California Educational Research Association Secondary English - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

California Educational Research Association Secondary English Language Arts & College Preparation December 1, 2011 CSU Expository Reading and Writing Course English Curriculum Alignment Project Expository Literacy Grant – California Academic Partnership Program

Presenters: Nancy Brynelson , Center for the Advancement of Reading, CSU Chancellor’s Office Cindi Davis-Harris , Grossmont Community College Cali Linfor , San Diego State University, Cal-PASS Micah Jendian , Grossmont Community College Katrine Czajkowski , Sweetwater Union High SD Alice Kawazoe , CA Academic Partnership Program Tracy Huebner , WestEd 2

Policy Context: College Readiness Initiatives California State University  Executive Order 665 in1997: Reduce remediation to 10% by 2007  Precollegiate Academic Development (PAD)  Collaborative Academic Partnership Initiative (CAPI)  Reading Institutes (CAPI-CPDI, RICAP, RIAP) 3

Policy Context: College Readiness Initiatives California State University  Early Assessment Program (EAP)  Expository Reading and Writing Course  Graduation Initiative – Raise 6-year graduation rates by 8%by 2016 to 54% & reduce existing gap in degree attainment by underrepresented students by 50%  Early Start 4

Policy Context: College Readiness Initiatives California Community Colleges  Basic Skills Initiative  Early Assessment Program 5

Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)  Designed for students in grades 11 and/or 12  Emphasizes in-depth study of expository, analytical, and argumentative reading and writing  Approved to fulfill the “b” English requirement of the UC and CSU “a-g” college entrance requirements  Intended for broad usage ( not as an honors or remedial course and not necessarily tied to EAP results) 6

Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC)  Developed by CSU English faculty and high school teachers and administrators  Aligned with 1997 ELA content standards & 2010 CA Common Core State Standards  Structured around assignment template addressing reading and writing  Emphasizes nonfiction texts (some literature included) and includes two full-length works 7

Expository Reading and Writing Course Modules Semester One Semester Two  Fast Food: Who’s to Blame?  Bring a Text You Like to Class  Going for the Look  Language, Gender, and Culture  Rhetoric of the Op-Ed Page:  Left Hand of Darkness Ethos, Pathos, and Logos  The Politics of Food  The Value of Life  Justice: Childhood Love  Racial Profiling Lessons  Juvenile Justice  Bullying at School: Research Project  The Last Meow  Into the Wild 8

Expository Reading and Writing Course Key Principles Relentless focus on the text 1. The integration of interactive reading and writing processes 2. A rhetorical approach to texts that fosters critical thinking 3. Materials and themes that engage student interest and provide a foundation for principled debate and argument 4. Classroom activities designed to model and foster successful practices of fluent readers and writers 5. Research-based methodologies with a consistent relationship between theory and practice 6. Built-in flexibility to allow teachers to respond to varied students' needs and instructional contexts 7. Alignment with standards (1997 ELA & 2010 CCCSS) 9

Expository Reading and Writing Course Elements of the Assignment Template READING RHETORICALLY • Getting Ready to Read Prereading • Introducing Key Concepts • Surveying the Text • Making Predictions & Asking Questions • Introducing Key Vocabulary • First Reading Reading • Looking Closely at Language • Rereading the Text • Analyzing Stylistic Choices • Considering the Structure of the Text Postreading • Summarizing & Responding • Thinking Critically 10

Expository Reading and Writing Course Elements of the Assignment Template CONNECTING READING TO WRITING Writing to Learn Using the Words of Others Negotiating Voices 11

Expository Reading and Writing Course Elements of the Assignment Template WRITING RHETORICALLY • Reading the Assignment Prewriting • Getting Ready to Write • Formulating a Working Thesis • Composing a Draft Writing • Organizing the Essay • Developing the Content • Revising the Draft Revising & • Revising Rhetorically Editing • Editing the Draft • Reflecting on the Writing Evaluating & • Grading Holistically • Responding to Student Writing Responding • Using Portfolios 12

