Transcript Discipline Review Reading

Discipline Review
Reading
Reading (ENG 080-085)
Department: Foundation Studies
Discipline Team Leaders: Amy Leighton Gamel & Ted
Miller
Discipline Team Members: Martha Petry, Deborah Coons,
Kathy Gates, Dave Mills, Linda Krasny, Ann Iseda, Jo Omo
Mission
To promote the effective use of active reading
strategies by students in reading courses and across
content areas.
Effective reading skills are critical to success in all college
classes. By training instructors to model and embed active
reading strategies in their classes, we are promoting the
application of reading skills by students as they move from
semester to semester and from one content area to another.
ADO 7, Critical Thinking
ENG 080



Generate questions before and while reading
Distinguish between fact and opinion
Incorporate new knowledge with old
ENG 085




Generate questions before and while reading
Distinguish between fact, opinion and inference
Recognize bias in a piece of writing
Incorporate new knowledge with old
Goals
The primary goal of the reading program is to increase
students’ mastery and application of active reading
strategies.This goal will be achieved by inculcating common
instructional practices through:



Professional development in reading strategy instruction for
reading instructors.
Professional development in reading strategy instruction for
instructors across content areas.
Professional development in reading strategy instruction for
teachers in Vandercook Lake Middle School and Vandercook Lake
High School.
Additionally, providing students with frequent opportunities to review
and practice these reading strategies throughout their academic
experiences at JCC is essential.
Engagement with Stakeholders
Stakeholders: Foundation Studies students, content area
faculty, transfer colleges and universities and local employers.
Lead faculty Amy Gamel . . .
communicates with content area faculty and other
stakeholders in Foundation Studies Committee
meetings
 visits department meetings to provide information
about the RAMP and FIRM initiatives and to describe
available reading resources.
 confers with individual faculty about their students’
reading challenges.
 surveys students at the conclusion of each RAMP visit.

Engagement with Stakeholders (cont.)





builds relationships with and receives feedback from reading
faculty.
reviews surveys of reading students about their experiences as
learners in reading courses and instructor evaluations
meets monthly with faculty and administrators at Vandercook
Lake Middle School and High School to implement school-wide
literacy initiative.
confers with instructors and administrators at Baker College,
Albion College and Spring Arbor University
asks business owners about the reading needs of prospective
employees and reading assessments used as a part of the
application and hiring process
Expectations for Stakeholders
Faculty members expect students who are skilled in
critical thinking and reading comprehension. Many
faculty also desire expertise in introducing and
incorporating active reading strategies in their
classrooms.
 Students expect to develop confidence and increased
competency in applying effective reading strategies.
 Transfer institutions expect students who are skilled
in critical thinking and reading comprehension.
 Potential employers expect employees who are
skilled in critical thinking and reading comprehension.

Comparison Colleges
cutscores
for
level 1
credits
cost
(ENG 080)
cutscores
for level
2
credits
cost
(ENG 085)
JCC
Kirtland
48-60
31-55
4
3
$552.00
$331.50
61-75
56-75
4
3
$552.00
$331.50
Muskegon
0-55
3
$286.50
56-75
2
$187.00
Schoolcraft
ACT 32
– 56
4
$424.00
ACT 57 –
69
4
$424.00
Figure 1: Percentage of students receiving 2.0 or better, by course.
Reading Success Rates: Trend
Reading: Success Rates (2.0 or better) by Course
Course
ENG080
ENG085
Fall
2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11* 2011-12 2012
59.3%
64.4%
65.9%
56.0%
61.6% 73.6%
71.3%
68.1%
64.6%
57.2%
56.8%
68.5%
*2010-11 was a transition year: switch to textbook with more challenging
expository/academic content and workshop model with focus on
metacognition/active reading strategies.
Measures Taken to Improve
Success Rates






Instructor’s job: 1) improve reading skills, 2) promote
attendance and successful course completion.
Know characteristics of developmental students and apply best
practices and strategies for persistence and retention.
Provide feedback to students early and often
Hold regular conferences with student
(Adjunct candidates) submit lesson plans covering one reading
strategy from Tovani’s book, I Read It But, I Don’t Get It.
(All instructors) do pre/post assessment of student application
of Tovani’s active reading strategies—report to lead faculty.
Executive Summary
Strengths

Through a Title III Grant, JCC promotes active reading strategy
instruction campus-wide, modeling best practices in higher
education literacy.

Several content area faculty have been receptive to suggestions and
training opportunities for helping their students with reading in
their classes.

ENG 085 course pack provides grade-level appropriate reading
material with current and high interest topics.

Reading instructors are receptive to training opportunities; have a
good understanding of characteristics of, and enjoy working with,
DE students. The camaraderie among reading instructors is strong.
Executive Summary
Weaknesses

Among both reading and content area instructors, a
new paradigm in which instructors are role models in
how to effectively read and comprehend materials in all
content has not been fully embraced and practiced.

Success rates are still low, though improving.

Reading instructors are very creative. For some, having
common materials feels limiting. We want to encourage
creativity while maintaining consistency across sections.
Executive Summary
Opportunities to:

learn specific reading tasks from content specific instructors
and share strategies for developing students’ competence.

promote literacy development as a college-wide endeavor.

contribute to the literacy development of incoming students
before they complete high school.

increase instructor reporting of student performance in
demonstrating active reading strategies, ADOs’, etc.
Executive Summary
Threats

Students are arriving to JCC with lower and lower reading skills.

The belief that reading instruction belongs only in reading courses
deters faculty in other disciplines from learning to integrate active
reading strategies in their own courses.

Lead reading faculty’s directing and implementing all reading
initiatives is problematic. We need to have more faculty trained to
sustain and grow reading instruction.
Action Project 1:
Faculty Inquiry Reading Meeting (FIRM)
Person responsible: Amelia Leighton Gamel
Complete by: 2015
Description: Monthly instructional workshops that
◦train instructors to model and embed active reading strategies in
their classes.
◦enable instructors to share experiences of implementing active
reading strategies in all content areas.
Desired impact:
◦Reading and content area instructors will effectively model and
embed active reading strategies in their classes;
◦Students will effectively apply these strategies as they move from
semester to semester and from one content area to another.
Action Project 2: Reading Apprentice and
Mentoring Program (RAMP)
Persons responsible: Amelia Leighton Gamel and Charlotte Finnegan
Complete by: 2015
Description: Amy Leighton Gamel provides in-class instruction
and demonstrations of active reading strategies in all content
areas using content-specific materials.
Desired impact:
◦Reading and content area instructors will effectively model and
embed active reading strategies in their classes;
◦Students will effectively apply these strategies as they move
from semester to semester and from one content area to
another.
Action Project 3: Literacy Collaboration with
Vandercook Lake Schools
Persons responsible: Amelia Leighton Gamel
Complete by: 2015
Description: Amy Leighton Gamel facilitates monthly instructional
workshops that train VCL teachers to model and embed active
reading strategies in their classes and provides in-class instruction
and demonstrations of active reading strategies in all content areas
using content-specific materials.
Desired impact:
◦Teachers will effectively model and embed active reading
strategies in their classes
◦Students will effectively apply these strategies as they move
through the secondary grades and beyond.
Thank you!
Questions…