2014 PCC ESL Retreat Slides
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This document summarizes discussions from an ESL curriculum innovation retreat held in 2014. The retreat aimed to identify benefits and consequences of curriculum changes, and approaches to enhance student learning and progression. The agenda included discussions on connecting with current challenges, ideas for innovation and design, and next steps. Faculty identified issues like underprepared students, gaps between levels, and lack of motivation. Ideas proposed included pairing classes, field trips, and engaging students in more integrated reading. The retreat concluded that curriculum redesign could address critical thinking and reading through narrowed, deeper content. A survey found faculty support for scaffolding research and critical thinking skills throughout the program. The retreat explored approaches like content-based thematic units, acceleration models, and combining reading
2014 PCC ESL Retreat Slides
- 1. Curriculum Innovation and ―Acceleration‖ PCC ESL Retreat 2014 February 28, 2014 Creveling Lounge
- 2. Retreat Goals • Identify possible benefits and consequences of curriculum innovation. • Identify approaches to enhance the quality of student learning and effective progression through the PCC ESL program. • Build interest an willingness among ESL faculty for curricular innovation.
- 3. Agenda Time Theme/Activity 8:50 Welcome & Agenda 9:00 Connecting with where we are 10:00 Break 10:10 Innovation & Design 12:00 Working Lunch 1:00 Actions: Moving Forward 2:00 End
- 4. Connecting with Where We are (or… bitch, moan, and move on…)
- 5. Top Five Gripes • Underprepared Students • Too Big a Jump Between Levels • Lack of Student Motivation • Traditional Grammar and ESLWriting-Based Curriculum • Students’ Unrealistic Expectations
- 6. Discussion Activity • Take a gripe out of the head. • At your table, discuss the following question: What kind of curriculum change that faculty have control over could help to address this gripe?
- 7. Summary of Fall 2011 Focus Groups 1. Barriers to student success o o o o Lack of sentence-level control in higher levels Plagiarism Underprepared students Students lacking critical thinking skills, skills to manage challenging content, and research skills 2. Proposed actions o Creating a language-rich environment for students o Paired classes, field trips o Professional development/interaction o Outside exposure (book clubs, study groups)
- 8. Summary Conclusions from 2012 Retreat • CLASSROOM: Engage students in MORE integrated authentic READING • CURRICULUM: Curriculum redesign: narrowed, deeper content addressing critical thinking & reading. • ASSESSMENT: Use multiple ways of assessing program success from the POV of all stakeholders. • COLLEGE: Build awareness and partnerships across campus re: ELL needs
- 9. Data, part 1: Success Rates by Type Chart Title 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 2008-2009 Core 2009-2010 2010-2011 L/S Reading 2011-2012 2012-2013 Linear (Core)
- 10. Data, part 2: Success & Retention - ESL 33A Chart Title 100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 2008-2009 2009-2010 Success 2010-2011 Retention 2011-2012 2012-2013
- 11. Data, part 3: Core SLO Attainment: 2012-13 Chart Title 100.00% 90.00% 80.00% 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% ESL 420 Writing SLO ESL 422 ESL 122 Language SLO ESL 33A ESL 33B Linear (Language SLO)
- 12. Pre-Retreat Faculty Survey 1. ESL Course outines should be updated. SA: 8 A:6 D: 1 SD: 0 DK: 0 2. Student progress through Levels 1-4 should remain grammar-based. SA: 3 A: 5 D: 7 SD: 2 DK: 2 3. Levels 1-5 should be academic literacy and fluencybased combining reading and vocabulary writing listening and note-taking with grammar presented in an alternative way. SA: 8 A: 5 D: 2 SD: 0 DK: 1
- 13. Pre-Retreat Faculty Survey (cont.) 4. Research Skills should be scaffolded throughout the program SA: 8 A: 7 D: 1 SD: 0 DK: 1 5. Critical Thinking should be scaffolded throughout the program SA: 13 A: 4 D: 0 SD: 0 DK: 0
- 14. Additional thoughts • Lack of substantive curriculum updates since ???. • “Remedial” isolated skills approach. • Lock-step, one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t serve diverse groups of students (faster/slower, noncredit, international, etc.) • Cafeteria approach to skill development. • Lack of consistent scaffolding for college/career skills • External factors (enrollment, politics, funding, financial aid)
- 16. Innovation & Design Activities and Reports
- 17. Discussion Activity • We are all designers! Think of something you DESIGNED for your students in your class that you’re happy with / that worked really well/that led to development for your students
- 18. How do we React to Innovation/Change?
