Ccri

Texas College and Career Readiness Initiative�Overview: Standards and Implementation

Director Strategic Partnerships and Project Development

Educational Policy Improvement Center

Dr. Charis McGaughy

© 2009 by the Educational Policy Improvement Center. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Any use of materials on this website, including reproduction, modification, distribution or republication, without the prior written consent of EPIC, is strictly prohibited.

Session Outcomes

1.  Participants are aware of the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS);

2.  Participants are familiar with the statewide activities to support the implementation of the CCRS; and

3.  Participants understand the need for coordinated efforts at the local level to improve college and career readiness for all students using the CCRS

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Who is the Texas Higher Education �Coordinating Board (THECB)?

Created by the Texas Legislature in 1965 to:

•  Promote quality education across the state

•  Develop roles and missions of public institutions of higher education (IHEs)

•  Encourage and develop technical and vocational education programs

•  Develop and promulgate a basic core of general academic courses

•  Advocate for IHEs and their students


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Who is the Texas Education Agency (TEA)?�Established in 1949 as the state's administrative agent to

supervise the public school system

•  provides leadership, guidance, and resources to help public schools meet the educational needs of all students, including research and information

•  oversees development of the statewide curriculum and manages the textbook adoption process

•  administers the statewide assessment program and accountability system

•  maintains data collection system on public school students, staff, and finances

•  monitors for compliance with federal guidelines and serves as a fiscal agent for state and federal funds


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Who is the Educational Policy �Improvement Center (EPIC)? •  David Conley, Founder, CEO, and Principal Investigator •  EPICʼs Mission: Nonprofit research center to help policymakers

and educators do a better job of using educational policy as a tool to improve schooling and student learning

•  EPIC supports research on a range of issues in the following areas: –  College readiness definition and standards –  High school-to-college alignment tools and strategies –  Course document analysis –  Adequacy funding –  Large-scale assessment models –  Other policy initiatives designed to improve student success


High School Diploma or College and Career Readiness?

•  State K-12 education policy has tended to focus on increasing the high school graduation rate as one significant measure of “closing the achievement gap”

•  Unfortunately, a high school diploma does not prepare its recipients for any specific future –  Jobs requiring a high school diploma do not require the skills

we would like to believe a high school graduate should have •  In the current economic environment, a high school diploma as

a terminal degree presents a false sense of hope and accomplishment to its recipients

•  State education policy should focus on preparing all students for readiness to learn beyond high school –  This is a higher bar than todayʼs high school diploma

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Ever Increasing Importance

“The financial crisis, not only in the U.S., but

worldwide, has convinced Houstonians they need to

continue their studies at major universities or improve

their skills and enhance their technical education to be

competitive to re-enter local industries and businesses

when new jobs become available.”

Chancellor Mary Spangler, Houston Community College Houston Chronicle, January 31 2009

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Why Is It Important for More Students to Be College and Career Ready?

•  Two-thirds of high school grads go directly to college, three-quarters within five years of graduation –  The numbers are forecast to continue to increase

•  Large numbers end up in remedial courses or fail to persist beyond the first year –  From 20% to 80%, depending on the institution type, end up in

remediation –  First-generation college attendees comprise a disproportionate

number of remedial placements and non-persisters •  The proportion of first-generation college attendees will continue

to increase as far into the future as we can project –  These students need a different kind of preparation –  They need access to “privileged knowledge” –  They need more confidence that they are ready

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Over 40% of all new Texas students in 2005 required developmental education.

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Source: THECB Developmental Education Data Profile 2005


A New Definition of College and Career Ready

•  The level of preparation a student needs in order to enroll and succeed—without remediation—in credit-bearing general education courses that meet requirements for a baccalaureate degree

•  “Succeed” is defined as completing entry-level courses at a level of understanding and proficiency sufficient to: –  pass a subsequent course in the subject area –  apply course knowledge to another context

•  This definition presents high schools with a clear target for preparation: expectations students will encounter in first-year college courses, including students pursuing technical certificates

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The Four Key Dimensions of �College Readiness


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Four Key Dimensions of �College Readiness •  Key Cognitive Strategies

–  Analytic reasoning, problem solving, inquisitiveness, precision, interpretation, evaluating claims

•  Key Content Knowledge –  Writing skills, algebraic concepts, key foundational content and

“big ideas” from core subjects •  Academic Behaviors (self-management)

–  Persistence, time management, study group use, awareness of performance

•  Contextual Skills and Awareness (“college knowledge”) –  Admissions requirements, cost of college, purpose and

opportunities of college, types of colleges, college culture, interacting with professors


The Texas College and Career Readiness Standards �


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Structure of the CCRS •  Hierarchical structure

-  Represents the structure of the discipline and subject areas within the discipline

-  Emphasizes that college readiness is about understanding the organizing concepts of the subject area along with specific skills

•  Three levels plus examples -  Key Content: organizing structure of the subject area

  Organizing Components: conceptual topics o  Performance Expectations: general goals

*  Performance Indicators: example student performances*   Not part of CCRS, but included as possible examples of student

performance; not a definitive list of all possible performances


Reviewing the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards

Take a few minutes to review –  the introductory section –  the explanatory section for the cross-disciplinary

standards –  the overall structure of the cross-disciplinary

standards

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Cross-Disciplinary Standards

