working with high school partners: berkshire...
TRANSCRIPT
Working with high school Partners: Berkshire Perspective
Liz Recko‐Morrison, M.Ed.
Coordinator of Assessment and Testing
Starting Out
• In an effort to develop new technologically based programs into which vocational students could enroll and continue to refine skills, the college began a conversation about testing high school students.
• In the fall of 2006, we began a pilot with three of our local high schools.
What We Did
• During the fall semester we went to the two public, comprehensive schools in Pittsfield as well as to the vocational‐technical school in No. Adams and assessed all juniors using Accuplacer.
Rationale for testing juniors
• To provide the high school faculty, administration, and guidance counselors as well as the students and their families data about the students proximity to college levels in Reading, Writing, and mathematics.
• With this information students who are excelling can be encouraged to further challenge themselves and those who are struggling can receive additional remediation.
Tests Administered
• Initially, we administered the Reading Comprehension, Sentence Skills, and Mathematics subtests at the high schools.
• Once we became a WritePlacer school, our high school testing and on campus testing for enrollment became identical.
Pilot Grows Exponentially
• Before the start of the spring semester, we had requests from several other school districts.
• By the end of the spring semester, we’d been to eight high schools.
2010‐2011 Academic Year
• We now test all of the juniors in thirteen out of fourteen districts on a yearly basis; these are public schools, including a public charter, as well as the local parochial high school.
• We have tested smaller groups in the last district, but not every year.
Data
• When testing is complete, the proctor gives the students a brief overview of how they’ve done.
• The schools receive two copies of the student report, one to archive and one for the student.
• Summary data is also sent to the school.
Sample Individual Report
Student Name Student ID Major Name J. Liam’s friend 4134645860 ---Omitted---
Date of Birth Date of Testing Site Name 07/08/1993 05/26/2010 High Schools 09-10
Message from the Institution
Time Record:
Test Started Test Completed Total Time
05/26/2010 09:13 AM EDT 05/26/2010 10:18 AM EDT 01Hr:04Min:24Sec
Test Results Test Name Score
Reading Comprehension 80
*PILOTFirstTime Writing 5
Holistic Score Description
The essay demonstrates adequate mastery of on-demand essay writing.
Dimension Title Dimension Description
Purpose and Focus Your response does not fully communicate purpose, and focus may be inconsistent.
Organization and Structure Your response demonstrates limited organization of ideas.
Development and Support Your response has limited support for your ideas.
Sentence Variety and Style Your response shows inconsistent control of sentence variety, word choice, and flow of thought.
Mechanical Conventions Your response shows limited control of mechanical conventions such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
Critical Thinking Your response shows limited clarity and complexity of thought.
Elementary Algebra 57
Course Placements College Reading
Students receiving this placement are ready for the demands of college reading; you may register for course with the ENG 020 pre-requisite.
Composition I
Based up your Reading and Writing Score, you are able to enroll in ENG 101.
Students with this placement have received the Reading and Writing scores necessary for enrollment into this first college level Writing course.
MAT 028C Elementary Algebra III
Students with this placement may begin their math studies in either module 028 C or the lecture-style class, MAT 028. Module 028C focuses on solving systems of linear equations by graphing, substitution, and elimination.
Placement Determined on 05/26/2010
Sample English Summary Report
Andrew 106 5Emma 104 5Tracy 103 7Megan 97 6McKensie 95 6Nicholas 95 4Patrick 94 6Rayelle 94 6Gillian 92 5Shane 92 6Marisse 90 7KyeongHoon 89 4William 89 6Jeremy 86 6Kara 86 6zachary 85 0Joleigh 80 5Martha 79 7Cody 77 5Audra 76 8Daniel 73 5shelby 73 4Steven 71 4Victoria 71 5Dennis 70 4Kevin 69 7dylan 69 4Craig 68 4Nolan 64 6pierre 64 4Malachy 63 4Meghan 63 5Alex‐Sandra 60 7Dylan 50 6Brandon 49 4Jeremy 45 5Andrew 44 4Chris 44 5Diana 41 5michael 35 3Piyang 34 3Sean 34 7
Sample Math Summary Report
First Name College Level Math Elementary Algebra ArithmeticAlex‐Sandra 76Andrew 62Andrew 71Audra 50Brandon 48Chris 60Cody 40
Craig 45 104Daniel 44Dennis 65Diana 28 24Dylan 44Emma 53 97Gillian 86Jeremy 20 110Jeremy 31 25Joleigh 57Kara 40 93Kevin 61KyeongHoon 78 114Malachy 31 20Marcus 22 101Marisse 66Martha 70McKensie 57 119Megan 29 36Meghan 39Nicholas 68Nolan 50Patrick 62 119Piyang 55 118Rayelle 57Sean 35 28Shane 74Steven 61Tracy 50 99Victoria 52William 71dylan 52michael 29 28pierre 42 90shelby 66zachary 68
School Level Report
• I also prepare, as time permits, a school level report that compares a given school’s juniors from year to year.