Expository Reading and Writing Course Adoption  305 high schools in CA have formally adopted the ERWC – Most of these schools have adopted ERWC as a full-year course in 12 th grade  125 additional high schools in Los Angeles USD have adopted ERWC as the curriculum for their one-semester 12 th grade Expository Composition course.  Combining both groups, the total number is 430 representing roughly 34% of the 1,264 comprehensive high schools in CA (some alternative schools are part of the 430) .  Many other schools have adopted the curriculum informally by integrating it within existing English courses across grades 9-12. 13

R ECONCEPTUALIZING S ECONDARY E NGLISH I NSTRUCTION A N EW P ROFESSIONAL D EVELOPMENT M ODEL A Cal-PASS / GUHSD partnership with the support of San Diego State University and Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District An innovative professional development program with college and high school teachers aligning high school English curriculum with college entrance expectations Cali Linfor Cindi Davis Harris, EdD Micah Jendian coordinator assistant coordinator lead college mentor english curriculum alignment project english curriculum alignment project english curriculum alignment project rhetoric faculty san diego state university english faculty grossmont college english faculty grossmont college

IF we hope for a paradigm shift in how post secondary and secondary teachers conceptualize language arts. . . Our Claim THEN a paradigm shift in how professional development is typically conducted must also occur

W HY W AS A P ARADIGM S HIFT N ECESSARY ? Traditional English Instruction The Shift  Content centered instructional  Skills centered instructional methodology methodology  Emphasis on literary texts  Emphasis on expository text  Text selection based on theme  Texts selected with skill or content. instruction in mind  Student as learner  Teacher as continual learners and co-inquirers.

Administrative choices A DMINISTRATIVE C HOICES  One or two day staff development workshops  Content of workshop selected by administrators  Textbook publishers’ workshops that accompany the adoption of new texts  Professional Learning Communities Common I NDIVIDUAL CHOICES  Credits or degrees earned to boost Professional Development salary  National board certifications Models  Subject-matter associations Sawchuk, 2010

E NGLISH C URRICULUM A LIGNMENT P ROJECT [ECAP] Characteristics Commitment  Six years per site  Regional Dialogues  Initially informed by CAPI & Cal-  Entire English Faculty PASS PLCs; advanced by Cal- (incl. EL and Special Ed) engaged PASS in 2004  Four Day Reading Institute for  Inter-Segmental Leadership Team new sites & new faculty each  Development of Teacher Leaders summer  High School / College Site Mentor Teachers Increasing  Administrative Collaboration college readiness by creating strong  ERWC curricular emphasis and curricular alignment between Secondary and methodology Post-secondary instruction.

S TRUCTURE AND P ROCESS OF ECAP A LIGNMENT W ORK  collaboration monthly meetings facilitated by college and high school faculty mentors grade level teams  curriculum development four ECAP Assignment Types use of ERWC template vertical alignment  continued professional learning ongoing support in identified areas of need  reflection At the informing improvement and further development End of Six Years 4 teacher developed, implemented, and revised Vertically Aligned Modules at Each Grade Level and Every Classroom

ECAP I MPLEMENTATION P LAN Developing teacher awareness of the Developing Teacher Leaders and need for increased college readiness, Creating Vertical Alignment skill instruction, knowledge of reading and writing rhetorically, and backward planning Pre-year Year 3 • Joining the local Cal-PASS PLC • Vertical Skills Grid • Attend the Summer Reading Institute • Scope and Sequence • Attend ERWC workshops • Develop new sequences as needed • Present at Symposium. Year 1 Year 4 • Implement one pre-written assignment • Refine Vertical Skills Grid & Scope and sequence Sequence documents • Develop one assignment sequence • Present at at Symposium. Year 2 Years 5 & 6 • Refine existing assignment sequence; • Lesson Study • Develop one new assignment • Further refinement of curriculum and sequence; Implement two assignment instruction; sequences • Present at Symposium.

This scaffolded and intense professional development is producing a professional cycle that deepens knowledge and promotes innovation. We are creating a culture with tangible artifacts identifying a change in institutional thinking The Outcome and preliminary results suggesting increased student achievement.