Marie Basche, Director of Academic Success Center Laura Reale-Foley, Tutor Services Coordinator

Capital Community College

}  Law passed in 2012: ◦  Drastically reconfigures how Developmental Education

will be delivered. ◦  Legislation calls for: �  Pilots in 2013-14 and full implementation in Fall 2014 �  Elimination of lowest level of Developmental Education �  Limits students to one semester of Dev. Education �  Multiple measures of assessing placement �  “Just in time” assistance for students needing remediation

while they are taking a college-level course with �  Embedded support requiring additional credit hours �  Use of technology �  Intensive college readiness programs

}  Prepare students for the placement test so that they could: �  Skip Developmental Education and be placed

right into college level courses with or without embedded support

OR }   

�  Be better prepared to succeed in a single semester of Developmental Education

}  Developed contracts }  Flexible drop-in schedule }  No set enrollment date }  Options: ◦  Option A: Required 25 hours of tutoring plus 15 hours

using Skills Tutor software. ◦  Option B: Latecomers who still had access to tutoring and

software but didn’t get to take the test twice ◦  Option C: ESL Students who chose either Option A or B ◦  Option D & E: Students who wanted to work on English and/

or math skills before their next Developmental course.

}  Individualized Learning Plans }  Advising & Mentoring }  Diagnostic Testing }  Tutor Led Discussion }  Peer Support }  Use of Technology }  Flexibility

Required successful collaboration with: �  Counseling �  Welcome Center �  Admissions �  Registrar’s Office �  Continuing Education �  Placement Testing

�  Lots of advertising (flyers, posters, website)

�  Worked with Placement Testing to emphasize that students should be prepared. Suggested that they use a disclaimer form �  (This emphasis led to referrals)

�  Promotion: worked hard to emphasize among students that the “Placement Test Matters” �  Created posters for elevators �  Frequent communication with other departments Tried to create a seamless channel between ASC and departments serving new students

}  SkillsTutor in group setting }  Accuplacer practice tests }  Writeplacer scores and essays }  Accuplacer Disgnostic tests/Write Placer }  Reading Power books }  Purdue OWL }  Guide to Grammar – CCC site }  Learning Express Skill Builders }  Reading Power Workbooks

 

}  Essay }  ·         Review and rewrite Write Placer essay }  ·         Practice thesis development and standard 5 paragraph essay organization }  ·         Exercises on constructing paragraphs }    }  Sentence Skills: }  ·         Agreement (Subject/Verb, Tense, Pronouns) }  ·         Diction, logic and appropriate expressions }  ·         Structure and punctuation }  ·         Verb forms }  ·         Modifiers }    }    }  Reading Comprehension: }  ·         Inference }  ·         Sentence relationships }  ·         Author’s purpose }  ·         Main Idea }  ·         Supporting Detail

}  Accuplacer practice tests Skills tutor individually and in groups

}  Accuplacer Diagnostic Tests }  Chapter test questions from college texts }  SkillsTutor Lessons }  Great, patient and consistent tutors  

}  Arithmetic }  ·         Decimals }  ·         Fractions }  ·         Percent }  ·         Estimation }  ·         Integers }  ·         Word Problems }    }  Algebra }  ·         Real Numbers }  ·         Expressions }  ·         Linear equations }  ·         Quadratic equations }  ·         Applications and Word problems. }   

