Title: What is Crossroads Cafe?
1What Administrators, Teachers, and Students are
Saying About...
CROSSROADS CAFÉ An Initial Review
2 What is Crossroads Café?
- Video
- 26 broadcast-quality videos
- Worktexts
- Photo Stories
- Teacher Resource Books
- Partner Guide
- Assessment Package
- Transcripts
3Why was Crossroads Cafédeveloped?
- Unprecedented demand for ESL instructional
programs - Inadequate capacity to serve students
- Continuing high immigration
4What are prominent program features of Crossroads
Café?
- Flexible multi-level approach
- Context based learning
- Self-instructional methods
- Communication skills
- Facilitation of different learning styles
- Appropriate for classroom, hybrid, and
distance learning ESL programs
5Who developed Crossroads Café?
- INTELECOM Intelligent Telecommunications
- Heinle Heinle Publishing
- State Departments of Education in
California,Florida, Illinois, and New York - United States Information Agency
- United States Immigration and Naturalization
Service
6Five evaluationstudies conducted between Fall
1995 - January 1998
- Distance learning, hybrid, and classroom-based
ESL programs in CA, FL, IL, NY, and TX - 240 Administrators and Teachers
- 731 Students
- Numbers involved
7Evaluations provided answers to TWO key
questions...
- Did students like CROSSROADS CAFÉ?
- 98 of students surveyed said they liked the
program. - 97 of administrators and teachers surveyed said
students liked the program.
YES!
8Did students learn with CROSSROADS CAFÉ?
YES!
- Floridas study reported that quantitative and
qualitative data indicated improvement in - Test Scores Writing
Communication Confidence
9New York Study reported teacher perception of
student improvement...
- Some improvement
56.5 Substantial
21.7 Very substantial
8.7 - In these areas
- Language skills 54 Workbook answers
50 Spoken English 42 Written English
25
10Studies in CA, FL, IL, NY, and TX showed a 14
student gain in pre/post test scores...
Student gains by category
- Writing (23)
- Reading (18)
- Vocabulary (15)
- Cultural (9)
11California User Satisfaction Survey
- Postcard survey mailed to 440 CA literacy
providers who received Crossroads Café videos
prior to June 30, 1997 - 183 responses received (45)
- Findings
- Overwhelming support for the series
- 75 reported that students like a lot
- 23 reported that students like
- 73 reported main use in classroom setting
- Overwhelming support for the series by the survey
users and students - 71 like alot
- 23 like
- 75 report students like alot
- 23 report students like
- Report main use in classroom (73)
12Program Recommendations Based on California
Survey Responses
- Similar multi-media materials for beginning ESL
students - Staff development training in use of materials
- There are institutional barriers to distance
learning uses - that must be addressed at the policy and program
level.
13Florida Evaluation Study
Florida conducted a 3-part follow-up study after
its first year of Crossroads Café
implementationPart I Management
ComponentsPart II Workshop Training
Effectiveness Part III Impact on Educators and
Students
14 2,500 teachersApproximately 27,000
students19 counties
Impact of Crossroads Café in Florida
...keep the implementation process
practitioner-and learner-centered
15Keys to Floridas Success
- Formed an effective partnership shared a
comprehensive vision - Employed a humanistic approach
- Developed a team of ESL specialists in pilot
counties - Created individual strategic training plans
- Used training workshops as a means for
distributing materials - Allowed individual organizations to determine
their own model - Used the existing adult education infrastructure
- Targeted classroom to stimulate interest in
hybrid distance learning - Used immediate follow-up training evaluations
to improve implementation model - Responded to feedback at every level throughout
the process
16New York Formative Evaluation Study Summer
1996
- Focused on how 22 programs were implemented in
six different regions - Designed to answer what worked, what didnt, and
why? - Selected pilot sites based on established
reputations for high quality performance - Documented the use of Crossroads Café in distance
learning (50), hybrid (32), and classroom
models (18)
17New York Formative Evaluation Study Summer 1996
16 administrators 24 instructors 448
students
Data collected from
- Learner Demographic Form
- Student Record Sheet
- Episode Response Form
- Mail Survey (administrators and teachers)
- Telephone Interview
- Focus Groups (administrators and teachers)
18New York Formative Evaluation Study Findings
- Overwhelming positive reaction to Crossroads Café
for all uses - Relative ease of implementation
1) Experience of administrators and
teachers in the pilot study - 2) Quality of orientation and training in
the use of materials 3) Quality of video and
print materials - High retention of students during pilot (82-all
students, 87-distance learning model) - Promotion of distance learning as means of
serving unserved and undeserved students - Support for hypothesis that ESL distance learning
with Crossroads Café program can be as effective
as classroom instruction at a significantly
reduced cost
19 New York Formative Evaluation Study
Program Recommendations
- Special program logistics to facilitate transfer
of videos and text materials between teachers and
students - Training for teachers in distance learning
methods - State reimbursement formula that provides
incentives for distance learning programs
- Instructors went to great lengths to ensure
that the student/teacher relationship not be
jeopardized in distance learning programs
20Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of
Crossroads Café
- Focus Delivery of the course to its target
audience - during Fall 1995 and Summer 1996
- Students 196 students in 11
groups - Chicago Los Angeles Miami
New York San
Antonio - Funded by United States Department of Education
21Evaluation of the Pilot Implementation of
Crossroads Café Findings
- Positive response to Crossroads Café across all
delivery modes - Nearly two-thirds said they would take the full
26 lesson course. Anadditional 25-30 said
they would probably take the full course. - All groups scored substantially higher on
cognitive posttest than on pretest - Encourage students to spend more time with
materials - Provide students with the opportunity to speak
and listen to English,possibly encouraging the
hybrid model
Given the
extreme need for such materials, educators - will no doubt be enthusiastic adopters
of the course.
22Report from MiraCosta Community College
(Oceanside, CA)
- Have used Crossroads Café hybrid model for two
years - Began program as instructional alternative for
over 300 students on waiting list - Meet students at local community centers,
elementary school, and instructional center - Students check out videos and meet with an
instructoronce a week, every 2 weeks, or every 3
weeks to review their work based on identified
learning goals and needs
23Report from MiraCosta Community
College(Oceanside, CA) Findings
- High retention rate- less than 20 of students
drop out of program - Over 50 of students enroll because they cant
attend traditional class - The college is increasing its capacity by serving
students on waiting list AND previously unserved
learners - Students report an average of 12 study hours a
week. Full range is3 - 22 hours. - Students report high satisfaction with videos,
materials, and progress.
Crossroads Café is the most motivating ESL
Program our Students have ever used