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CommentaryHomeOpinion&IdeasCommentaryMay28,2009IntroducingaRemedialProgramThatActuallyWorksByKevinCareyThemanwhorangesinNoMan'sLandIsdoggedbytheshadowsoneitherhand—JamesH.
Knight-Adkin,1917Remediationisthenoman'slandofAmericaneducation.
Everyyearwesendhundredsofthousandsofyoungmenandwomenoverthetop,acrossarockylandscapestrewnwithpedagogicalbarbedwireandtheremainsofthosewhotriedandfailedbeforethem.
Weknow,withoutadoubt,thatmanyofthoseeagerandunsuspectingstudentswon'tmakeit.
Yetwesendthemanyway,becausethere'salwaysanotherfreshclassofrecruitstoenroll.
Thecosttothenationinlosttimeandresourcesisastounding.
Theloftygoalofincreasingtheranksofcollegegraduates,voicedbyPresidentObamaandothers,willnotbemetifwecan'tfindabetterway.
Thankfully,somepeoplearedoingexactlythat,today.
Andyou'lloftenfindtheminplaceslikeClevelandState—nottheuniversityinOhio,butthecommunitycollegeinCleveland,Tenn.
,about30milesnortheastofChattanooga.
ClevelandStateCommunityCollegeisatypicalAmericaninstitutionofhighereducation.
Meaning:(a)It'spubliclysupportedandstrugglestoraisemoney;(b)admissionsstandardsaren'tstringent;(c)moststudentscomefromlocalhighschools;and(d)manystudentsdon'tarrivepreparedforcollege-levelwork.
It'seasytoforget,givenhowmuchswayeliteinstitutionsandtheirgraduateshold,thattheClevelandStatesofthiscountryeducatemostofourcollegestudents.
Everyyearnearlytwo-thirdsofClevelandStatefreshmanareforcedtotakeatleastoneremedialcourse.
(Again,thatisnotunusual.
A2004studybytheU.
S.
DepartmentofEducationfoundthatmorethan40percentofallstudents—andover60percentofcommunity-collegestudents—neededremediation.
)Untilrecentlynearly50percentoftheremedialstudentsatClevelandStatewerefailingthosecourses,greatlyincreasingtheiroddsofdroppingout.
Theproblemwasalltoocleartothechairofthemathematicsdepartment,JohnSquires.
"Ifhalfyourstudentsfail,"hesays,"youcan'tcallthatasuccess.
"Sohedecidedtotrysomethingnew.
Inspring2008heputinplacethemath"emporiummodel"popularizedbytheNationalCenterforAcademicTransformation.
Insteadofattendingtraditionallecturesinbasicmath,elementaryalgebra,andintermediatePage1of3IntroducingaRemedialProgramThatActuallyWorks-Commentary-TheChronicleofHigherEducati.
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7/24/2009http://chronicle.
com/article/Introducing-a-Remedial-Program/44409/printalgebra,remedialstudentscometoalargecomputerlabwheretheysolvemathproblemsand,whentheyneedhelp,workwithon-sitefacultymembersandtutors.
Coursesarearrangedinweeklymoduleswithaccompanyingquizzesthatcanberetakenuntilstudentsarereadyforthenextstep.
Remediationcanbedifficultandintimidating.
OnestudentnamedLesliesaidinane-mailmessage,"Ihatedbeingcalledoninclassandmadeafoolof.
Whetheritwasmeantthatwayornot,that'swhatitwas.
WithmaththerearelotsoftimesIwouldsayifIcouldjustseethatworkedonemoretimeIthinkIwouldunderstandit.
MathLabletmedothat.
Workingatmyownspeedgavemeincentivetogoforwardandfinish.
"Theresultswereimpressive.
ThepercentageofremedialstudentsatClevelandStateearningatleastaCinthethreemathcoursesjumpedfrom55percentto72percent.
Ofcourse,passratesarealwayssubjecttochangingacademicstandards.
Butwhenthecollegecomparedstudents'testresultsinbasicmathwithcommonitemsonfinalexamsfromthepreviousfiveyears,theproportionansweredcorrectlyincreasedfrom73to86percent.
Andwhenremedialstudentswentontocollege-levelmath,theirsuccesscontinued—completionratesincreasedfrom71to81percent,evenasratesforotherstudentsstayedflat.
Forthefirsttime,studentscomingfromtheremedialsequenceearnedhighergradesthantheirpeersdid.
Enrollmentincollege-levelmathatClevelandStateisup42percentthisspring.
NowtheEnglishdepartmentislookingtodothesame.
Otherpeopleinhighereducationmightprotestthatthey,too,couldproducesuchresultsifonlytheyhadenoughmoneytopayforneededreform.
