Models and Resources for Training Peer Study Group Leaders

On Friday, April 26th I provided an online presentation for a gathering of Wisconsin college learning center directors and others involved with college student success.  The following items were referenced through the presentation and may be helpful as the reader explores this topic. Click on the web link to download.

Click on this link for a web page devoted to resources shared during this conferencesession.

Additional resources are available through a blog page maintained on this topic.  The web site contains audio interviews with some peer study group leaders, links to online resources, and links to training programs from nationally-known organizations.  Click on the following web link, PALgroups.

2012 OADE Conference Keynote Talk Resources

Greetings,

I have taught history courses for over three decades. It has been a long journey to provide a better learning environment for my students. Universal Learning Design allows me to embed best practices of learning assistance and developmental education inside my classroom. I am responsible for doing my part to support student success rather than just sending students down the hall and across the campus to locate tutoring or study group programs.

It is a delight to share some resources related to my online keynote talk I shared Friday morning. The following items are available to download.

Click on this link for PowerPoint slide handout of the presentation.

Click on this link to download ULD book edited by Higbee and Goff

Click on this link to download Pedagogy and student services for institutional transformation: Implementation guidebook for student development programs and services.

Click on this like to download Pedagogy and student services for institutional transformation: Implemenation guidebook for faculty members.

Take care,

David

Updated Annotated Bibliography of Postsecondary Peer Cooperative Learning Programs Available

Greetings,

As part of my research, I maintain an annotated bibliography on the five major postsecondary peer cooperative learning programs: Emerging Scholars Program (ESP, Treisman Model), Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL, City College New York), Structured Leanring Assistance (SLA, Ferris College Model), Supplemental Instruction (SI, UMKC Model), and Video-based Supplemental Instruction (VSI, UMKC Model). I released an earlier version in 2005 and placed it in the online ERIC Database maintained by the Department of Education. Since then, I have added nearly 100 pages of new annotated references for these five programs. The most citations continue to be SI, however as a percentage basis the PLTL model is growing more quickly in the professional literature.

You might this a helpful resource for tutoring programs, peer learning programs, and scholars who publish on this topic area. It is free and available at http://z.umn.edu/peerbib No doubt I have missed some references (there are nearly 1,000). Please let me know about them and I will revise the bibliography and post to the same web address as the current version.

Take care, David

2012 MRADE Conference Keynote Talk

Greetings everyone,

Link to the PowerPoint slide handout from the talk.

Link to a directory and web links to online learning technology resources handout from the talk.

It was certainly fun to share with all of you today. Thanks for being my home team.

Take care,

David

Call by Dept. of Education for Promising and Practical Strategies

A perfect opportunity has been created for educators to share promising and practical strategies to increase postsecondary success, transfer, and college graduation through the U.S. Department of Education. Please read further how you can share what works with your students and programs with your colleagues nationally. While it is the middle of the academic term and you no doubt have more than a full work load, do not miss the chance to influence other educators and policymakers with what you know for making a difference and demonstrate how your profession has the expertise to increase college success rates. The priority review deadline for submission is April 30th.

The U.S. Department of Education announced at its College Completion Symposium and posted to the Federal Register on January 30, 2012 a Request for Information (RFI) for any person or organization to share with them strategies for increasing college completion that may then be made available through a special web site created by the Department. Submissions received by April 30, 2012 receive priority consideration for dissemination. Click on the following web link for the complete announcement published in the Federal Register, https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2012/01/30/2012-1963/promising-and-practical-strategies-to-increase-postsecondary-success#p-3

It is important in your proposal to stress the unique features of your activity or program. For example, while many schools have a tutoring or mentoring program, what is novel about yours? How are your credit-hour courses different than others? These are some of the questions the RFI asks for the submissions to address.

The Jandris Center for Innovative Higher Education (http://cehd.umn.edu/jandris/) based at the University of Minnesota has volunteered to provide several free hour-long webinars in the near future to share suggestions for completing a submission with examples from others that have already have or in process of completing their document. Announcements about these webinars will be posted to this blog page soon. Based on the regulations from the published announcement in the Federal Register, click on the following web link for suggestions by a Jandris Center staff member for the submission: http://www.besteducationpractices.org/storage/pdf-documents/Summarized%20RFI%20Announcement.pdf

For more official information and technical assistance with the submission, contact Dr. David Soo at the Department of Education, (202) 502-7742, david.soo@ed.gov Information about the Jandris Center is available at http://cehd.umn.edu/jandris/

Department of Education Collecting Strategies to Increase College Completion

The U.S. Department of Education has asked colleges and universities to report on their successful strategies toward achieving President Obama’s goal of the United States having the highest percentage of postsecondary-degree holders in the world by 2020. In a notice scheduled to appear in Monday’s (January 30) Federal Register, the department is reaching out to institutions of higher education, as well as states and nonprofit organizations, for strategies that have worked. The reported best practices, the notice says, will be posted online in due course.

The U.S. Department of Education is convening a one-day symposium on college completion on Monday, Jan. 30, for 50 of the nation’s leading researchers, policy experts, and practitioners from 30 postsecondary institutions to identify evidence-based best practices that work to increase college completion. At 2:30 p.m., Education Secretary Arne Duncan will address the symposium, challenging participants to think creatively about ways to substantially boost college completion.Sessions will highlight ways to support students’ achievement through accelerated programs, learning communities and bridge programs; as well as through advising, coaching and mentoring. The symposium will also focus on affordable and innovative ways to promote completion in an effort to meet President Obama's goal that the United States once again have the highest college attainment rate in the world by 2020.

Illinois Releases New Report on Practices to Increase College Completion Rates

Illinois Lt. governor Sheila Simon this month released a report called "Illinois Community Colleges: Focus on the Finish." <Click on this link to download the complete report> It is practical examples how the collegtes are implementing practices to improve college completion rates for their students. Some of these could be appropriately modified and integrated into TRIO and other opportunity programs.

Following is the Executive Summary of the report: Community colleges are the future of the Illinois economy. Nearly 1 million students pass through their doors each year in search of accessible, affordable education and career training. Unfortunately, too many students leave campus without the certificate or degree necessary for a good-paying job. Slightly fewer than one in five Illinois students who began their studies as first-time, full-time students at Illinois community colleges in the fall of 2007 graduated by the summer of 2010. In order for our state to attract and retain businesses – and do right by our students – we need to dramatically increase this success rate.

As the Governor’s point person on education reform, I completed a statewide fact-finding tour of all 48 Illinois community colleges in 2011. I wanted to hear firsthand how schools were working to improve completion rates, and to gather input on how the state could facilitate their success. Given that community colleges reach more students – but graduate fewer – than other higher education institutions, their performance is critical to creating a globally competitive workforce.

Today, the Illinois workforce is slightly ahead of most states, with 41 percent of our nearly 7 million working-age adults (25-64 years old) holding at least a two-year degree. But if we do not increase the proportion of certificate and degree holders over time, Illinois will not only fall behind our neighbors, but also lose out on international job investment. As Chair of the P-20 Council’s Joint Educational Leadership Committee and a member of Illinois’ Complete College America team, I am working to increase the proportion of Illinoisans with meaningful college and career credentials to 60 percent by 2025.

During the tour, I found that colleges are actively pursuing the state’s “60 by 2025” completion goal. I witnessed several small scale, but promising, reforms to prepare incoming students and reduce the time it takes for them to earn credentials and enter the regional and national workforce. These emerging on-the-ground practices, coupled with overviews of national research and completion strategies, provide the foundation for this report.