- 21. Report out on STACC4ESL
- 22. What is STACC4ESL? • What does STACC mean? Stretch + Acceleration • STRETCH • Stretch out 33B curriculum by scaffolding skills • ACCELERATION • Teach to English 1A Outcomes • Apply Acceleration principles over 2 semesters
- 23. What We Did: Logistics • Spring-Summer 2013 • Advertised --Continuing 33A AND new 33B students • DSP---- Recs/Questionnaire/Video/ Workshop • Released to Register • Fall 2013-Spring 2014 • Two-Semesters • 33B (Fall2013)English 1A (Spring 2014) • Fall: Two Sections / Spring: One Section (27)
- 24. How did we S—T—R---E---T---C---H? Scaffolded • Fluency First: FluencyClarityCorrectness • Building of Research Skills --- Full paper • Writing Process --Product
- 25. How did we Accelerate? • Backward design from collegelevel course • Relevant, thinking-oriented curriculum • Just-in-time remediation • Low-stakes, collaborative practice • Intentional support for students’ affective needs • Hern and Snell
- 26. What We Did: Curriculum 4 Cycles: Theme-Based/ Integrated Reading & Writing/Process-Oriented – -- 3-4 weeks each Semester 1 1. Literacy Narrative – narrative reading and writing; outside sources and synthesis of ideas 2. Observation Paper – observation reading and writing; Primary sources: Interview re Ethnic cuisine; Secondary sources - cultural values 3. Reflection-Research Writing – reflection reading and writing; Research Poster (Southland) Annotated Bibliography- Research-Reflection Paper 4. ePortfolioRevising/Editing/Metacognition/Reflection
- 27. Semester 2 1. Change Writing: readings and writing about concepts; outside sources and synthesis of ideas. 2. Problem-Based Learning: Problem-solution reading and writing; research paper process (L.A. Community) 3. Cause-Effect Essay: readings and writing about impacts of technology on language and thought; The Odyssey 4. Multi-Modal Position Paper: readings and writing on controversial issues (Discourse Community) 5. ePortfolio: Revising/Editing/Metacognition/Reflection
- 28. Features of Curriculum • Reading Apprenticeship Strategies; Synthesis and Analysis Quizzes; Lit Circle Activities • Freewriting Notebook • Process-Oriented Projects//Timed in-class essays • “Just in Time” Activities - Group Editing /Group Proofreading Jigsaw/Exercise Central/Grammar Flipping • Research Skills: Integration of Sources/Searching Databases/Evaluation of Sources/Annotated Bibliography/Works Cited • Capstone Projects: Research Poster and Presentation / ePortfolio
- 29. What Worked? • Increased Fluency and Clarity in writing • Socially active around reading tasks; Engagement with texts • Willingness to engage with challenging tasks • Increased sentence level accuracy • Critiical Thinking skills • Personal-Academic Voice vs. Researcher-Academic Voice
- 30. What Didn’t Work? • Low- misplaced students • Drops after Semester 1 • ESL Cohort in English 1A
- 33. ESL Acceleration Summit at Laney College • Statewide Acceleration Project – AIC • 4 Peralta Colleges implementing ESL Acceleration • Other colleges at various stages of ESL AIC
- 34. Transforming the ESL Sequence: A Report from the First Year
- 35. Why the Change?
