Making College an Integral Part of the High School Experience

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Making College an Integral Part of the High
School Experience

• First Annual Summit
• on Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
• December 10, 2008
• Marlborough, MA
• Stafford Peat, Director of Secondary Services and
  William Blackwell, Educational Specialist
• Shelley Tinkham, Director for Academic, P-16
  and Veterans Policy Department of Higher
  Education

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Making College an Integral Part of the High
School Experience

• State Goal to increase the number of students
  who graduate college and career ready without the
  need for remediation 90 percent by 2020
• Early college experiences especially in high
  school help provide an exposure to college
  expectations and what it takes to be successful
• MassCore encourages students to participate in
  additional leaning experiences
• Presentation will focus upon three early college
  programs and the Educational Proficiency Plan

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Public Postsecondary Enrollment in Developmental
Coursework
37 of MA public high school graduates in the
class of 2005 enrolled in MA public higher
education took at least one remedial
(developmental) course in their first semester.
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Presentation Topics

• The Educational Proficiency Plan
• The reinstated state-funded dual enrollment
  program
• Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Partnership
  Programs for Students with Disabilities
• Gateway to College Program
• Two available college alignment tools

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AN OVERVIEW OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROFICIENCY PLAN
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Standards for Receiving a Competency
Determination

• Students starting with the graduating class of
  2010 must satisfy one of the following two
  conditions in both English language arts and
  mathematics to earn a competency determination.
• meet or exceed the Proficient threshold scaled
  score of 240 on the English Language Arts and
  Mathematics grade 10 MCAS tests, or
• meet or exceed the Needs Improvement threshold
  scaled score of 220 on the English Language Arts
  and Mathematics grade 10 MCAS tests and fulfill
  the requirements of an Educational Proficiency
  Plan.

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The Educational Proficiency Plan

• A review of a student's strengths and weaknesses
  in the content area.
• The courses the student will be required to take
  and successfully complete in grades 11 and 12
  that will move the student toward proficiency on
  the grade 10 curriculum framework standards as
  well as on grade 11 and 12 standards in English
  language arts or grade 11 and 12 grade span
  standards or Algebra II standards in mathematics.
  
• A description of the assessments the school will
  administer on at least an annual basis to
  determine whether the student is making progress
  toward proficiency, or has become proficient on
  the grade 10 standards.

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THE ASSESSMENTS
The plan must identify the assessments to be used
annually (at least) to determine whether a
student has met or is moving toward proficiency.
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• For school year 2008-2009 schools may use the
  following
• Locally developed end-of-course English language
  arts and Mathematics assessments
• MCAS tests designed specifically for the EPP
• Accuplacer

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• Locally developed English language arts and
  mathematics tests

End of course assessments can take many forms,
and may vary depending on the school or district.
The assessments may be traditional comprehensive
final exams, a combination of the scores of
midterms, finals or quarterly exams that cover
the entire year, or a more innovative portfolio
or project based assessment. The end of course
assessment must cover the entire year of work and
be based on high school standards in the assessed
subject area..
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MCAS tests designed specifically for the EPP
Grade 10 MCAS test forms for which scoring will
be done at the local level
SCHEDULE FOR THE MCAS/EPP November 3, 2008
Test Administrators Manual were posted to the
security portal Testing Windows January 12,
2009-January 16, 2009 April 28, 2009 -May 4, 2009
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Accuplacer
All public state and community colleges and the
University of Massachusetts currently use
Accuplacer as part of their placement process.
Testing should be done in partnership with a
community or state college. If selected as an
option, Accuplacer testing can be used as an
early college assessment for high school
students. The assessment results can be used for
access and readiness for college.
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Highlights from the Question and Answer Document
1. What is the definition of successfully
complete a course in the relevant content
area(s)?   Successful completion of a course
means, at minimum, that the student has earned
academic credit for the course under the school
districts standards for awarding academic
credit. The school district may establish
additional criteria for successful completion of
a course required by a students EPP.   2. What
evidence should be maintained to verify that a
students EPP has been successfully
completed?   Documentation that includes the
course(s) required by the students EPP, the
assessment that was used and date of
administration. EPP data will be reported in
SIMS. 
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Additional EPP Resources

• Updated EPP resources including sample EPP
  templates and information are posted on the
  Departments College and Career Readiness webpage
  http//www.doe.mass.edu/hsreform/epp/
• NCS Mentor website www.ncsmentor.com/customers.htm
  (key word  MCAS)

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Introduction to Dual Enrollment

• Shelley Tinkham, Director for Academic, P-16 and
  Veterans Policy, Department of Higher Education

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Working Definition Dual Enrollment

• high school students enroll in college-level
  coursework and earn credit while still in high
  school (Hoffman et al citing Augenblick, Palaich
  Associates)

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Benefits of Dual Enrollment

• Inspires college aspirations
• Eases transition to college
• Challenges students
• Decreases educational cost and time to degree
• Improves college outcomes

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History of State-Funded Dual Enrollment in
Massachusetts

• Established by the Education Reform Act of 1993
  and state funded from 1994-2001
• Reestablished in FY 2009 Pilot Year
• Using a state appropriation the Department of
  Higher Education allocated 2 million to make
  payments for dual enrollment at public higher
  education institutions.
• Will be jointly administered by the Department of
  Elementary and Secondary Education and the
  Department of Higher Education

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Priorities FY 2009 Pilot State-Funded Dual
Enrollment

