FOB Transitions

8/2/2019 FOB Transitions

1/36


2/36

2FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

Focus on Basics is the quarterlypublication of the NationalCenter for the Study of Adult

Learning and Literacy. It presents bestpractices, current research on adultlearning and literacy, and how researchis used by adult basic education teach-

ers, counselors, program administrators,and policymakers. Focus on Basics isdedicated to connecting research withpractice, to connecting teachers withresearch and researchers with the realityof the classroom, and by doing so,making adult basic education researchmore relevant to the field.

All subscription and editorialcorrespondence should be sent to:

Focus On Basics

World Education44 Farnsworth StreetBoston, MA 022101211

e-mail address: [email protected]

Focus on Basics is copyrighted, but weurge readers to photocopy and circulatethe publication widely. When reprintingarticles, please creditFocus on Basicsand the National Center for the Studyof Adult Learning and Literacy.

Editor: Barbara GarnerLayout: Mary T. WhiteIllustrator: Mary T. WhiteProofreader: Celia Hartmann

Focus on Basics is published by the

National Center for the Study of AdultLearning and Literacy (NCSALL).NCSALL is funded by the EducationalResearch and Development CentersProgram, Award Number R309B60002,as administered by the Office of Educa-tional Research and Improvement,U.S. Department of Education.

The contents ofFocus on Basics do notnecessarily represent the positions orpolicies of NCSALL or World Education;the Office of Educational Researchand Improvement; or the U.S. Depart-ment of Education, and you should notassume endorsement by the FederalGovernment.

Welcome!Few would debate the value of postsecondary education, especially for General

Educational Development (GED) credential holders and high-level students of English

for speakers of other languages (ESOL) who have high school diplomas. Making ithappen is the challenge. The sad truth is that many adult basic education (ABE) studentsdont perceive of college as a place for them. Being an older than average student, oftenwith family responsibilities, creates a social barrier. Those who do enroll often find thattheir academic skills, while sufficient to pass the GED, or their English skills, while finefor daily life, need strengthening before they can place into courses in which they canearn credits towards graduation. And the cost of college and correlated lost wages is anever growing perhaps the greatest barrier to enrolling or persisting in postsecondaryeducation. Nonetheless, college remains the key to economic opportunity for all students.

It is encouraging, therefore, to find a growing number of ABE providers adding whatwe call transition programs designed to encourage students to enroll and enable themto persist in postsecondary education. These programs usually partner in some way withpostsecondary institutions, providing counseling and academic services tailored to theneeds of ABE students who are college-bound or enrolled in college. Focus on Basics

talked to NCSALL researcher John Tyler about why college is such an economicnecessity: that interview begins on page 17. For an overview of the growing transitionmovement and a snapshot of different program models, turn to the article by JudyAlamprese (page 26) and chart by Jessica Spohn and Silja Kallenbach (page 28).

A strong program design is important for a successful transition program, but it isrelationships that make it work, found Jeanne Belisle Lombardo and her colleagues at RioSalado College in Arizona. She describes this in our cover story.

Those responsible for strengthening students academic skills which is a componentin all transition programs will find Maricel G. Stantos research (page 7) on the academicvocabulary skills needed by language minority students useful. Another stumbling blockfor students aspiring to college is math, and algebra in particular. A team of ABE mathexperts from around the country talked with Focus on Basics (page 30) about why mathposes such a problem and what to do about it.

Not all transition programs are young, and not all are additions to existing ABE pro-

grams. Massachusetts ODWIN center was established specifically to enable adults whohad career aspirations that depended upon postsecondary schooling to fulfill their dreams.Director Mary Tacelli writes about the origins and current face of the program that hashelped about 3000 students succeed in college since its inception in 1964 (page 14).

Rhode Islands Dorcas Place staff found that not all ABE and ESOL students havepostsecondary aspirations. Introducing students to college as a place for them is an impor-tant part of that program, as is building a sense of cohort among students as they makethe transition to college. Brenda Dann-Messier and Eva I. Kampits describe the programin the article that starts on page 22.

Even with the best intentions, getting a transition program up and running smoothlyand effectively is not easy. Go to page 19 to read a candid account of the glitches andsnags the staff at the transition program at Edmonds Community College in Washingtonfaced in establishing their program, and how they addressed them.

Why are transition programs so important? If students place into remedial courses, as

they too often do, the already daunting costs of postsecondary education rise. World Educa-tions Deepa Rao writes insightfully about this issue (page 10). Heed her suggestions, find apostsecondary partner, and develop an effective, flexible transition program for your students.

Sincerely,

Barbara GarnerEditor


3/36

Focuson

Basics

NCSALL FEBRUARY 2004

3

Relationships Countcontinued from page 1

students a year. In response

to the need to move academi-

cally capable ESOL students

into postsecondary educationaland training opportunities

in the MCCCD system, the

college established a transition

program in the summer of

1998.

Rio Salado College had longrecognized the need for a formaltransition program. In 1998, theArizona State legislature decided tosupport such a program with state

funds. The Legislature changed theexisting regulatory language andallowed community colleges pro-viding ABE services in Arizona tocollect Full Time Student Equivalentmoney (FTSE) to support transitionprograms. FTSE (pronounced footsie)is state aid money paid to the com-munity college based on studenthours. With its funding assured, theTransition Program at Rio Salado waslaunched with two program advisors,a half-time counselor, and a data

entry clerk.This structure was expanded a

year later to include a full-time coordi-nator, three full-time transition advisors,and an administrative secretary. Oneof these advisors works exclusivelywith ESOL students, recruiting a totalof about 150 new students a year, ofwhom about half are ESOL students.Most of Rio Salado Colleges ESOLtransition students are Hispanic,predominantly Mexican, 50 percentmale and 50 percent female, single,and between the ages of 21 and 36.

Some older students are married andhave one or two children. In additionto Mexico, students come from otherLatin American countries, Asia,Europe and the former Soviet Union,Africa, and the

Middle East. Incontrast to manylower-level ESOLstudents, most ESOLTransition Programstudents are bettereducated in theircountry of origin,having finished atleast high school.More than half areemployed, at leastpart-time, and most

take one or twoclasses a semester afterthey complete the transition. Manyare recent arrivals to the UnitedStates and show enthusiasm for theopportunities represented by the pro-gram. With few recruiting problems,the focus is on better preparing themfor college.

The three Transition Programadvisors form the backbone of theprogram. One focuses on recruitingstudents from approximately 20 to 25

advanced ESOL classes, spendingabout 30 percent of his time on this.Visits to classes are spaced so that theadvisor visits each class about oncea month. The advisor adjusts thefrequency of visits based on thereadiness of students at a particularsite. Variables include when thestudents started in that level, whetheror not they have participated in aTransition Program workshop yet,individual motivation and readiness,and the speed at which students areprogressing in their ESOL studies.

The students are in classes acrossMaricopa County; the farthest sitefrom our central office is a 30 to 40minute drive away on the freeway.

Relations with theESOL Program

The cooperation and supportof the ESOL teachers are essentialto the program. Teachers and theESOL Transition Program advisorcollaborate naturally. Aside from thein-service trainings and occasionalspecial trainings focusing on tips for

preparing ESOL students for academicwriting, teachers are not paid for timeoutside their teaching duties. Most,however, keep a supply of TransitionProgram fliers and brochures on handand distribute them to students whohave recently arrived in their classes,refer potential candidates to ourprogram, and communicate studentsstrengths and areas where improve-ment is needed. We find that studentswhose teachers work closely with usare better able to transition.

The Transition Program advisorrecruits from the upper level ESOLclasses using a PowerPoint presentation.This presentation covers the programsoffered at the MCCCD colleges; thesupport services available, includingchild-care; ways to prepare ahead oftime; facts to dispel fears that studentsdont belong in community college,such as statistics on the number of

ESOL / ESLIn this article, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) is used to referto the classes in which students are enrolled when they are recruited for theprogram. English as a Second Language (ESL) is used to refer to communitycollege classes. These are credit courses on a par with developmental levelclasses and as such do not count towards graduation requirements.

...more students goon to take college classesfrom sites where teachers

take a proactive role inthe transition process

and work closelywith the TransitionProgram advisor.


4/36

4FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

women, minorities, and students over30 who make up the student population;and recommended timelines. It isgiven in English, since students readyfor transition must function in Englishsufficiently to navigate the system. It

is, however, desirable for the Transi-tion Program advisor working withESOL students to be able to speakSpanish, since so many of our ESOLstudents are native Spanish speakers.

Not only does this give theadvisor insight into thechallenges these students face,it also allows him to provideinformation to many of thebeginning ESOL students toencourage them to transitionin the future.

