The BCC English Alignment group worked this past year to develop a grading rubric for persuasive essay assignments that could be used with high school seniors and college freshmen. See the link below.
Work continues during Summer 2012 to develop a rubric for informational writing.
As I read through this Chronicle of Higher Education article (see link below), I couldn’t help but think of the “three-legged stool” metaphor for the Massachusetts Model of Guidance Counselors… that students need support in three areas: academic, social/emotional, and career counseling or support.
While the article references 13 strategies that can help students graduate from college, it notes two that resonate with alignment and a third strategy that, well…. just makes sense: 1) fast-tracking remedial education, 2) providing students with experiential learning, and 3) requiring students to attend college orientation.
The purpose of the academic alignment work in math and English is to have our secondary-to-postsecondary curriculum aligned so that high school seniors will not NEED to “fast track remediation.” Our goal is that students will graduate at or very near to college level.
Additionally, the importance of experiential learning is heard loud and clear in our career-vocational programs, where students have the opportunity to access both academic and career-related skills. With 16+ years as the CVTE Linkage/Tech Prep Coordinator, I’ve developed tremendous respect for career-vocational education. Students with a career goal are four times more likely to graduate from college (Sorry I can’t cite that at the moment…). There is nothing better than learning in context.
And to round out that three-legged stool: attending orientation. Seems like a no-brainer to me that retention is higher where orientation is mandated. Expectations are set high right from the start, and students must learn about all of the support systems that are in place to assist them on their path.
Check out this article from Education Week that highlights a recently released study conducted by David Conley’sEducational Policy Improvement Center in Oregon. (David wrote College Knowledge and spoke at a Berkshire Compact meeting a couple of years ago…)
It is noted that the new Common Core State Standards in English/language arts and mathematics are, in general, on par with the standards of leading states (including Massachusetts), as well as those of the IB and others used to assess college readiness, but they may be more demanding in some areas.
It’s also worth the time to skim the comments… The question is raised about whether being aligned with noteworthy state standards ensures the ultimate goal of “college readiness” for all students.
From the Harvard Education Letter, check out this short article, Five Myths About the Common Core.
Robert Rothman is a senior fellow at the Alliance for Excellent Education and the author of Something in Common: The Common Core Standards and the Next
Chapter in American Education (Harvard Education Press, 2011).
An invaluable resource when considering the process of how to approach a secondary-to-postsecondary curriculum alignment project, Significant Discussions was recently produced and published by the League for Innovation in the Community College.
There is so much more to secondary-postsecondary alignment than colleges working with the high schools!
Our BCC Assessment and Testing Coordinator provides background and rationale for investigating the “alignment” between GED Testing and the subsequent college Accuplacer assessment that many students face. See her powerpoint on GED Graduates and Accuplacer for details.
While BCC’s alignment initiatives with the high schools are making great progress in working toward reducing the number of traditional-aged, incoming freshmen who require pre-college coursework, the reality is that a community college will always enroll students with developmental education needs.
Follow BCC’s Developmental Education blog to learn what is happening on campus to promote students’ success!
During the 2010-11 academic year, a Community College Leadership Academy research project examined national literature related to the secondary-postsecondary curriculum alignment process. Additionally, 18 community colleges (15 in MA, 1 each in NH, RI, CT) were surveyed regarding the status of any math and/or English curriculum alignment efforts with their local high schools. Lastly, the online remediation program, MyMathTest, was piloted at one Berkshire County high school, embedded into the senior year math curriculum of two different senior year math courses.
The CCLA Project Summary is available and is also posted on the blog’s Research page. The full report and a related power point presentation is available by contacting Julie Hannum at Berkshire Community College at jhannum@berkshirecc.edu .
Welcome to the new blog for BCC’s High School – College Curriculum Alignment Project!
BCC is now entering its fourth year leading a secondary-postsecondary mathematics curriculum alignment initiative, in which college and high school faculty have met quarterly on topics of interest. ALL Berkshire County high schools are participating in this initiative. Check out the Mathematics page to learn more about the development of this exciting initiative and progress to-date.
With the success of the Mathematics project, a similar alignment project was initiated in 2010 for English with a focus on writing. Visit the English page for details.
PARCC Online