• Purpose Increase the number of dual enrolled
  students
• Courses College-level courses
• Focus First generation college students and
  students interested in STEM majors
• Payment Mechanism Grants to colleges
• Eligibility 3.0 GPA, Letter of Recommendation,
  Placement Testing
• Flexibility
• Funds can be used for student books, supplies and
  transportation (or professor transportation)
• Multiple delivery methods( on-campus, at high
  schools, on-line and hybrid)
• Students identified via high school partnerships
• Data collection to measure results

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Overview of FY 2009 State-Funded Dual Enrollment

• All 28 higher education institutions are
  participating
• Enrollment expected to double in the fall, triple
  in the spring - there will be summer session
• Multiple models
• Diverse course offerings
• Development of high school and college
  partnerships

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For more information

• Contact the higher education institution directly
  for enrollment information
• For a list of point of contact and more
  information go to http//www.mass.edu/currentinit
  /currentinitdualenrollment.asp
• Shelley Tinkham, Director for Academic, P-16 and
  Veterans Policy, shelleytinkham_at_bhe.mass.edu
  617-994-6922

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Sources

• Hoffman, N, Vargas J., and Santos J. (2008) On
  Ramp to College A State Policymakers Guide to
  Dual Enrollment, Jobs for the Future, Boston, MA

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Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment Partnership
Programs for Students with Disabilities Fund
Code 235-Ahttp//finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/gra
nts09/rfp/235A.html ContactWilliam
Blackwell781-338-3637wblackwell_at_doe.mass.edu
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Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment

• State-funded grant program designed to build and
  expand partnerships between public school
  districts and state public institutions of higher
  education
• Provides students with severe disabilities the
  opportunity to participate in credit and
  non-credit college courses and in the life of the
  college community
• Promotes the academic, social, functional, and
  employment skills of students with severe
  disabilities in order to improve the students
  educational and work success

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Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment

• Students become better prepared for future
  college and work success by developing
• Self-advocacy and self-determination skills
• Career planning and employment skills
• Improved academic, social, and functional skills
• Students and families gain exposure to college
  and begin to learn how to navigate a new
  educational system

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Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment

• The larger context
• 13 of the Massachusetts high school class of
  2005 that attended a Massachusetts public college
  or university had received special education
  services (http//www.doe.mass.edu/research/reports
  /0208bhe.pdf)
• The federal Higher Education Opportunity Act of
  2008 includes provisions designed to ensure equal
  college opportunities for students with
  disabilities (http//edlabor.house.gov/micro/coaa.
  shtml)

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Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment
Fund Code 235-A FY09 Partnerships
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Inclusive Concurrent Enrollment

• Resources to support students with disabilities
  in achieving college readiness
• HEATH Center at George Washington University has
  a variety of resources on preparing students with
  disabilities for postsecondary education. In
  particular, the Guidance and Career Counselors'
  Toolkit Advising High School Students with
  Disabilities on Postsecondary Options --
  http//www.heath.gwu.edu/node/15
• ThinkCollege.net provides resources for preparing
  students with intellectual disabilities for
  college -- http//www.thinkcollege.net/

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Gateway to College

• What is Gateway to College?
• Serves at-risk youth, 16 to 20 years old, who
  have dropped out of school. The program gives
  students the opportunity to earn a high school
  diploma while earning college credits and
  achieving college success. Students
  simultaneously accumulate high school and college
  credits, earning their high school diploma while
  progressing toward an associate degree or
  certificate.
• How is Gateway to College started?The National
  Network will provide a total of 300,000 or
  350,000 over three years to each replication
  site for planning and start-up. This amount is
  based on the college's ability to enroll 300 or
  350 students in Gateway to College by the end of
  the third year of the grant.

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Gateway to College

• What are the requirements for starting a
  program?
• Gateway to College funded sites are required to
• Have the ability to align curriculum to allow
  students to meet the requirements for both high
  school completion, earn college credits, and
  achieve college success
• Serve the dropout population
• Provide all classes in the college setting
• Provide an initial learning environment blending
  rigorous academics with personal support
• Follow the Essential Elements of the Gateway
  model.

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Gateway to College

• Where are the early college programs in
  Massachusetts?
• Holyoke Community College, Holyoke, MAContact
  Denise Calderwood, Director, Gateway to College
  413-552-2370 dcalderwood_at_hcc.mass.edu
• Massasoit Community College, Brockton,
  MAContact Carine Sauvignon, Director, Gateway
  to College 508-588-9100 x 1689
  csauvignon_at_massasoit.mass.edu
• Mt. Wachusett Community College, Gardner,
  MAContact Deb Bibeau, Director, Gateway to
  College978-630-9249dbibeau_at_mwcc.mass.edu

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SyllabusMaker

• Developed by the Educational Policy Improvement
  Center
• SyllabusMaker is an online tool for generating
  high quality syllabi consistently across a
  department or school.
• Teachers respond to a series of prompts that
  ensure that their syllabus contains all essential
  information on the course's content and challenge
  level.
• The syllabi created through this process can be
  analyzed against state standards or college
  readiness standards in much the same fashion as
  the alignment and challenge audit described above
  to create a school wide profile of alignment
• SyllabusMaker is available at https//www.epiconli
  ne.org/applications/syllabusmaker . The first
  time you visit you will need to create an
  account.

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Contacts

• Stafford Peat, Director of Secondary School
  Services, 781-338-6312, speat_at_doe.mass.edu
• Shelley Tinkham, Director for Academic, P-16 and
  Veterans Policy, 617-994-6922, shelleytinkham_at_bhe.
  mass.edu
• Will Blackwell, Education Specialist, Special
  Education Planning and Policy, 781-338-3637,
  wblackwell_at_doe.mass.edu