We have found that morestudents go on to take collegeclasses from sites whereteachers take a proactive rolein the transition process andwork closely with the Transi-tion Program advisor. It alsohelps tremendously whenthe advisor has experienceteaching ESOL, ESL, or evenEnglish as a Foreign Language(EFL). We share informationvia the ABE Program news-

letter, the Transition Programnewsletter, sessions at the biannualin-service trainings for instructors,and letters sent out by the TransitionProgram coordinator. One of the bestways that teachers and the advisorshare information is through one-on-one conversations during site visits.This is especially effective when theadvisor knows the content of thecollege classes into which thestudents will transition.

Relationshipswith Students

Transition services are offered toall ESOL students once they havereached the high-intermediate toadvanced level in ESOL. After a class-room visit by the Transition Programadvisor, students are invited to con-tact him; appointments are held at a

location convenient to the student.Students are considered TransitionProgram participants when they arestill taking ESOL classes but begin tohave one-on-one advisement, usuallyin the semester before they enroll in a

college class. Once they enroll in anESL class on a college campus in thesystem, they generally stop takingESOL instruction, although some stillprefer to take non-credit ESOL as

well for the extra opportunity to learnwhat these classes provide.

The Transition Program advisormeets one-on-one two or three timeswith a student. This is flexible, how-ever: the advisor is accessible on anas-needed basis. A first meeting typi-cally includes a discussion of thestudents goals, motivation, and pre-paredness for taking college classes.Together the student and advisorcomplete initial program paperwork.The student will have been tested inhis or her ESOL class and the advisorwill have the results. If the scores indi-cate that the student is academicallyready to participate in the program,arrangements are made for the studentto take the college English languageplacement test (CELSA).

A visit to the college for theCELSA, coupled with assistance withadmissions and a short tour of the

campus, constitutes a second visit.The advisor helps with class selectionat this time and steers the student toregistration services. Students attendingthe same college or coming from thesame class sometimes do this together

as a group. Students can meet indi-vidually with the advisor anothertime to discuss the particulars of theirsituations.

GaugingReadiness

After the first year of theprogram, we realized that weneeded to have a systematicassessment of studentsreadiness for college classes

and English language skills,in particular writing andgrammar. The advisors hadbeen giving the CELSA testto gauge readiness, but foundthat the scores were nota good determinant of it.Moreover, advisors had ethicalconcerns about using the testmultiple times with eachstudent, since it can only begiven twice in a one-yearperiod. Instead, we chose as

an assessment the language portionof the Test of Adult Basic Education(TABE: Survey Form 7, Level D).The TABE gives a good indication ofadvanced ESOL students ability ingrammar and writing. Because it isalso prescriptive, it is useful in deter-mining areas in which students needremediation. Students are required toscore 18 out of 25 questions on theTABE to be eligible for the TransitionProgram. This places them at an

eighth-grade level for native Englishspeakers.After being accepted into the

program based on their TABE scores,students begin a systematic study ofgrammar and prepare for the CELSA.The advisor provides students withCELSA study guides and encouragesthem to take a free Transition Pro-gram writing workshop. These areoffered three times a year at our


5/36

Focuson

Basics


5

central site, the Adult Learning Cen-ter, and at least three times a year atother sites, and run from five weeksto 15 weeks, depending on the site.The workshops meet once a week fortwo hours and were designed based on

observations of classes in upper-levelESL grammar, writing, and readingand a review of the texts used inthose classes.

At smaller sites, where it isimpractical to offer a workshop, theTransition Program advisor worksclosely with the ESOL teachers,encouraging them to provide chal-lenging exercises for students partici-pating in the Transition Program,and to assist with transition journalwriting. Journals not only serve as a

tool for assessment and advisement,but also provide a dialogue betweenadvisor and students. In the past,the advisor reviewed studentsjournals, but now we encourageteachers to review them. TheTransition Program also providesmaterials for independent study forstudents who are not able to take awriting workshop. Studentscomplete the materials inthe Independent StudyProgram (ISP) packet of

reading and writing assign-ments, and the transitionadvisor reviews them.

Relations withFor-Credit Staff

Rio Salado Collegeadministers the ESOL Pro-gram but it is the only collegein the system that does notoffer a for-credit ESL pro-

gram. ESOL students there-fore transition into one of thenine other colleges. Establishingand maintaining good relations andcommunication with staff at thesecolleges, in particular in FinancialAid, Admissions, Advisement, andamong ESL faculty, is critical tostudent success. In the programsearly days, the coordinator activelyestablished relationships. She met

with the appropriate people on eachcampus to explain the TransitionPrograms objectives. The coordinatortracks changes in personnel on thecampuses, makes periodic visits,updates lists for the team, and keeps

our contacts informed about programactivities and concerns.The importance of this con-

nection can be seen in each step ofthe transition process. For example,the Transition Program provides itsstudents with small scholarships,which cover up to six credits ofcollege tuition. This allows studentstime to adapt to the more academi-cally demanding environment ona college campus without worryingabout the cost of tuition and gives

them time to explore other avenuesof financial assistance. Studentsbegin to pay their own tuition forhigher-level ESL or general classesthat they can apply towards acertificate or degree. The TransitionProgram, through its contacts in theFinancial Aid departments, providessupport in this area as well. The

program coordinator keeps currenton scholarship opportunities open tostudents and the advisor refers studentsto our contacts in Financial Aidoffices on the campuses.

Without a strong relationshipbetween the Transition Program andthese important departments on eachcampus, the paperwork required in

the scholarship process could easilybe a deterrent to student enrollment.The personal connection with staffat the colleges makes it possible toaddress potential problems quicklyand effectively. It also promotes a

feeling of good will between RioSalado College and the sister collegesin the district and contributes to thepositive experiences of our students asthey transition and adjust to campuseducation.

ChallengesBy far, the biggest challenge has

been tracking students. Our abilityto track students across semestersand years has improved with the

development of a program-specificAccess database, which has thesupport of top management at themain campus. This database tracksstudents from the time they beginadvisement in the program andthrough their progress at a campusuntil they skip a semester. Weuse the Maricopa Districts student

tracking mechanism, StudentInformation System (SIS),to retrieve grades and trackstudent withdrawals or

drops each semester. Thisinformation is input into theTransition Access database.

Collaboration with theAdmissions and Recordsdepartments on campus isvery helpful. Although RioSalado College is in the samesystem as the other colleges,each maintains some auto-nomy, which is reflected inaccess to certain records. A

contact in the Admissionsdepartment can help us gainaccess to information that might behard to retrieve otherwise. Otherchallenges we have successfullyaddressed have included requiringstudents to understand the collegesdrop and refund policies, or re-quiring students to finish the ESLpathway at college before taking acomputer class there.

Establishing and

maintaining good relationsand communication with

staff at these colleges, in

particular in Financial Aid,

Admissions, Advisement,

and among ESL faculty, is

critical to student success.

continued, page 6


6/36

6FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

IndicatorsHow does the Rio Salado Transi-

tion Program know it is effective inrecruiting, enrolling, and retainingESOL students into communitycollege? One way we gauge success isto look at drop/withdrawal rates andpass/fail rates over the life of theprogram. There has been a dramaticand consistent decline over the lastfour years in the drop/withdrawal rateof ESOL Transition students and acorresponding increase in the pass rate.From FY 1999/2000 to 2002/2003,the drop/withdrawal rate fell fromjust over 30 percent to less than fivepercent. The graph below illustratesthis, with the first column representing

number of students and the secondcolumn the number of classes.A look at the pass/fail rate is

also revealing. In the first year of theprogram, 73 percent of college levelESL classes taken by transitionstudents were passed. That went upto between 95 and 100 percent eachyear thereafter. Anecdotal evidenceand feedback from the colleges sug-gest that the program is placing betterprepared students into college classes.Some students are continuing with

their studies through multiple semesters,some of them are reporting theachievement of an Associates degree,

and a few are going on to take univer-sity classes, while others are improvingtheir immediate job situations.

What Weve

LearnedFrom the advisement process to

the collaboration with ABE instructorsand with student services contacts onthe various campuses, our personalapproach has fostered communicationbetween all involved, which wethink contributes to the successwere seeing. Another plus has beenscheduling flexibility, which enablestransition advisors to spend as muchtime as is necessary with students.This allows us to be far more effectivein building relationships with andsupporting students as they navigateall aspects of college.

The other key to the highretention of these students once theymake the transition to college classesis the level of preparation they receivein the semester leading up to theirfirst class. The team attributes muchof the success experienced by ourstudents to this aspect of the program.By the time students take high-level

ESL grammar classes, they have metnumerous times with the TransitionProgram advisor, have taken the

TABE assessment, have been giventhe opportunity to do individualizedstudy and take one or more writingworkshops and understand therequirements of college class.