Andit'struethatremediationisoftenshamefullyunderfinanced,relegatedtoabudgetarybackwaterbyadministratorsmoreinterestedinattractingstarstudentsandbuildingprestige.
ButClevelandState'snewer,betterprogramislessexpensivethantheoldone.
Shiftingfromalecturetolabmodelmeansfewerpersonnelcosts.
Atthesametime,thecollegeisservingmorestudents.
Schedulingusedtobeaconstantheadacheasadministratorsstruggledtoprovideenoughcoursesections,particularlyinsmallsatellitelocations.
Nowtheoverallnumberofstudentsservedperfacultymemberisup23percent.
Insteadofgradingquizzes,professorshavemoretimefordirectcontactwithstudents.
Students,too,aresavingtimeandmoney.
Previouslytheyhadtotakeeachremedialcourseinsequence,regardlessofhowfasttheylearned.
Nowtheycanjumpintothesequenceattherightplaceandmoveasfastasthey'reable.
Asmanyas46students—Lesliewasoneofthem—completedtwoormoremathcoursesinthefall2008semester.
Somestudentsfinishedallthree.
ThewholeprojecthasgonesowellthatClevelandStateisplanningtotransformitsentiremathdepartment.
"There'snotasinglethingwedothatwilllooklikeitdidtwoyearsago,"saysSquires.
Andthecollegewon'tbealone.
It'spartofastatewidepilotprojectoftheNationalCenterforAcademicTransformationthatalsoincludesChattanoogaStateTechnicalCommunityCollegeandAustinPeayStateUniversity.
OfficialsinArizona,Mississippi,andNewYorkhavesimilareffortsunderway.
ServingmorestudentsandimprovingacademicoutcomeswhilesavingresourcesinthebargainsoundslikePage2of3IntroducingaRemedialProgramThatActuallyWorks-Commentary-TheChronicleofHigherEducati.
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7/24/2009http://chronicle.
com/article/Introducing-a-Remedial-Program/44409/printtheultimatebettermousetrapforhighereducation.
Andwiththeeconomiccrisisthrowingbalancesheetsintoturmoil,morecollegeswillundoubtedlylooktothosekindsofinnovativesolutions.
Butitwouldbeamistaketobelievethatclearevidenceofmorelearningforlessmoneywillbeenoughtosparkwidespreadimprovement.
Forallitsgeneralliberalism,highereducationisstaunchlyconservativewhenitcomestotryingnewthings.
"It'samazinghowlittlewewanttochange,"saysSquires,"evenwhenwe'reobviouslynotdoingagoodjob.
"Remedialeducationisaparticularchallenge.
TheK-12systemconsiderseverystudentwhograduatesandthenenrollsincollegeasasuccess—anythingthathappensafterwardissomeoneelse'sproblem.
Thehigher-educationsystemconsiderseveryremedialstudentasaproductofK-12failure,andthereforesomeoneelse'sproblem.
Theonly"someoneelse"leftisthestudent,doggedbytheshadowsoftwosystemsthatrefusetotakeresponsibilityfortheeducationalkillingzonethatliesbetweenthem.
Collegesaren'twrongtoobservethatmanyhighschoolschronicallyfailtopreparecollege-boundstudentsfortherigorsofhighereducation.
Butthatproblemwon'tbesolvedanytimesoon,andmanycollegesfailtodoevenobviousthingslikecommunicatetheirremedialplacementstandardstothelocalhighschoolsthatsendthemstudents.
Manyinstitutionswouldratherpretendthatremedialcoursesdon'tevenexist.
Thatattitudeisaproductofouroddhabitofjudginginstitutionalqualitybyhowsmartstudentsarebeforetheymatriculate,notafter.
Sothecoursesaremarginalized,organizationallyandevenphysically.
Classsizesareoftenlargeandinstructorsunderpaid.
Frequently,remedialstudentsareleftoutofsuccessmeasuresaltogether—they'renotreally"collegestudents"atall,thethinkinggoes.
Collegesarehardlyeverranked,financiallysupported,orheldaccountableonthebasisoftheirsuccessservingremedialstudents.
Thatmakesthosestudentsanexcellentrevenuesource:cheaptoeducateandcostlesstofail.
ClevelandState—alongwithagrowingnumberofothercollegesthathaveusedthenationalcenter'stypeofcoursetransformation,smalllearningcommunities,andothermethodstohelpremedialstudentswhodesperatelyneedagoodeducation—showsthatwecanandshoulddomuchbetter.
RatherthancontinuetotolerateattritionratesthatwouldhavemadeaWorldWarIgeneralweep,wecanhelpmanymorestudentsthroughthefirst,mostdifficultsteponthejourneyintohighereducationandtheopportunitythatliesbeyond.
Copyright2009.
AllRightsreservedTheChronicleofHigherEducation1255Twenty-ThirdSt,N.
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Washington,D.
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