e-Literate

Present is Prologue

Tag: remedial

  • Alternate Ledes for CUNY Study on Raising Graduation Rates

    Last week MDRC released a study on the City University of New York’s (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) with near breathless terms.

    Title page

    • ASAP was well implemented. The program provided students with a wide array of services over a three-year period, and effectively communicated requirements and other messages.
    • ASAP substantially improved students’ academic outcomes over three years, almost doubling graduation rates. ASAP increased enrollment in college and had especially large effects during the winter and summer intersessions. On average, program group students earned 48 credits in three years, 9 credits more than did control group students. By the end of the study period, 40 percent of the program group had received a degree, compared with 22 percent of the control group. At that point, 25 percent of the program group was enrolled in a four-year school, compared with 17 percent of the control group.
    • At the three-year point, the cost per degree was lower in ASAP than in the control condition. Because the program generated so many more graduates than the usual college services, the cost per degree was lower despite the substantial investment required to operate the program.

    Accordingly the media followed suit with breathless coverage ((And this article comes from a reporter for whom I have tremendous respect.)). Consider this from Inside Higher Ed and their article titled “Living Up to the Hype”: (more…)

  • e-Literate TV Preview: Essex County College and changing role of faculty

    As we get closer to the release of the new e-Literate TV series on personalized learning, Michael and I will be posting previews highlighting some of the more interesting segments from the series. When we first talked about the series with its sponsors, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, they agreed to give us the editorial independence to report what we find, whether it is good, bad, or indifferent.

    In this video preview (about 4:18 in duration), we hear from two faculty members who have first-hand experience in using a personalized learning approach as well as a traditional approach to remedial math. We also hear from students on what they are learning about learning. In our case studies so far, the real faculty issue is not that software is being designed to replace faculty, but rather that successful implementation of personalized learning necessarily changes the role of faculty. One of our goals with e-Literate TV is to allow faculty, staff and students to describe direct experiences in their own words. Take a look.

    Stay tuned for the full episodes to be released on the In The Telling platform ((ITT is our partner in developing this series, providing video production as well as the platform.)). You can follow me (@PhilOnEdTech), Michael (@mfeldstein67), or e-Literate TV (@eLiterateTV) to stay up to date. You can also follow the e-Literate TV YouTube channel. We will also announce the release here on e-Literate.

  • New post at 20MM: Two Approaches to Watch in Remedial Education Innovation

    The 20 Million Minds Foundation is starting a new blog, and for topics of mutual interest, Michael and I will be posting articles  several times a month on their site and occasionally cross-posting here. The first article of mine went up last week.

    Two Approaches to Watch in Remedial Education Innovation

    It is no secret that the current approach to remedial (or developmental) courses does not work. According to a study by Complete College America (see original for footnotes documenting sources):

    “The numbers tell a dispiriting story. Half of all undergraduates and 70 percent of community college students take at least one remedial course. Too many of these students never overcome being placed into a remedial course. Only about a quarter of community college students who take a remedial course graduate within eight years. In fact, most students who are referred to remedial education do not even complete the remedial sequence: One study found 46 percent of students completed the sequence in reading and only 33 percent completed it in math.”

    Following the maxim that “if it doesn’t work, try something else”, two community colleges on opposite coasts – Miami-Dade College in Florida and Cerritos College in California – are trying to change the game. What can we learn from these two divergent examples?

    Read the whole article here.

     

  • SJSU Plus Udacity Pilots: Lack of transparency in describing data

    Alternate Headline: “Our Long National Nightmare is Over – SJSU and Udacity solve problem of college graduates being able to pass remedial math”

    The more I read on SJSU’s announcement on the pilot program, the more troubled I am with the lack of clear description of student population change (I wrote briefly about the change in student populations yesterday). In a nutshell, the spring 2013 pilot was completely different in the major demographic variables than the summer 2013 pilot. That’s good, right, showing that SJSU and Udacity are learning their lessons? It would be good if SJSU clearly described the student differences and avoided any implications that the numbers could be compared. Further, it would be good to avoid misleading comparisons to face-to-face courses at SJSU.

    But that is not what is going on. SJSU, in particular, is going out of its way to compare spring, summer pilots alongside SJSU on-campus courses in its media blitz. And the strategy is working, based on the articles that came directly from SJSU / Udacity interviews and information releases.

    (more…)