As Rio Salados ABE Transition

Program moves into the future, theteam will continue to assist ESOLstudents wishing to achieve a post-secondary education. Along with thewriting workshops, the Program hasbegun to offer workshops in basiccomputer skills and has exploredopportunities to partner with locallibraries where students will haveaccess to computers at no cost. Forthose who are looking ahead touniversity study, the TransitionProgram coordinator has established

new contacts at Arizona StateUniversity, which will facilitate thetransfer process to a four-year college.The team will also partner with theGED arm of the program to provideexpanded services to ESOL stu-dents who wish to get a GED beforetransitioning into college classes. TheTransition Program has coordinatedthe use of GED graded readers inselected upper level ESOL classes.This helps prepare those students forthe transition into GED and also

provides additional academic practicefor all students.

Looking back over the fouryears, we can offer this advice. Trynew approaches! Experiment withworkshops and study programs. Tailorschedules to your students needs. Beflexible. Talk to college contacts toget a look at what is being done forESL students on the campuses. Thinkhow you can use your technologycreatively. Think how you can useother aspects of the larger programwith your ESOL students. And buildthose relationships. In the long run,they really do count.

About the AuthorJeanne Belisle Lombardo has taught ESL,ESOL, and EFL in California, Arizona,

Japan, and France. She now coordinatesthe ABE Transition Program at Rio SaladoCollege in Phoenix, AZ.y

35

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03

Drop/Withdrawal Rates for ESOL Students

YEAR


7/36

Focuson

Basics


7

The vocabulary first

of all, especially

when its long words,

it gets me confused and it make

me feel like if I dont under-

stand one word, then I wouldnt

understand the other thatwould [make] me stop, like

ok, this is getting me crazy!

This comment was made byLouie (a pseudonym), a20-year old Vietnamesecommunity college stu-dent, when asked whathe found most chal-lenging about readinghis academic textbooks.Louies frustration with

the vocabulary demandsof his college reading islikely shared by manylanguage-minority stu-dents who are makingthe transition fromEnglish as a secondlanguage (ESL) course-work to content coursesdesigned for nativeEnglish speakers. Forstudents who are new

to a content area suchas psychology, technicalwords like cognitive,dissociation, and psycho-analysis present achallenge. For students who arenot yet proficient reading academictexts, academic words such asnonetheless, illustrate, andproportion,that are commonly used in text-books across a range of subject areas

(Nation, 1990; Coxhead, 2000) may also be unfamiliar. While themeanings of technical words areoften reinforced by class lectures anddiscussions, students may be expectedto already know the meanings ofacademic words (Farrell, 1990).

Knowledge of academic words hasbeen found to differentiate academi-cally well-prepared from under-preparedcollege students from all backgrounds(Kuehn, 1996).

Many adult English for speakersof other languages (ESOL) practi-tioners recognize the link betweenreading comprehension and vocabu-lary growth (Anderson & Freebody,1981; Nagy, 1988). However, its not

always clear which words we shouldteach language-minority students toprepare them for college-level reading.In a study of typical communitycollege textbooks, I found that oneout of every six words, or roughly 16percent of the words in the textbook

sample, were academic words (Santos,2000). This proportion confirmed forme the importance of this area ofword knowledge in college reading,particularly in light of research

indicating that readersoften struggle to readindependently whenabout two percentof the words in a textare unknown (Carver,1994). The prevalence ofacademic vocabulary in

college reading materialis one of the reasonsI decided to focus mydoctoral dissertationon the academic vocab-ulary skills of language-minority communitycollege students. Thelanguage-minoritystudents in the studywere either enrolled inadvanced ESOL classes

or in their first semestertaking regular contentcourses at a communitycollege in urban NewEngland. In this article,

I describe the general design of thestudy and highlight some findings thatmay help adult basic education (ABE)and ESOL practitioners understand howacademic words can be taught andlearned effectively.

Some Findings on the AcademicVocabulary Skills of Language-Minority

Community College Studentsby Maricel G. Santos

R E S E A R C H F I N D I N G S

continued, page 8


8/36

8FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

The StudyThere were two parts to my

study. In part one, I administered anacademic vocabulary test called theUniversity Word Levels Test (Beglar& Hunt, 1999) to the communitycollege students. The sample includedlanguage-minority students in advancedESOL, language-minority students inintroductory psychology classes, andnative English-speaking students

enrolled in the same introductory

psychology class. These data allowedme to examine how the academicvocabulary knowledge of language-minority students compared to thatof native English-speaking studentsand to explore student characteristicsthat might be related to differencesin academic word knowledge. In parttwo of my study, I worked with afocal group of 10 language-minoritystudents. I interviewed them abouttheir reading habits and perceptionsof academic reading. I also examined

the kinds of strategies the studentsused to figure out unknown words inan academic text and probed howwell they knew academic words. Myanalysis of vocabulary assessment andinterview data yielded several obser-vations. I highlight four trends here: The native English-speaking

students exhibited stronger academicvocabulary skills than the language-

minority students in introductorypsychology classes who, in turn,performed better than the language-minority students in advanced ESOL

classes. This is not a surprising finding:we would expect language-minoritystudents to still be developing theirEnglish vocabulary knowledge. How-ever, there was a narrower gap inperformance between language-minority students enrolled in intro-

ductory psychology classes and their

native English-speaking peers thanbetween language-minority studentsin introductory psychology classesand language-minority students inadvanced ESOL classes. This isencouraging as it suggests that theselanguage-minority students, who havetransitioned beyond the need for ESLclasses, have indeed developed theiracademic vocabulary skills. On average, General Educa-

tional Development (GED) recipientsdemonstrated slightly weaker academicvocabulary skills than high schoolgraduates, a trend observed for bothlanguage-minority and native Englishspeaking students. This gap in academicword knowledge, however, was mostmarked among language-minoritystudents enrolled in introductorypsychology. This finding may providesome basis for directing vocabularyinstructional services to language-

minority students who are GEDrecipients and enrolled in mainstreamcourses. Language-minority community

college students with greater breadthof academic word knowledge alsodemonstrated greater depth of academicword knowledge. In other words,students with larger English vocabu-laries were able to identify morepossible meanings and uses for wordsthan students with smaller Englishvocabularies. Depth of academicword knowledge is important becausewords often have multiple meaningsdepending on the contexts in whichthey appear (Nagy, 1995; Read,

1998). (For example, the word fieldcan be used as in to plant corn in afield or as in the field of medicineor to field questions from the press.)Knowing only one meaning mighthamper students reading compre-hension: previous studies haveshown that learners will cling toa familiar meaning even when themeaning does not fit the broadercontext of the reading material(Huckin & Jin, 1987). These findingssuggest that deepening students

understanding of words they alreadyknew not just teaching themmore words would be a pro-ductive route to vocabulary develop-ment (Lewis, 2000). Finally, language-minority

students with relatively strongeracademic word skills were notconsistently better at inferring wordmeanings in context than studentswith relatively weaker academic wordskills. On the other hand, studentswith weak academic word skills weregenerally unsuccessful in their attemptsto figure out word meanings in context.In other words, good academic vocab-ulary knowledge does not guaranteesuccessful inferencing, but without it,successful inferencing is less likely.This is likely because students who donot know enough of the surroundingwords in an academic text will strug-gle to infer the meaning of a particular

RESEARCH FINDINGS

While the meanings of technicalwords are often reinforced by class

lectures and discussions, students maybe expected to already know themeanings of academic words. Knowledge

of academic words has been found todistinguish academically well-preparedfrom under-prepared college students

from all backgrounds.


9/36

Focuson

Basics


9

word (Stahl, 1999). I found this tobe true for language-minority studentsin both advanced ESOL classes andmainstream content courses. This

suggests that students will need tocontinue strengthening their wordinferencing skills even after they havetransitioned into mainstream classes.

There appear to be a range ofacademic word skills (e.g., breadth ofword knowledge, depth of knowledge,word inferencing skills) that can helpfocus academic word learning andteaching. With these findings, I hopeto provide an empirical basis forprompting new thinking in theABE/ESOL field about the need for

and nature of academic vocabularyinstruction for college-bound lang-uage minority students.

ReferencesAnderson, R. C., & Freebody, P. (1981).

Vocabulary knowledge. In J. Guthrie(ed.), Comprehension and Teaching:Research Reviews (pp. 77117). Newark,DE: International Reading Association.

Beglar, D., & Hunt, A. (1999). Revisingand validating the 2000 Word Leveland University World Level Vocabulary

Test. Language Testing, 16(2), 131-162.

Carver, R. (1994). Percentages of unknownwords in text as a function of the relativedifficulty of the text: Implications forinstruction.Journal of Reading Behavior,26(4), 413-437.

