, facilitate the implementation of effective and promising models, and encourage the spread of successful practices.
Here’s an example of how one state policy team is employing these strategy: The Connecticut Community College System (CCCS) has two DEI colleges, but has leveraged its support for improved outcomes across the other 10 community colleges in the system. CCCS secured resources to provide $50,000 seed money for innovation initiatives in all 12 of the System’s colleges. This investment in innovation, in combination with additional funding for performance, is designed to accelerate institutional innovation across the state.

When the elements of this framework are combined with support for a state-level network of institutional innovators, assisted by strong state-level technical assistance services, we believe states will accelerate the creation of solutions and pathways that improve outcomes for students who test into developmental education.

Michael Collins is a Program Director at Jobs for the Future

For more information see the DEI State Policy Framework and Strategy, available on the Resources page under "State Policy."

Friday, January 21, 2011

Jump Into the Pool

Overcoming barriers to expanding effective programs is no easy task. To provide additional support to the 15 DEI colleges, a pool of technical assistants was created. In addition, colleges were encouraged to identify others who might be helpful to their efforts. Byron McClenney of UT-Austin’s Community College Leadership Program leads the training and deployment of DEI technical assistants; he notes that these “critical friends can raise difficult questions, challenge assumptions, and suggest pathways to scaling-up the important interventions.” DEI colleges can call in skilled DEI Technical Assistance Providers to aid them in developing and improving their programs, addressing issues of engaging full-time and adjunct faculty, contextualizing teaching and learning, and integrating technology, not to mention identifying the appropriate professional development to undergird these efforts. In Tales of Technical Assistance we will periodically spotlight a DEI college that has engaged technical assistance to take the institution’s DEI work to the next level. We begin in sunny Florida!

The College: Valencia Community College in Orlando, Florida

The Difficulty: VCC is aiming for improved course completion rates in targeted mathematics courses, such as algebra. One approach that interested the college was identifying ways that math faculty could collaborate with faculty in other disciplines.

The Expert: DEI Technical Assistance Provider Susan Forman, Professor of Mathematics, Bronx Community College, CUNY

The Accomplishment: Forman facilitated a shift in the college’s thinking about how other disciplines, such as reading and English, can help students learn math. “We had always put the burden on the math teachers,” says Dr. Nicholas Bekas, Valencia’s DEI Project Director. Through a series of engaging sessions, with a variety of faculty, Susan encouraged discussion about how various disciplines can help students learn math. For example, Susan emphasized the importance of integrating reading skills into mathematics classes. “If a student doesn’t understand the first sentence, they won’t understand the second. Math is a building discipline rather than an explanatory one,” Forman explains. 

Forman also challenged the Valencia administration to become more involved in the college’s developmental education work. “She really talked openly and honestly to the administration about understanding their role in this and how they can help us move forward,” Bekas says.

What Really Worked: Forman helped connect faculty involved with the DEI project with faculty from the college’s general education courses, and was practical and open to questions. Bekas reflects, “She read everything, and because she knew what we were trying to do when she came to us, she was ready.  She knew about us.  That’s what made it more engaging and I think helped us more.”

Lasting Effects: Since Forman’s visit, Valencia is working to integrate reading, writing, and math, focusing particularly on incorporating math content into reading and writing classes.

Breanna Detwiler is MDC's Autry Fellow. 

Thursday, January 20, 2011

What's in a Name?

Ever wish you had a ready-made elevator speech for talking about developmental education? Something simple, straightforward, and conversational that anyone would understand? Talking about developmental ed can be challenging. So to help, we’ve assembled some general advice and messaging for discussing developmental education with any audience. It’s our goal to provide you with the basics for getting the word out whether you’re at a board meeting with trustees or in line at the grocery store.  (Because we really want to spread the good word everywhere, people.)

While these documents were developed with DEI colleges in mind as the users, we think they will be useful to a broader audience. The messages draw on research from our funders, Public Agenda, and some trusty communications consultants. Here’s a brief rundown of the four pieces we’ve prepared to help you meet the challenge. Future blog posts will delve into the content and utility of each:  

  1. Talking Points –special messages for key audiences and four main themes: 
    • The problem: Half the new jobs created in the next 10 years will require some college education. Yet right now, students who need a developmental course are much less likely to finish college than those who don’t need one. 
    • The conventional one-size-fits-all approach to developmental education doesn’t work for many students. 
    • Developmental education can work for students who need it. 
    • It’s just a matter of offering motivated Americans at all stages of life and from every background a fair chance at a good-paying career and a better future. 
  2. Dev Ed is Good for Business & the Economy—an economic appeal for propelling under-prepared students toward rewarding careers. 
  3. Promising Examples from DEI Colleges—a quick look at the types of innovation that are changing students’ lives. 
  4. Institutional Innovation & State Policy Change—how coordination of these two important efforts is essential to sustainable success.
You can find all of these in the Resources section of our website under “Communications.” In the coming weeks, we’ll be blogging about specific messaging problems that all of us encounter, including students’ negative perceptions of developmental education and the search for a name and definition for these courses that is both representative and accessible. This blog can be a forum to test and share new ways of talking about developmental education. Let’s get started: click on the “comments” link below and give us your most successful dev ed elevator speech.

Richard Hart is MDC's Communications Director.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Welcome!

Welcome to the new DEI website and blog! Our updated, more outwardly focused website will accommodate a growing number of requests from practitioners outside of the initiative to share in what we’re learning. The majority of our resources are now available on the public side of the website. Here at the “Accelerating Achievement” blog you’ll find posts about current news, learning, and research as well as highlights of the work that’s being done in DEI colleges and states. We’ll share our viewpoint on how this learning can be taken up on other campuses and states—and we hope you’ll share your perspective, too.

We’ll update weeklyand as inspiration strikes. But just to show you all of the impressive happenings, we’ll be posting even more frequently for the next two weeks. Our blog entries will focus on eight main topics:
  • Statewise. DEI’s state policy teams, coordinated by Jobs For the Future, are pushing state community college systems and legislatures to change outdated and cumbersome rules, funding, and incentive structures that stand in the way of innovation. Look here for examples of how policy teams and front-line innovators are working together.
  • Talking About Dev Ed. Varied definitions and passionate opinions can make conversations about developmental education tricky, so we’re developing messaging strategies that practitioners, college leaders, and policymakers can use to garner support. We’ll share them here.
  • In the News. We’ll keep an eye on media coverage of developmental education—and spice it up with a little analysis and conversation starters.
  • Scaling Up. MDC is harvesting the latest thinking on scaling from the social innovation and enterprise field. We’ll serve it up here, calling attention to tools and resources that can help colleges and states increase the impact of their innovation.
  • Innovation Highlight. Colleges inside and outside the Initiative are developing new strategies to get students through dev ed successfully. In this section, we’ll get the inside scoop on all that innovation.
  • Tales of Technical Assistance. Our colleges are making use of the DEI Technical Assistance Providers to overcome barriers to expanding effective programs. We’ll spotlight some successes on the loop of continuous improvement.
  • DEI Dispatches. There’s a lot going on in the DEI network of colleges, states, and partners. We’ll be highlighting learnings from our exchanges of information and ideas here. 
If you have any feedback or ideas about how we can make this blog more informative or interesting, please be in touch. We’re excited. Can you tell? If you’ve got recommendations about people, innovations, or anything else we need to know about, send us an email.

Maggie Shelton is MDC's Senior Program Director for the Developmental Education Initiative.