Total Pathway Students   116  

Students who received tutoring   72  

Student who didn't receive tutoring   44  

Students who used Skills Tutor   52  

Students who took test once   62  

Students who took the test twice   17  

17 students took test twice  

   # Of Students   Average Age   Av. courses

skipped  Total # of courses skipped  

All Students   17   35   2   31  Student who reached two college level courses  

7   30   3   19  

Student who reached one college level course  

6   43   2   9  

Student who didn't reach any college level course  

4   33   1   3  

Time Spent with a Tutor    

Time Frame   Math   English  

5/ 13 - 6/4  39:14   22:50  

6/ 5 - 6/30  193:48   99:33  

7/ 1 - 7/31  299:26  103:22  

8/ 1 - 8/22  139:26   10:22  

0:00

48:00

96:00

144:00

192:00

240:00

288:00

336:00

5/ 13 - 6/4 6/ 5 - 6/30 7/ 1 - 7/31 8/ 1 - 8/22

Tota

l Hou

rs S

pent

Time Frame

Hours Spent in Tutoring

Math

English

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

5/ 13 - 6/4 6/ 5 - 6/30 7/ 1 - 7/31 8/ 1 - 8/22

14 92

29

64

13 42

65

6

# Students Received Math Tutoring # Students Received English Tutoring

2012 Pathways Students - First Summer  

# of Students  

Currently Enrolled  

Completed Eng. 101  

Completed Eng. 102  

Completed Math 137   AVG GPA  

12   10   10   3   6   3.2  

}  Circular nature of enrollment made it difficult for the tutor to manage various levels

}  Students didn’t always welcome working in groups }  Remediating reading in a short period of time }  Balancing time spent on English vs. Math }  Having limited time/resources }  Trying to help students who registered late in the

summer }  Balancing flexibility with targeting the individual

student’s needs }  Diagnostic Tests – too long to administer and results

weren’t always helpful }  Skills Tutor lessons lack pre and post tests }  How to help students with very low skills in all areas

}  Taking the Write Placer first creates burnout }  The computerized feedback from WritePlacer

was demoralizing and harshly worded }  The significance of the test wasn’t always

explained }  Difficulty with the use of the computer }  Time constraints }  No evening sessions scheduled

◦  Students often lacked the necessary background knowledge to relate to the writing prompt (Ex. Are students in HS spending too much time with technology? Should all students be required to participate in sports?) ◦  Didn’t plan their time effectively ◦  Didn’t realize that they had to respond in an essay

format

}  Felt like they belong to a huge family }  Tutors were friendly and caring }  Prefer to work one-on-one }  Requested workshops on specific issues such as

fractions or writing research papers }  Unable to complete minimum required hours due

to lack of time, vacations, work, etc. }  Many liked the schedule’s flexibility }  Software was tiring after a while/needed more

motivation }  Tutoring this summer helped give them an

advantage in classes this fall

}  Don’t want to “waste time” going over other students’ issues

}  Sometimes tutors went too fast }  Need more hours/days }  Need to separate students by level of

knowledge }  Prefer less tutor led instruction, more hands-

on }  Requested more quiet space to work on Skills

Tutor

}  Break students up into groups according to levels of ability to avoid having to repeat material

}  Offer a mixture of appointments and drop-in }  Offer more evening and Saturday hours }  Some students were embarrassed to admit

that they didn’t know something }  Would have liked to have a book of sample

questions to work from }  Had trouble explaining the results of the

Write Placer

}  Started early }  Were able to invest a lot of time (3 to 4x per

week) }  Were willing to work independently when

necessary }  Were willing to admit that they needed the

help }  Were refreshing their skills/knowledge, not

seeing the material for the first time

58% of students who registered visited the ASC in the fall Never registered 20

Registered but didn’t visit the ASC 40

Visited the ASC 1 to 5 times 33

Visited the ASC 6 to 10 times 12

Visited the ASC 11 to 15 times 3

Visited the ASC 1 to 20 times 6

Visited the ASC 21 plus times 2

}  Our efforts enhanced the students’ engagement in the advising process

}  We need to find a better way to establish a connection with students once they register

}  We have to develop better incentives for students to start early

}  Students who completed required hours did well }  Students who felt connected to each other were

more likely to persist }  Students sometimes didn’t focus on the test the

second time, especially in the reading portion

}  Offer appointments & separate groups based on levels/topics

}  Collaborate with English & math faculty to improve curriculum/tutoring best practices

}  Tutor and Student Surveys/Focus Groups }  Administer the Accuplacer twice for all students }  More Skills Tutor Training }  Get the word out to area high schools/adult

education programs

}  Gathering of students who participated in the program to create a support network

}  Institution is relying on tutors more to accelerate students progress

}  Tutors are shifting from supporting instruction to being instructors

}  Tutors feel a greater sense of satisfaction and responsibility for student success.

} What do you think the tutors role should be in preparing students for college?