Coxhead, A. (1998). A new academicword list. TESOL Quarterly, 34(2),213-235.

Farrell, P. (1990). Vocabulary in ESL:A Lexical Analysis of the English of

Electronics and a Study of Semi-technical

Vocabulary. Dublin, Ireland: Centre forLanguage and Communication Studies.(ERIC Document ReproductionService No. ED332551)

Huckin, T. & Jin, Z. (1987). Inferringword meanings from context: A studyin second language acquisition. In F.Marshall (ed.). ESCOL86. Columbus,OH: Ohio State University Departmentof Linguistics.

Kuehn, P. (1996).Assessment of Academic

RESEARCH FINDINGS

Literacy Skills: Preparing Minority and

Limited English Proficient (LEP) Students

for Post-secondary Education. Fresno, CA:California State University, Fresno.(ERIC Document Reproduction

Service No. ED415498)

Lewis, M.(ed.) (2000). Teaching Collocation:Further Developments in the Lexical

Approach. London: LTP.

Nagy, W. (1988). Teaching Vocabularyto Improve Reading Comprehension.

Newark, DE: International ReadingAssociation.

Nation, I. (1990). Teaching and LearningVocabulary. Boston, MA: Heinle &Heinle Publishers.

Read, J. (1998). Validating a test to

measure depth of vocabulary knowl-edge. In Kunnan, A.J. (ed.). Validationin Language Assessment: Selected Papers

from the Seventeenth Language Testing

Research Colloquium, Long Beach.

(pp. 41-60). Mahwah, NJ: LawrenceErlbaum Associates.

Santos, M. (2000).Analyzing AcademicVocabulary and Contextual Cue Support

in Community College Textbooks. Un-published qualifying paper, HarvardGraduate School of Education,Cambridge, MA.

Stahl, S. (1999). Vocabulary Development.Cambridge, MA: Brookline Books.

Wiley, T. G. (1993).Access, Participationand Transition in Adult ESL: Implications

for Policy and Practice. Washington,DC: Southport Institute for Policy An-alysis. (ERIC Document ReproductionService No. ED421897)

About the AuthorMaricel G. Santos is a research associatewith the National Center for the Study ofAdult Learning and Literacy (NCSALL).Her research and teaching interests include

second language vocabulary development,academic language proficiency, and theinstructional needs of L2 learners makingthe transition from language-based instruc-tion to academic content instruction.y

Focus on BasicsElectronic

Discussion List

Focus on Basics electronic dis-cussion list is a forum for discussion

about the articles published in Focuson Basics. It is a place to conversewith colleagues about the themesexamined in the publication; toget questions answered and to posethem; to critique issues raised in thepublication; and to share relevantexperiences and resources.

To participate in the Focus onBasics discussion list (its free!), go tothe LINCS homepage at http://nifl.gov.Choose Discussions. Scroll down toand click on Focus on Basics. Thenclick onSubscribe, which is tothe left, and follow the instructions.

Or, send an e-mail message [email protected] the following request in the bodyof the message: SUBSCRIBE NIFLFOBasics firstname lastname. Spellyour first and last names exactly asyou would like them to appear. Forexample, Sue Smith would type:subscribe NIFLFOBasics Sue Smith

There should be no other textin the message. Give it a couple ofminutes to respond. You should receivea return mail message welcoming youto NIFLFOBasics.

The manager of this list is

Barbara Garner, editor ofFocuson Basics. She can be reached [email protected]. PleaseDO NOT send subscription requeststo this address.y

Editorial Board

Volume 6DFebruary 2004

Miriam Burt, Center for AppliedLinguistics, Washington, DC

Janet Liftee, McKinley CommunitySchool, Honolulu, HI

Betsy Topper, MetropolitanAlliance for Adult Learning,Kansas City, MO

Sally Waldron, World Education,Boston, MA


10/36

10FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

Community colleges have

long recognized the

need for postsecondary

education and made access to

it easy and affordable. Most

community colleges have made

a strong commitment to what

is known as the open door

policy: they will not turn awayany student who has a high

school diploma or has passed

the tests of General Educa-

tional Development (GED).

Many nontraditional adult

learners enter community

colleges, via this open door,

after completing adult basic

education (ABE) programs or

having been out of school for a

long time. As inviting as theopen door may be, some hidden

barriers in this policy may pre-

vent nontraditional learners

from attaining a degree.

The open door policy atcommunity colleges is a benefit tonontraditional adult learners whowant to go to college but are intimi-dated by the criteria of the traditionaladmissions process. A potential stu-dent needs only to complete theapplication and provide a copy of ahigh school diploma or a GED certi-ficate. Also, high school transcripts,Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT)or ACT scores, and letters of recom-mendation are not required. Thesimplicity of the application processmakes applying easy and the rollingadmissions policy allows learners traditional and non to submit an

application at any time and begintheir postsecondary educations almostimmediately.

Who are nontraditional students?Several characteristics help definethem. Nontraditional students gen-erally have delayed enrollment,meaning that they did not enterpostsecondary education immediatelyafter completing high school (NCES,

1996). Approximately 41 percent ofthe students enrolled in postsecondaryeducation are age 25 and older; theaverage age is 29 (AACC, 2000).They usually have a GED or anAdult Diploma, rather than a trad-itional high school diploma. Many ofthese students are financially indepen-dent, attend school part-time, andwork full-time. Many have dependentsother than their spouses and many aresingle parents. They also tend to bethe first in their families to attend

college (National Center for Educa-tion Statistics, 1996).

Remediation NeedsBy keeping the doors to higher

education wide open, community col-leges have accepted the responsibilityfor educating all their students, includingthose who are not ready to do college-level work. Almost all community

colleges offer remedial classes in math,English, and writing. Community col-leges now serve more than 10 millionstudents a year. Almost five million ofthese students are enrolled in one ormore remedial courses that often do

not offer credits toward a degree (Com-munity College, 2000). Remedial ordevelopmental courses are designed tohelp under-prepared students strengthentheir reading, writing, and math skillsso they will succeed in college-level,credit-bearing courses. Most of thestudents in remedial or developmentalcourses are right out of high school,but many of the students who needremediation are nontraditional adultlearners who have been out of schoolfor a long time (Jenkins & Boswell,

2002). This is one of the hiddenbarriers to completing postsecondaryeducation: the open door policy interms of academic achievement masksthe skill requirement that exists.

Community colleges have differ-ent standards for what is consideredremedial. Standards differ from stateto state and sometimes even within astate (Jenkins & Boswell, 2002). Todetermine whether a student needsremediation, most community collegesrequire students to take a basic skills

assessment test (Jenkins & Boswell,2002). The most popular college place-ment tests are the ACCUPLACERand the ASSET. Both are adaptivecomputer tests: each new question isbased on whether the previous ques-tion has been answered correctly. Ifthe question has been answered cor-rectly, the level of difficulty for thenext question increases; it decreases ifthe question is answered incorrectly.

History of the Open Door PolicyFrom their inception in the early 20th century, community colleges have offered

higher education to the masses. Until the late 1960s, attracting academically

prepared students was not a problem. In the late 1960s there was a significant

decline in the number of college-bound students. The universities decided to

relax admissions policies and offer financial aid to attract academically prepared

students. As the pool of academically prepared students dwindled, the com-

munity colleges had to try a new strategy. They implemented the open door

policy to draw students and increase their enrollment (Cohen & Brawer, 2003).

The Open Door PolicyHidden Barriers to Postsecondary Educationfor Nontraditional Adult Learners

by Deepa Rao


11/36

Focuson

Basics


11

Students generally take this three-hourtest as a part of the enrollment processbefore the semester starts. A studentwho scores 75 on the Sentence Skillssection of the ACCUPLACER mayplace into the highest-level remedial

English course at one school or intoa credit-bearing course at another.

Cut-off scores prevent underpreparedstudents from placing into credit-bearing courses. Nothing, however,prevents students whose skills arebelow the level needed to succeed inremedial-level classes from placinginto them. Students who need tocomplete one or two remedial courseshave a good success rate for completinga degree program. This success rate de-

creases with each additional remedialcourse. In one study, 55 percent ofstudents who took only one remedialcourse completed a degree program.This rate dropped to 35 percent forstudents who took three or moreremedial courses, including reading(Adelman, 1998). Is the open dooropen too wide? Should communitycolleges redirect students who aregoing to need more than two re-medial courses to other programs back to ABE programs, perhaps before they enter community college?

CostRemedial education is not free.

