CityAcademyMiniCaseSeries

StrategiesThatBestPrepareStudentsforCollegeLevelCoursework
MiloCutterandSeeVang

WhatisCIS?

CISCollegeinSchools,isa
dualcreditprogram
offeredincollaboration
withauniversity.Courses
useauniversitycurriculum,
andearnuniversitycredit
whilebeingtaughtonsite
atthehighschool.The
instructorsparticipatein
professionaldevelopment
andstudentsvisitthe
universityduringthe
course.
Spring2014
Summary:Withgrowingnumbersofhighschoolgraduatesenteringcollegethereisanincreasingfocus
ontheequityofaccessandpreparationforunderrepresentedpopulations.Thequestionofhowbestto
preparehighschoolsstudentstosucceedatthepostsecondarylevelelicitssolutionsfromtheindividual
tutoringleveltobroadinstitutional.Ourresearchfocusedprimarilyonstrategiessupportingacademic
readinessinEnglishreadingandwritingincludingclassroomlevelmethodologiesandcurriculum
alignmentandcommunicationbetweenhighschoolsandpostsecondaryinstitutions.
Description:
TheProject
Thisresearchteamincorporatedavarietyofresearchstrategiestoidentify
strategiesforimprovingstudent'spotentialforsuccessincollegelevelEnglish
courses.OneteammemberappliedforandreceivedrecognitionasaCISEnglish
Instructor.TheteamalsoformedapartnershipwithaFreshmanComposition
instructorfromanotherpostsecondaryinstitution,atwoyearcollege(LTYC).The
teamcotaughta14weekWritingStudiocoursedesignedbytheUniversityto
preparestudentsforcollegelevelwriting.Incorporatedinthecourseworkwere
sitevisitstoLTYC,theUniversity,asharedassignmentwithLTYCstudentsand
individualworkwithtutorsintheLTYCWritingCenter.Theclasswasmadeupof
studentsselectedforthecourseinadditiontothosewhoselfselected.The
student'sskillsrangedfrom5thgradetocollegelevel.
TheStudents
Weenrolled14studentsonregistrationdayandonthefirstdayofclassthreestudentswereabsentso
weaskedthattheychooseasubstitutecourse.Thisisnotthenormalprocedure,weareusuallymore
flexiblebutwewantedthestudentstotakeallaspectsofthecourseveryseriously.Thestudents
representawiderangeofbackgroundsandskills.

Theclasshasninemalesandtwofemales.Thestudentsdemonstratingproficiencywereencouragedto
enrollinthecourse.Theotherschosethecourseandtooktheinitiativeandrequestedpermissionto
Tenth
9%
Eleventh
27%
Twelfth
64%
GradeLevel
Yes
45%
No
55%
CollegeProficientWritingSkills
CityAcademyMiniCaseSeries
StrategiesThatBestPrepareStudentsforCollegeLevelCoursework
MiloCutterandSeeVang

enroll.Allstudentswereadvisedthatthecoursewouldbeconductedasacollegecourseusingthesame
requirementsandprotocolsinplaceattheUniversity.
TeacherObservations:

StudentSurveys
Thestudentscompletedsurveysduringthefirstandseventhweeksregardingtheirreadinessforcollege.

SurveyQuestions
1. Ifeelreadyforcollegeacademically
2. Ifeelreadyforcollegeintermsofmyreadingskills
3. Ifeelreadyforcollegeintermsofmywritingskills.
4. IthinkIwillbecomfortablehandlingtheexpectationsofacollegecourse.
5. Icanimaginemyselfasacollegestudent.
6. Ihaveagoodideaoftheworkloadacollegestudentisexpectedtohandle.
7. Ithinkitwilltake hours/weektocompletehomeworkifItake12collegecredits.

Resultsoftwoofthequestionsthatwethoughtweremostinterestingarediscussedbelow:
Question1:IfeelreadyforcollegeacademicallyOriginally,twostudentswerenotready,and
onewascompletelyready.Inthesecondsurvey,theunpreparedstudentsnowindicatedalevel
ofcomfort,whilethestudentwhowascompletelyready,haddowngradedtoamore
reasonablelevelofcomfort.Inallthreecases,wefeelthatstudentexpectationsbecamemore
realistic.

Question7:Ithinkitwilltake hours/weektocompletehomeworkifItake12collegecredits
Theresponsestothisquestionincreasedforallstudents.Inonecasetheoriginalestimatewas1
hourperweek,laterrevisedto1820hoursperweek.AswithQuestion1,wefeelthatstudent
expectationsshiftedsignificantly,andinadirectionthatbetterreflectswhattheywillactually
encounterincollege.

Animportantresultofthisstudyisthatofthe9surveyedstudents,6increasedintheiroriginalweakest
areaasdeterminedbythepreassessment.Onceagain,testscoresdidnottellthe"wholestory"
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Studentsshow
enthusiasmfor
theclass
Studentsshow
concernwiththe
workload
Studentsturnin
assignmentson
time
Sutdentsusethe
syllabus
Studentswork
togetheron
assignments
Week1
Week2
Week3
Week4
Week5
Week6
Week7
CityAcademyMiniCaseSeries
StrategiesThatBestPrepareStudentsforCollegeLevelCoursework
MiloCutterandSeeVang

regardingstudentability.Thestudentswepredictedwoulddowellbasedonhightestscoreshave
neededthemostsupportandhavehadthemostdifficultyinmeetingdeadlines.
Conclusions:
Wefeelthatstudentmotivationisagreaterfactorinsucceedingthanstudentaptitude.Wediscovered
thatprovidinganactualcollegecoursewithrealdemandsandrewardsprovidedmotivationforstudents
nottypicallyconsideredcollegeready.Onlyonestudententeredthecoursewitharealisticideaofthe
workloadrequired.Thecourseprovidedstudentswithanopportunitytoimprovewriting,readingand
studyskillsaswellasbeingabletoexperiencethedailyworkofacollegestudent.Allbutoneofthe
studentsdemonstratedaneedforfurtherworkonthesoftskillsoftimemanagement,selfmotivation,
interdependenceandlifelonglearning.Itwillbeessentialthatfuturecourseincorporatethesesoft
skillsintothecurriculum.Also,anyselectionofstudentsforadvancedcourseworkshouldincludean
assessmentofsoftskillstobeofequalorgreatervaluetoaptitude.
ActionPlan:Asaresultofthisresearch,werecommendthefollowingactions:
ContinuetoofferCISforstudentsatCityAcademy.
Offeraprerequisiteclassthatdevelops"softskills"inparticulartimemanagementand
interdependence