- 37. Budget Cuts
- 38. Financial Aid Cuts and Restrictions
- 39. Acceleration Principle: CAPACITY NOT SPEED • NOT just going faster • Helps more students to complete goals • Engages students and increases intellectual rigor • Instruction = application of integrated skills • Contextualizes learning • Builds capacity of student to learn and instructor to teach • Students move more quickly toward their goals
- 40. Harm students by pushing faster? • Lock-step progression vs. flexible progression • Lots of models out there • Peralta – able to move faster or slower depending on how meeting outcomes • According to needs-- if S needs a passing grade in basic classes so get a AA to get job in their country DIFF from 20 yr old who wants transfer
- 41. How Has our CONTEXT CHANGED? • Economic pressure – less time • Fiscal challenges that we are facing -- keep our jobs • Push for online courses, MOOCS • Cognitive ability to work with language has changed bec. Of technology – trying to limit that is “Deceleration”
- 42. The New Peralta ESL Curriculum
- 43. Combined Reading and Writing
- 44. Changed from 6 levels to 4: old new (6) 5 advanced 4 high intermediate 3 intermediate 2 1 high beginning
- 45. Changed from 4 to 3 Skill Areas High Beginning Intermediate High Intermediate Advanced Grammar (4 Units) 284A/B 215A/B 216A/B 217A/B Listening & Speaking (4 Units) 283A/B 232A/B 233A/B 50A/B Reading & Writing (6 Units) 285A/B 222A/B 223A/B 52A/B
- 46. The Strands • SKILL STRANDS in addition to language objectives run through all main courses at all levels
- 49. Intercultural Communication and U.S. Culture
- 51. Comprehension (Reading/Listening) and Production (Writing/Speaking)
- 52. 4-8 Level A/B system for flexible acceleration
- 53. Visualization of the A/B plan: Stairs STUDENT ADVANCING FASTER ADV B ADV A HIGH INT B HIGH INT A INT B INT A HIGH BEG B HIGH BEG A
- 54. Visualization #2 of the A/B plan: Stairs ADV B ADV A HIGH INT B STUDENT ADVANCIN G SLOWER HIGH INT A INT B INT A HIGH BEG B HIGH BEG A
- 55. Visualization #2 of the A/B plan: Stairs ADV B STUDENT ADJUSTING TO PROGRESS ADV A HIGH INT B HIGH INT A INT B INT A HIGH BEG B HIGH BEG A
- 56. Example: Students toward the end of High Intermediate A Got it! Ready to move ahead! I worked hard and even got a C+, but I can’t really perform all of the SLOs. Wow! That was too hard! I got a D or an F. Advanced A High Intermediate B High Intermediate A
- 57. Other features of A/B system: • All students initially test into an A level • B levels are only for those who have passed A and are not ready for the next A level • Students advance to A with Teacher Permission • Not repeating bec. Not same material – contextualized in a diff. set of materials. • EXIT SKILLS ARE Diff. in B – and A FEW MORE
- 58. Report from the 1st Year: Data • The new curriculum was implemented at all Peralta Colleges in Fall 2012 • All ESL students started out in an A course at one of four levels: • • • • High-Beginning Intermediate High-Intermediate Advanced • All students participated in a common assessment used to inform placement for Spring 2013
- 59. Conclusions • At all levels, more students accelerated than did not • More students accel at the first three levels than did at the highest level
- 60. % of students scoring Acceptable-Excellent on the English/ESL Common Portfolio Assessment Spring 11 vs. Spring 13
- 61. Flipping Grammar
- 62. Panel Q/A
Editor's Notes
- #6: Sit next to someone you have not chatted informally with recently (in the past 6 months)Show Slide with responses from Pre-Retreat Survey Question: What is your biggest frustration with the ESL program:(Top 5 on slide)Top 5 gripes are written on pieces of paper. Each table chooses a gripe from a hat. Table discusses their gripe by focusing on this question: What kind of curriculum change that faculty have control over could help to address this gripe?
- #36: Our curriculum hadn’t been updated since the 90s. Didn’t include digital literacy, critical thinking, among other things.Took a “remedial” approach to language development, with critical thinking largely left for later/transfer classesReading & Writing not integrated, students not enrolling in reading classes.Lockstep 5-6 levels not responsive enough to individual rates of progress, both faster and slowerVulnerable to arbitrary class cuts that destroy program integrity based on scheduling, enrollment, other factors not in our control“Cafeteria Model” resulted in students taking too many units at lower levels and getting “stuck,” running out of financial aid, not getting enough reading, etc.College/career skills not consistently scaffoldedthrough the levels/skill areas
- #37: Administrators started complaining that we had too many levels and skill areas, taking students “too long” to get throughThe word “acceleration” starts coming into conversations, but we don’t know what that would look like for ESL, or if it was even possible or desirable.
- #38: Too many levels made us vulnerable to class cuts, destroying the integrity of the program sequence.
- #39: New financial aid rules restricting number of basic skills classes students can take and get credit for.How could we address all these factors to preserve and improve our programs?
- #43: Here is what we came up with:
- #57: Optional slide
- #58: Optional slide