At many community colleges, thetuition for one remedial course is thesame as or slightly less than a credit-bearing course. The average cost toattend a public two-year college is

$1,735 per year for tuition and fees.This does not include books and sup-plies and other expenses such as rent,transportation, and care for dependents.Total expenses in 2003 for a full-timeeducation at two-year public college

could cost a student more than $10,000a year (The College Board, 2002).The federal

government pro-vides some financialrelief to eligiblecollege-boundstudents throughloans and grants.To receive federalloans, students mustbe enrolled for atleast six credit hours.

Nontraditionaladult learners oftenattend school less

than halftime, taking less than sixcredit hours a semester (Bosworth &Choitz, 2002). Less than half-timestudents are not eligible for the federalloans; the only federal funding forwhich they are eligible are Pell Grants.

The Pell Grant is available onlyto those who show financial need andwho have not completed a Bachelorsdegree. It does not have to be repaid.

Students who receive a Pell Granteach year must make what is termedsatisfactory progress toward completinga degree-bearing program, such as acertificate program or an Associatesor a Bachelors program. This progress

is measured in credits acquired towardsa degree or certificate, and can affectwhether or not the student will receivethe Pell Grant again. Most communitycolleges allow students to use theirPell Grants to pay for remedial courses.In most cases, however, students receiveonly what is termed institutional creditfor taking remedial courses. Thesecredits do not go towards an Associatesor Bachelors degree. Students whorely on their Pell Grant fundingto pay for remedial courses are not

making satisfactory progress towards adegree. Students must reapply for thePell Grant each year and this requestwill eventually be denied (ShorelineCommunity College, 2003). This lossof funding can have a huge impact ona students ability to complete a degree.

The community colleges arecaught in a dilemma: most postsec-ondary institutions look to the federalgovernment for funding to operatetheir developmental classes. Themoney comes from the higher educa-

The Pell Grant The Pell Grant is the most common form of federal grant funding.

It does not have to be repaid.

It is available only to those who show financial need and who have notcompleted their Bachelors degree.

Students must apply for the Pell Grant every year; it is not guaranteed.

It can be used to pay for remedial/developmental courses at most communitycolleges.

It cannot be used for short-term training courses (example: six week jobtraining course)

A student can jeopardize Pell Grant funding if he or she is not makingsatisfactory progress towards a degree (Associates or Bachelors)

The Details The amount of grant money a student receives is based on a complex

formula that takes into account expenses such as credit hours, tuition, andhow much the student can contribute.

The Pell Grant award decreases if the students contribution increases.

The formula does not take into account personal expenses such as rent,books, or computers.

(Shoreline Community College, 2003)

FAST FACTS

Students who need tocomplete one or two remedialcourses have a good successrate for completing a degreeprogram. This success rate

decreases with each additional

remedial course.


12/36

12FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

tion budget, with the stipulation thatthe school has to provide credit for allcourses paid for by these funds. With-out these funds, the colleges wouldprobably not offer the courses. Andthese courses benefit the many students

who need just a little remediation be-fore enrolling in credit-bearing courses.

Narrowingthe Opening

Some postsecondary institutionsare examining their open doorpolicies. In 2001, for example, theUniversity of Maine at Augusta(UMA) instituted a newpolicy called responsible

admissions. UMA found thatnot all students with GEDsor high school diplomas wereproficient enough in reading,writing, and math to besuccessful in college-levelor even in remedial-levelcourses. They did not wantto set up their students (andfaculty) for frustration andfailure. Students in the lower25th percentile of their highschool class or students who

scored in the lower 25th per-centile of the GED must take a pre-admissions placement test. All otherstudents take a placement test afterthey enroll. If a student does not dowell enough on the placement test toplace into the remedial-level courses,UMA refers him or her to a local adulteducation center. Students who needto work on only one skill are offeredadmission to the University. Thosewho need work on more than oneskill are encouraged to retake the place-

ment test once they complete thecourses at the adult education center(Sherry Fraser, personal communi-cation, May 23, 2003). Other collegesmay have similar programs underway.

ConclusionWithout the community colleges

commitment to the open door policy

and remedial education, nontraditionaladult learners would not have accessto postsecondary education. But accessis not enough. Community collegesshould recognize that not all studentsare ready even for remedial-level work.

By not recognizing this, they are under-mining the success of nontraditionaladult students. By placing students incourses that are above their skill level,they are setting students up for failure.The more Pell Grant money studentsspend on institutional credit remedialcourses, the less Pell Grant moneythey will be able to spend on credit-bearing courses that can be countedtowards a degree.

While opening doors to all studentsis a laudable goal, community collegeswould do well to re-examine policiesthat admit students with very limitedacademic skills. Less than halftimestudents, who may use their Pell Grantaward to pay for several remedialcourses, need to know what the PellGrant guidelines are for making satis-factory progress and that they maylose funding if they do not meet them.Both adult education centers and com-munity colleges should take responsibilityfor educating nontraditional studentsabout these critical points.

ReferencesAdelman, C. (1998). The kiss of death? An

alternative view of college remediation.http://www.highereducation.org/crosstalk/ct0798/voices0798-adelman.shtml;accessed May 21, 2003.

American Association of CommunityColleges (2000). Community college factsheet. http://www.aacc.nche.edu/ Content/

NavigationMenu/AboutCommunityColleges/ Fast_Facts1/Fast_Facts.htm;accessed April 20, 2003.

Bosworth, B., & Choitz, V. (2002). HeldBack: How Student Aid Programs Fail

Working Adults. (pp. 1-3). Belmont,MA: FutureWork.

The Center for Community College Policy.(2000) Quick facts: Remedial education.http://www.communitycollegepolicy.org/html/Issues/Remedial/quickfacts_RE.htm;http://www.communitycollegepolicy.org/html/top.asp?page=Issues/Access/Access_map.asp; accessed April 20, 2003.

Cohen, A., & Brawer, F. (2003). TheAmerican Community College.

Fourth Edition. San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

The College Board (2002). Trendsin college pricing. http://www.collegeboard.com/press/cost02/html/CBTrendsPricing02.pdf;accessed April 15, 2003.

Jenkins, D., & Boswell, K. (2002).State policies on communitycollege remedial education:Findings from a national survey.Education Commission of the States.

Denver, CO: Center for Com-munity College Policy.

National Center for EducationStatistics (1996). Nontraditional under-graduates: Trends in enrollment from1986 to 1992 and persistence and attain-ment among 1989-90 beginning postsec-ondary students. http://nces.ed.gov/pubs/97578.html; accessed October 2, 2003.

Shoreline Community College (2003). Fed-eral Pell Grant Program: 2003 legislativebrief. http://elmo.shore.ctc.edu/ Legislative/PELL%20BRIEF%202003.pdf; accessedApril 20, 2003.

About the AuthorDeepa Rao has been coordinating the NewEngland ABE-to-College Transition Project,a project of the New England LiteracyResource Center, World Education, Boston,since April, 2002. Prior to that, she workedas a GED and ESOL/Citizenship Programcoordinator and teacher in Boston. Shebegan her adult education career as avolunteer teacher for Americorps/CityYear Boston Program.y

While opening doorsto all students is a laudablegoal, community colleges

would do well to re-examinepolicies that admit

students with very limitedacademic skills.


13/36

Focuson

Basics


13

Not just post secondaryinstitutions are exam-ining their policies: manyadult basic education (ABE)

programs are, too. Rec-

ognizing the need to bring

students academic level

up before entering into

community college, this

ABE program reached out

to a nearby community

college to create this col-

lege preparation program.

Almost every seat in this

remedial math class is taken. The

students take a moment to review

their last homework assignment,

converting word problems into

algebraic expressions, and then

the first hand goes up.

Question 10, a student

calls out.

Eddie Rose, the instructor,

turns to the whiteboard and re-

sponds, Read the word problem

to me and tell me how to write it

on the board.

As the student reads through

the word problem, she also tells

Eddie how to change the words

into a series of numbers, signs,

and parentheses. Once finished,

Eddie turns to the class, and

says, Does everyone agree

with whats on the board? A

few heads shake disapprovingly.

Okay. So what needs to be

changed? A couple of studentsmake suggestions and once the

equation is perfected, the class

works together to get the answer.

Once the problem is solved and

all heads nod in agreement about

the process and the answer, another

student calls out the next problem

to work through.

This remedial math class is

unlike the majority of remedial math

classes offered at community

colleges throughout the United

States. Why? Because this mathclass is not housed on a college

campus but at a local adult educa-

tion center: the New Haven Adult

and Continuing Education Center

(NHACEC), in New Haven, CT.

Students at NHACEC have the

opportunity to take remedial

courses before they attend com-

munity college and they can do

it for free. A strong collaboration

with their local community college,

Gateway Community College

(GCC), enables NHACEC to offerstudents six remedial-level courses

at absolutely no cost to the student.