• The report also compares recent graduates of the particular school entering Berkshire Community College to both the junior class and the total cohort of entering students.
Now we have data…
• Do we simply pat ourselves on the back and think we’ve done our part working with the high schools?
That was just the start
• Our high school partnerships developed more fully after the first two years of testing.
• Rather than the college bringing the information about high school juniors’ placements and hoping the data was useful, we’ve begun working with our high school colleagues.
O.K., we’ve seen the numbers
• Three years ago our developmental math coordinator began to facilitate joint meetings between the college faculty and math teachers and coordinators from schools in the county.
• Given that approximately 15% of our entering students place into college level math (transferable, college algebra), there was a great deal of concern from all.
We’re in this together
• During the first academic year, the high school and college faculty members shared their sequences of math courses and topics covered.
• The high school teachers became more familiar with the Accuplacer and the placement rules that are used.
Talking is good, but action is better
• During the 2009‐2010 academic year, many of the high schools in the area developed fourth year, non‐calculus track math courses.
• It bears mentioning that some districts had already been experimenting with this prototype.
Recent developments
• In some of these courses, the teachers have incorporated the use of My Math Test; this product is well aligned with Accuplacer and allows students to target problem areas and work to remediate them.
• The goal is not to teach to the test. Rather, the guiding principle is to include within the larger curriculum frameworks a review of some of the topics that are assessed.
Early data
• 26 students who assessed for fall 2010 enrollment at Berkshire CC took a pilot math class.
• 7 students (26.9%)placed into College Level Math!
We’re already excited about the fall 2011 entering cohort
• All of the schools who have been part of the joint faculty group have an alternative senior year math class this year.
• There has been interest in the results from the High School Principals’ Council.
• We already collect data that will allow us to track students who have taken these classes.
English
• The chair person of our English department began to meet with local high schools English faculty members and coordinators during the spring 2010 semester.
• I joined him to explain the WritePlacer; our pilot study before beginning to use this Accuplacer component yielded very fine correlation results. (85%/81%)
Early Goals for the English joint working group
Development of a joint, shared rubric.
Discussions about the amounts and types of writing done at the high schools; this discussion will not be limited to English classrooms per se.
Trends in Reading and Writing placements at BCC
• College level Reading placements 2005‐2010
• 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
• 73.7% 62.4% 73% 75.4% 73.6% 71.7%
Writing Placements
• College Level
• 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
• 52.3% 55.1% 57.6% 68.4% 65.6% 60.2%
English Faculty Group• Met again in the fall semester, incorporating two more faculty members from Berkshire Community College.
• Making plans for a writing day during which students in both college level (101/103) composition classes, developmental writing sections, as well as high school classes will all write about the same topic.
That will be a lot of essays to read…
• And that’s the point.
• Faculty members will read in teams and evaluate how successfully the rubric they are developing worked.
• With this data, next steps can be identified.
So what’s in it for the students
• Apart from the information regarding their progress toward college level work, students benefit in several ways.
• First, Accuplacer scores from the junior year that are at the college level can be used when students enroll. Scores can be sent to other Accuplacer schools as well.
Bridge to College
• Seniors from Berkshire County high schools may also enroll in a free course in the fall and/or spring semesters for which they qualify based upon placement scores. The students need only buy the book(s) for the course.
• Most of these courses are taken at our main campus or one of our three satellite locations.
Dual‐Enrollment
• Berkshire Community College also enrolls high school students in more traditional dual enrollment courses.
• These students must have the requisite GPA and be recommended for the program by their guidance counselors.
Another interesting development:vertically aligned courses
• Berkshire Community College also offers courses for which high school and college credit can be earned simultaneously at four local high schools.
• This model pairs a college faculty member with high school teachers. Through a series of meetings and evaluation of syllabi, the college vets the high school teacher and his/her course. Assistant Deans provide oversight.
Vertical
• The high school course must cover the same content as the college course, but it is taught over the four high school quarters.
• All students must meet the pre‐requisites for the course (Accuplacer scores included).
• Not all of the high school students in a vertical class choose to work for college credit.
Credit where credit is earned.
• If the students complete all of the requirements and earn the required grade, they will have college credits added to their transcript.
• Current courses include calculus, introduction to human physiology, as well as an introductory course in child care.
With our high school partners
• We provide early assessment and data analysis.
• We are working faculty‐to‐faculty in mathematics and English; new courses have been created in math.
• Dual enrollment, Bridge‐to‐College, and vertically aligned courses allow students the opportunity to experience college on different levels.
Contact Information
• Liz Recko‐Morrison
Berkshire Community College
1350 West Street
Pittsfield, MA 01201
413‐236‐1656