Students who participate in the

GAP Program, as it is called, have

already earned their high school

credentials, or are in the advanced

General Educational Development

(GED) and English as a second

language (ESOL) classes. Both

barriers are addressed through

the GAP program. Even thoughthese remedial courses are free,

space is limited to students who

are academically prepared to do

the work. Students who are not

academically prepared continue

their studies in the ABE/ESOL

classes.

The GAP Program was devel-

oped through the collaborative

effort of Dr. James Boger, the

Director of NHACEC, and Dr.

Kendrick Dorsey, President of GCC.

Funding comes from the NHACEC,GCC, and the Nellie Mae Educa-

tion Foundation. NHACEC also

provides in-kind contributions in

the form of instructor time for these

free remedial courses. It is a rel-

atively small program, serving 70 to

80 students each semester.y

The GAP Program

The New England ABE-to-CollegeTransition Project

The New England ABE-to-College Transition project was launchedin January, 2000, with funding from the Nellie Mae Education Founda-tion. Its goal is to enable adult literacy program graduates to preparefor, enter, and succeed in post-secondary education so as to help them

improve and enrich their own and their families lives.As of December 2003, 25 college transition programs in the six New

England States are part of this initiative. They operate as part of adultbasic education programs in diverse settings: community-based organi-

zations, public schools, community colleges, and prisons. Regardless ofthe setting, each college transition program provides free instructionto adult learners in basic academic skills of reading, writing, math, andusing the computer and the Internet. Students also learn study skills andreceive educational and career counseling, and assistance in enrolling in

higher education. Students who have successfully completed the collegetransition program and have enrolled in college are mentored to helpthem to persist.

This project was conceived and designed by the New England Lit-

eracy Resource Center (NELRC) at World Education. The NELRC providesprofessional development and technical assistance to the transition pro-grams and manages the project for the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

For more information on the project, visit the web site at:

http://www. collegetransition.org.y


14/36

14FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

In the early 1960s, President

Kennedy inspired the nation

with a sense of concern for

the well-being of our fellow

world-citizens and a sense that

each of us could indeed make a

significant difference. President

Johnson signed the Civil Rights

Act of 1964, and people were

beginning to respond to Martin

Luther Kings invitation to join

him in the pursuit of a shiningly

hopeful dream. The dream was

strikingly elusive in Boston.

Children in some of the citys

neighborhood schools were

being short-changed in terms

of the education and career

counseling they received. Many

minority youngsters were being

counseled away from college

preparation and into domestic

and shop courses.

Nurse-educator Mary Malone wasconcerned about the dearth of minoritystudents at the professional level inhealth care. She mobilized more than100 volunteers to provide accurateinformation and guidance aboutcareers in nursing and the alliedhealth fields to Boston youngsterswishing to pursue professional careers.The volunteers also offered tutoringand mentoring to the students, through-out high school and college. TheODWIN (Opening Doors Wider In

Nursing) Learning Center was born.By 1966, the parents of these studentsand other adults asked for similar help.In response, ODWIN opened its owndoors wider to the population thatwould eventually become the programssole focus: adults with great potential,

but inadequate education, who aspiredto a professional-level career requiringcollege credentials. ODWIN alsobroadened its focus beyond the healthfield to any professional career.

Today, ODWINs mission is toprepare adults for success in college sothat they can enter and succeed in pro-fessional careers. We began beforethere were adult basic education (ABE),English for speakers of other languages

(ESOL), and General EducationalDevelopment (GED) programs. Wehave since incorporated aspects of allthese services into our program design,making it difficult to categorize us.ODWIN today is a multifaceted, all-purpose college preparatory programfor adults.

ProgramDesign

Malone applied

the approach to patientcare she used as anurse to education.Our diagnostic andprescriptive methodfocuses on eachindividuals withspecific strengths,weaknesses, needs,goals, and methodsof learning. We mademany mistakes inthose early days be-cause what we calledthe ODWIN 100, ourgroup of foundingvolunteers, werealready providingservice before they recognized the needfor this type of detailed planning. Ourwork with those first students madethe need evident. We learned that,based on a students career goal, we

needed to answer the following questions: What academic skills are needed for

him or her to succeed in a collegeprogram leading to that goal?

Which of these skills does this personcurrently have and to what level?

Which of these skills does the personseem to lack or to be very weak in?The answers allowed us to design

an approach that would enable the stu-dent to develop and strengthen the nec-essary skills in a timely and effective way.

Researching CourseContent

To answer the academic skills ques-tion required researching the coursesthat our students would be taking in

college, examining textbooks, studentsclass notes, and tests to determine theskills necessary to handle the materialwell. For example, which specific mathskills would a person need who wantedto become a pharmacist? a dentist? anurse? an accountant?

Teachers from eachmajor subject area math, reading, English,and science assessedthe college material fromtheir own specialtys

perspective, and thenshared informationacross disciplines. Forexample, the readingteachers examined someexcerpts selected by amath or science teacherto determine the readingskills needed to masterthe material. The mathgroup did likewise toscience samples.

Although most ofour early students wereinterested in health-related fields, whichhelped narrow the scopeof the project, this

research took time. Once completed, itprovided us with a comprehensive listof skills in each area, and a subset ofeach that we deemed essential to successin preparation for each specific career.

ODWIN: A ProgramRooted in Historyby Mary Tacelli


15/36

Focuson

Basics


15

We also had a base on which to buildinformation on career goals outsidethe health fields. Continued contactwith students once they have movedon to college enables us to updatethat base as needed.

Assessment ToolsThe teachers in each area then

designed assessment tools to teststudents mastery level of the skillsidentified above. Many of the basicskills have universal applicability andare included across the board, withcareer-specific items added as appro-priate. For example, a person aspiringto a career in accounting needs thesame basic math skills (whole numbers,

ratio fractions, decimals, and percent-ages) as the person pursuing a nursingcareer. But the future nurse needs asolid understanding of measurement,as well, using both the metric andapothecary systems, and must be ableto convert between the two systems.

With the exception of our newlydeveloped computer diagnostic, weuse paper and pencil tests with roomfor figuring in math. They are nottimed, and we urge people not toagonize over them because they are

neither graded nor ranked, but arestrictly for planning purposes. A gradeprovides one assessment of a studentsskills: 15 correct out of 25 items, forexample, indicates that the personseems to possess 60 percent of theskills tested. But which ones? And,more to the point for planning, whichspecific skills does the 40 percentindicate that the person seems not topossess? We must prescribe a remedyto enable the student to succeed atthat last 40 percent. Consequently,each of the original pre-tests, as wellas the many subsequent revisions, hadto be designed to provide skill-specificinformation.

The three core or foundation areas consist of reading/study skills;basic math and communication skills,which include grammar and writing,and are tested on paper; and speakingand listening, which, when appropriate,

are tested in interviews. The advancedcourses include algebra, chemistry,composition, and biology. The teacherscreated post-tests that are similar tothe pre-tests for each area; they usethem for comparison when students

complete components of their plans.

An ODWINStudents Journey

After attending an informationsession, a potential student first takesthe series of diagnostic tests in thecore academic areas of reading/studyskills, basic math, and communicationskills. If any of those tests indicate suf-ficient strength in the skills tested, amore advanced test is given to identify

the level, if any, at which the studentshould begin work in that skill area.For example, if the basic math testindicates no weaknesses, the personwould then take the algebra pre-test.

As the teachers correct the diag-nostic tests, they prepare a profile of thepersons strengths and weaknesses ineach subject along with recommenda-tions. These form the framework of thepersons individualized student educa-tional plan: a program of study designedwith the student within the framework

of the diagnostic test results as theyapply to the students career goal. Theteachers also include estimates of thetime the student is likely to need atODWIN to acquire and strengthenthe specific skills required for successin a desired college curriculum. Forexample, the student might need workin one or more of the foundation courses,one or more of the advanced courses,or a combination. Then a staff membermeets with the student to discuss therationale for the recommendations andto help him or her develop an actionplan to implement them within thecontext of her daily responsibilitiesand time constraints.

The FoundationCourses

ODWIN is not strictly a basiceducation program, but most students

who enroll need some work at thefoundation level. Not everyone needsthe same skills, however, and studentsare frequently self-conscious, insecure,and reluctant to ask questions whenthey first start classes. Consequently,

we decided early on to combineindividualized instruction with agroup setting for each of the threefoundation courses.

A basic math class, for example,which meets twice a week for two hourseach time, may have up to but notmore than eight students, each of whomhas a study plan based on the skills heor she needs. The teacher, a staff mem-ber with a math background, workswith each student individually on oneaspect of a specific skill, leaving that

student to practice the skill while theteacher moves on to another student.Because the concepts are presented insmall increments, students can graspthe general idea sufficiently to solidifytheir understanding through practice,with the teacher returning periodicallyto make sure the student is on trackand to respond to any questions. Thisapproach is extremely demanding onthe teacher, but enables the student tomake remarkable progress in a shorttime. On the worst of days, several stu-

dents could be ready to begin a newtopic at the same time. After the firstweek or so students are working inde-pendently and at their own speed.Lacking the need to keep up with otherstudents or to wait for others to keepup with them, our students are free tomove at a comfortable and productivepace. The privacy of working with theteacher one-on-one makes it easier toask questions. The student developsa real understanding of the conceptscovered, experiences success earlyand frequently, and gains greater self-confidence as well as solid academicadvancement.

The basic English and reading/studyskills classes operate similarly, staffedby experienced teachers. Depending onthe class composition, these languagearts classes are sometimes limited toseven students. While we do not includecomputer skills in the foundation cat-


16/36

16FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

egory, we do conduct computer classesusing the individualized approach.

When ODWIN started, no mar-ket had as yet developed for basic skillsmaterial for adults. Rather than usematerials devised for young readers, we

had to develop most of our own teachingmaterials. As a result, our file cabinets,crammed with original teaching ma-terials designed by ODWIN staff andrevised periodically to keep them cur-rent and applicable, are our mostvalued possessions. Supple-mented by various workbooksand an English manual, WritersChoice, published by Glencoe,these are our texts for thefoundation courses. Not onlydoes this provide material

targeting the adult learner, butit also provides the flexibilitynecessary for individualizedinstruction. Each student con-structs a book tailor-made to hisor her needs, building it unit byunit. Each unit addresses one concept,initially presented by the teacher in aone-to-one instructional session.

The AdvancedCourses

Regardless of how effective theindividualized foundation courses are,students must be prepared to handlemore impersonal college courses. Forthis reason, algebra, biology, chemistry,composition, humanities, notetaking,pharmacological math, and thinking/reasoning are more conventionallystructured group classes. Using variouspresentation styles including demon-stration, modified lecture with student/teacher interaction, discovery exercises,

and student presentations, the instructorcontrols the pace at which materialmust be mastered to introduce thestudent to the independent approachto learning required in college. Studentsalso learn how to use a syllabus and atextbook to full advantage, the needfor planning to meet deadlines, andthe value of keeping track of onesaverage rather than focusing onisolated grades.

Because our primary goal is to pro-vide the student with strong skills andan adequate knowledge base, classes arestill relatively small (no more than 18students) so that a teacher can quicklyrecognize any student who might need

extra help outside of class. For bothlevels of biology, chemistry, and com-position, we use high school texts. Theother advanced courses use a combin-ation of original, staff-designed material,and various publications.

The staff provides educationalcounseling throughout students par-ticipation. When students begin thefinal phases of their educational plans,we work with them in selecting andapplying to college: advising, demon-strating how to collect information,

suggesting various resources, proof-reading applications, and critiquingessays. Students themselves must dothe leg-work, however: try the dry runto see if the commute to a specificcollege is manageable, use the sug-gested resources to research possiblescholarships.

Continued ContactODWINs mission has always been

to help people reach a professionallevel of employment. Therefore, wecannot stop at helping students getinto college: we must help them get outof college successfully by maintainingcontact with them. Once the studentgraduates from college, we providepreparation for special licensing exams.We urge our students to call for helpif they feel overwhelmed or confusedabout anything at college. If we dont

hear from students within their firstmonth, a staff member calls to establishcontact and to arrange dates and timesto keep in touch. If a student hasdifficulty in a course, we arrangetutoring sessions with either a staff

member or one of our volunteers, whoare ODWIN graduates. We also tapour graduates to act as mentors forstudents beginning college.

This contact enables us to use thestudents experiences to critique the

programs effectiveness. For ex-ample, our notetaking course wasdeveloped to address difficultiesstudents reported having in collegelectures. The thinking/reasoningcourse likewise grew out of somestudents difficulty in visualizing

during college lectures and infollowing complex directions. Wehad been trying to teach theseskills within biology or algebraclasses, but recognized that thisinevitably led to sacrificing the

notetaking or thinking skill to thecourse content. Now the biology,composition, or algebra teacher canrefer to the students experiences innotetaking and thinking/reasoning toshow students how to apply thoseskills to specific content.

The increase in numbers of non-native English speakers seeking serviceshas created special challenges. Weroutinely refer those at the beginninglevels to free programs available. There-fore, the students enrolling at ODWINcan often use English on a functionallevel for their day-to-day lives. Withcollege degrees and professionalcareers as goals, non-native Englishspeakers need to make a quantum leapto a high level of fluency, not onlywith general English grammar, com-position, and reading/study skills, butalso with the specialized vocabulariesof mathematics and the sciences.The individualized approach makesit possible to incorporate non-nativeEnglish speakers into the foundationcourses. We have added a conversationclub as a means for students to improvetheir oral and aural fluency.

Students spend an average of two

...we cannot stopat helping students get

into college: we must help

them get out of collegesuccessfully by maintaining

contact with them.


17/36

Focuson

Basics


17

and one-half years at ODWIN beforemoving on to college. Before adoptingthe approach outlined here, we hadtried several different short-termapproaches. The summer programproved to be effective only for those

students who were already strongacademically. The postgraduate yearfor recent high school graduates wasmore effective, but, since each par-ticipant brought a different level ofneed and unique mode of learning,the group approach fell short of thedesired outcome. Tutoring collegestudents when they experienced diffi-culty in a particular course provedto be a band-aid, taking the place ofidentifying and addressing the rootof the difficulty. The difficulties that

participants in these three programsexperienced in college led us toespouse the individualized diagnostic/prescriptive approach that has en-abled hundreds of people to changetheir lives dramatically.

ImpactOf the more than 6,000 students

who have enrolled in ODWIN classes,approximately 65 percent have com-pleted their educational plans and

entered college. Based on the data wehave been able to collect, about 90percent of this group have graduatedfrom college and entered the professionto which they aspired. The thrill ofteaching these students is matchedonly by that of seeing them receivetheir college degrees, cheered on bytheir children, many of whom packedtheir fathers and mothers lunchesduring those college years.

About the AuthorMary Tacelli began as a volunteer mathteacher for ODWIN in 1968, after com-

pleting work for a Masters Degree inMathematics from the University of

Notre Dame. She joined the staff as mathcoordinator in 1970 and, having worked

closely over the years with ODWINsfounder, Mary Malone, was asked to

become ODWINs Executive Directorin 1988.y

Why dedicate an entire

issue ofFocus onBasics to transi-

tioning to postsecondary

education? Isnt the GED goodenough? The psychic benefits

are well documented: GED

holders feel a sense of satis-

faction and completion. What

about the economic benefits?

Does the GED provide the

economic security a high

school diploma once did?

NCSALL researcher John

Tyler studies the labor market

benefits thataccrue to those

high school drop

outs who pass

the tests of Gen-

eral Educational

Development.

His research

reveals that

certain groups

of GED holders

benefit economically in com-parison to similar drop outs

who do not complete the GED.

Even with these economic ben-

efits, however, GED holders

who fail to continue on to

postsecondary education are

left with very low earnings.

Focus on Basics spoke with

Dr. Tyler to learn more about

what his research can teach us

about the need for successful

transitions to higher education.

FOB: Your research shows

that while the GED helps many

GED holders to raise their economic

earning power, it doesnt raise it

enough to bring people out of

poverty. What level of education

do people need for that?

JOHN: I think youd find thatthe average high school graduatewithout college earns above the pov-erty level, but you cant make anacross-the-board statement since the

poverty level is a function of familysize. In 2002, for example, the povertythreshold for a two-parent, four-childfamily was $24,000.

Through the late 1980s and 1990s,the world got much worse for anyonewith less than some years of college.Even those with a high school diplomabecame much worse off over this periodrelative to those with at least somecollege. Simply put, the economic

Why Go Beyond the GED?

Through the late 1980sand 1990s, the world gotmuch worse for anyone

with less than someyears of college.


18/36

18FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

returns to higher education (relativeto having just a high school diploma)grew dramatically, although the growthof the economic gap between thosewith and without some college edu-cation has slowed in recent years.

FOB: Your research showsthat economic benefits associated

with the GED seem to accrue

only to low-skilled high school

drop outs. What about higher-

skilled dropouts? How do they

perform economically without

the GED, and with the GED?

JOHN: Higher-skilled drop outs,with or without a GED, tend to dobetter on average than low-skilled dropouts with a GED. Skills really matter.

FOB: As you know, few GEDholders go on to postsecondary

education. Any indication of why

that is?

JOHN: Theres no research onthat. Another interesting point is thatwe dont know how well the GEDenables them [GED holders] to getinto degree-granting programs. Often-times you need the GED to get intodegree-granting postsecondary edu-cation programs. However, we dontreally know how effective studying for

the GED is in preparing one to docollege-level work.

FOB: What advice would you

give to GED preparation program

staff program designers and

teachers based on the results

of your research?

JOHN: The advice is going tosound self-evident, but based on myresearch, there are two messages. First,concentrate resources on those withthe least skills, because theyll get themost out of obtaining the credential.Second, do whatever you can to help

make the GED a bridge to postsecondaryeducation [rather than an endpoint],because postsecondary education iswhere the real economic payoffs are.

Also, research shows, not sur-prisingly, that the two tests that tend

to be the biggest hurdles are the writingtest and the math test: the writing formales, the math for females. Thosetrends have been known for some timeamong the general student population,and work we have done has shownthem to be true in the GED pop-ulation as well. So put an emphasison these areas.

ResourcesTo help make the GED a bridge to postsecondary education, students must

be convinced that continuing beyond the GED is worthwhile. For teachingmaterials that tell that story as they help students prepare for the GED, down-load Beyond the GED: Making Conscious Choices about the GED and YourFuturefrom the NCSALL web site at http://ncsall.gse.harvard. edu/teach/beyond_ged.pdf. These materials provide GED students with practice in graphand chart reading, math, analysis of data, and writing, while they examine thelabor market, the role of higher education, and the economic impact of the GED.

For more information on the economic benefits (and limitations therein)of the GED, download Focus on PolicyVolume 1, Issue 1, also on the NCSALLweb site, at http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/fop/v1_1.pdf. John Tylers researchreports, as well as summaries of the research, are available at http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/publication.html under NCSALL Reports and NCSALL ResearchBriefs. And, for articles covering similar information in other issues of Focuson Basics, go to http://ncsall.gse.harvard.edu/fob/ti_ged.html.y

Masters Degree

Bachelors Degree

Associate Degree

Some College(No Degree)

High School Graduate

Some High School(No Diploma)

Unemployment Rate in 2002 Median Earnings in 2001

2.8

3.1

4.0

4.8

5.3

9.2

$56,600

$47,000

$36,400

$34,300

$29,200

$22,400

Education and Training Pays

NOTE: Unemployment and earnings for workers 25 and older, by educational attainmentSources: Unemployment rate, Bureau of Statistics; earnings, Bureau of Census


19/36

Focuson

Basics


19

In 1995, Washington State

responded to a truancy and

drop out epidemic with leg-

islation known as the Becca

Bill, named for a Seattle-areateenager who died while skip-

ping school without her parents

having been informed by the

school district. This law re-

quired all students under the

age of 18 not attending a K-

12 school to be enrolled in an

adult learning program through

the age of 18 or until they

completed a certificate of Gen-

eral Educational Development(GED) or a high school diploma.

If students did not comply,

school districts were required

to take them to court, and stu-

dents and their parents could

be fined or sentenced to jail. At

that time, the Developmental

Education Division at Edmonds

Community College (ECC), in

Lynwood, WA, housed a free

GED program as well as ahigh school completion program

for adults over the age of 17,

in which students under age

19 had to pay full college

tuition. Over the next few years,

the program was swamped with

16 to 18 year olds, many of

whom would have preferred to

earn a high school diploma but

could not afford the tuition. The

GED program did not provide

any career training or job skills.

A specialized free programthat combined a high school

diploma with career training

was needed for these drop outs.

After researching what washappening in other school districts,Karen Johnson, the ECC Dean ofDevelopmental Education, learnedof several youth re-engagementprograms at local community col-leges that were contracting with localdistricts to provide diploma programs

at the colleges. Statefunding for thesestudents wasdivided be-tween theschooldistrict,whichreceiveda smalladmini-strative fee,

and thecommunitycollege, whichreceived thelarger share toprovide the educa-tional program. A groupof faculty and staff from theDivision visited with staff of theseprograms, including a visit to a modelprogram at Portland Community

College. In the fall of 1999, a smallteam of High School Completion staffbegan to design a program that wouldtarget 16- to 21-year-olds to completehigh school and transition into pro-fessional-technical programs at the

college. Meanwhile, Karen Johnson,with support from the college admini-stration, approached the EdmondsSchool District to discuss funding.Years of articulation between thecollege and the school district pavedthe way for an agreement that wasfinalized in the fall of 2000. Thus wasborn the Edmonds Career AccessProgram, or EdCAP.

Creating a

New ProgramThe initial thrill of planning anew and vital program wore off quicklyOur first obstacle was funding. Thecollege gave us a small start-up budgetthat allowed us to hire a part-time

instructorand a part-time case

manager, so we began slowlywith a small number of students andpart-time staff. The Department Headand the Literacy Coordinator already

EdCAP: A TransitionProgram in TransitionFine tuning a transition program for recenthigh school drop outs requires a willingnessto try and try again

by Karen Johnson, Barbara Haas,Barbara Harrell, & Roy Alameida


20/36

20FEBRUARY 2004

NCSALL

Focus on

Basics

had more than full-time responsibilitiesbut were called upon to oversee theinfant program.

We began with 12 students whoattended a three-day orientation, com-pleted assessments, and registered in

September, 2000. We enrolled all thestudents in a one- credit, requiredEdCAP Success class, which was de-signed to help students transition totheir college courses; one course intheir professional-technical area of in-terest; and a career exploration courseoffered through the college. One monthlater, only nine students remainedregularly attending their classes. Ourcase manager met with students bi-weekly and noted that several studentsseemed detached from the program and

distracted in their classes. Difficultiesoutside the classroom interfered withtheir attendance and became excusesfor their failure to complete homework.Students described changing livingarrangements, lack of money to payfor daily expenses, lack of sleep, anddrug and alcohol use. Faculty in theprofessional technical programs re-ported that the EdCAP students wereundisciplined, had poor attendance,

and exhibited behavior problems.Nevertheless, our office staff was dil-igently compiling a list of potentialstudents for the next quarter.

We believed that we could makeour model work. The EdCAP staff

two part-time faculty, one part-timecase manager, the Department Head,and the Director of Literacy Programs met weekly to discuss reasons forthe loss of three of our pioneers, rehashour curriculum, and debate the bestapproach for the next quarter. This wasthe beginning of two years of intro-spection and revision. Some of thisreflection involved formal evaluationusing our limited completion data;however, most was anecdotal evidencecollected from our classes and advising

sessions with our students. Each timewe advised students we discovered moreabout the barriers they faced and theirlack of preparation to make the leapto an adult learning environment.We understood that our struggles werea necessary and positive part of theevolution of the program and wouldhelp us figure out how we could be-come a unique and successful entity inthe larger community college system.

Making ChangesAs we grappled with ways to retain

our students, we began making changesin our required EdCAP Success courseand in our advising. Progress reports fromfaculty in the professional-technicalprograms indicated that many studentswere not attending regularly nor werethey completing assignments on time.We had hoped that our EdCAP Successcourse would provide the necessarysupport for these students, but we foundthat skills learned in the EdCAP classdid not necessarily transfer to collegecourses outside our protected division.A one-credit, one-quarter course wasinsufficient. We added a required, sec-ond-quarter EdCAP class and increased

the number of credits for the first-quartercourse to three. We then revised ourcurriculum for our two-quarter sequenceof EdCAP courses by including careerexploration. The staff agreed thatkeeping students in a cohort with thesame EdCAP instructor for two quar-ters would result in a stronger networkof support and more continuity in in-struction. We also decided that, withrare exceptions, all first-quarter EdCAP

1 credit EdCAP Success Class 2 credit College Career class Prof. Tech. class or prerequisite

1st Quarter 3 credit EdCAP Success Class 1 or 2 classes in Dev. Ed. Division

2nd Quarter 2 credit EdCAP Success Class

1st Quarter

4 credit EdCAP Success Class 1 or 2 classes in Dev. Ed. Division2nd Quarter

2 credit EdCAP Success Class

1st Quarter 4 credit EdCAP Success Class (Changing to

5 credits in the spring) 1 or 2 classes in Dev. Ed. Division

2nd Quarter 2 credit EdCAP Success Class (Changing to

3 credits in the spring)

Evolution of Edmonds Career Access Program

Fall Quarter 2000(12 students)


Fall Quarter 2002

(150 students)


Quick entry into Prof. Tech. field with minimalsupport.

More careful advising with students placed inDevelopmental Education classes and twoquarters of EdCAP Success classes.

Creation of cohorts of students and teachers

in EdCAP classes over two quarters.Two quarter EdCAP class sequence looselyintegrated to allow student to develop alearning and career plan.

Strengthening of cohort model with additionalrequireme

FOB Transitions

Documents

Transcript of FOB Transitions