•  These standards represent cognitive strategies and skills that span the subject areas and that instructors believe are critical to postsecondary success

•  These standards should always be considered in the context of challenging content, and never be viewed as skills to be taught separate from appropriate content

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Standard: Construct well-reasoned �arguments to explain phenomena, validate �conjectures, or support positions. Examples of ways to teach and assess the standard 1.  Participate in a debate that is based on fact and has a logical

structure. 2.  Construct a visual representation, including hypothesis, data,

results, and conclusion. 3.  Write a paper that addresses counter arguments to advocated

positions. 4.  Recognize and apply techniques of statistical and probabilistic

analysis to judge reliability of information. 5.  Deconstruct an advocacy position paper by sorting its arguments

into those based on fact and those based on opinion.

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Cross-Disciplinary Standards Activity

•  Review one of the Cross-Disciplinary Standards and explore how it could be taught or assessed

•  There are no “right” or “wrong” answers

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The Texas College and Career Readiness Initiative�


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Texas College and Career Readiness Initiative (TCCRI) •  Three-year project sponsored by TEA and THECB to improve

alignment between secondary and postsecondary education: –  Phase I: Developing CCRS (joint TEA/THECB) –  Phase II:

•  Validating the CCRS (THECB) •  Gap Analysis (TEA)

–  Phase III: •  Developing Reference Courses and Senior Assignments (THECB) •  Designing professional development, instructional strategies, and

online student materials (TEA) –  Phase IV: Piloting High School Senior-level Assignments (THECB)

•  Related Projects: –  Career and Technical Education Alignment Analysis –  Texas Test Alignment Project –  Texas CCRS Regional Meetings


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Phase 1: Developing College and Career Readiness Standards (Completed January 2008) •  College Readiness Standards (CCRS) mandated by HB1 •  Sponsored by TEA and THECB •  Developed by Vertical Teams (secondary and

postsecondary faculty) •  Four meetings February-August, 2007

–  Homework and refinements between meetings •  Presented to THECB 10/25/07 in draft form •  Public comment period from 10/15-12/10/07

–  Supporting technical analyses •  Adopted by THECB in Jan. 2008 •  Sent to the Commissioner of Education and State Board

of Education for incorporation into the TEKS in Apr. 2008


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Differences Between HS Graduation and College Readiness Standards

•  They have different reference points: •  HS standards focus upon HS graduation •  CCRS focus upon credit bearing, entry-level general

education coursework •  HS standards tend to focus more on content

knowledge and are the basis for state testing or accountability requirements

•  CCRS represent current practice in entry-level college courses and focus on both content knowledge and key cognitive strategies


Phase II: Validating the College and Career Readiness Standards (Completed October 2008)

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•  Course Nominations: 108 TX two- and four-year postsecondary institutions agreed to collect course nominations that best represented the CCRS

•  Course Submissions: 813* instructors completed a course profile, uploaded a syllabus, and compared the CCRS to their course

•  Alignment Analysis: 930 syllabi were submitted to determine how the CCRS compare to common practice and identify the common components of entry-level courses

*Note: many instructors submitted for more than 1 course


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Specific Entry-Level Courses Analyzed

ELA Mathematics Science Social Studies

Composition I College Algebra Biology for Science Majors I

American Government I OR Federal Government

Composition II Math for Business & Social Sciences I

Biology for Non-Majors I

American Government II OR Texas Government

World Literature

Elementary Statistical Methods

Anatomy and Physiology I

U.S. History I

Intro to Chemistry I U.S. History II

General Chemistry General Psychology

College Physics I

Elementary Physics I


Course Submissions by Region and �Institution Type (partial and complete)

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Alignment Analysis Results�To what degree are the Texas CCRS aligned with what is currently being taught in Texas entry level college courses?

Subject area % of standards aligned

ENGLISH (120 standards) 97%

MATHEMATICS (169 standards) 87%

SCIENCE (137 standards) 85%

SOCIAL STUDIES (127 standards) 99%

CROSS-DISCIPLINARY (58 standards) 100%

Note: In addition to subject specific standards, all courses also examined the cross-disciplinary standards

Conclusion

•  The College and Career Readiness Standards were validated as reflecting expectations for readiness in a cross-section of representative entry-level college courses from all levels of the state’s postsecondary system

•  Additional studies will be undertaken to improve alignment in areas below 95%

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•  Introduction to Computers (ITSC 1301)

•  Introduction to Computers (ITSC 1401)

•  Applied Anatomy and Physiology (SCIT 1407)

•  Applied Anatomy and Physiology (SCIT 1408)

•  Basic CAD (DFTG 1309)

•  Technical Drafting (DFTG 1405) •  Principles of Management

(BMGT 1303) •  Introduction to Accounting I

(ACNT 1303) •  Computer Applications I (POFI

1301) •  Business English (POFT 1301) •  Principles of Marketing (MRKG

1311)

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Alignment Analysis: collect syllabi to determine how the CCRS compare to common practice and identify the common components of 11 CTE courses. CTE Courses to be analyzed:

Career and Technical Education (CTE) �Alignment Analysis (to be completed Winter 2009)

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Uses of College and Career Readiness Standards

College and Career Readiness Standards can be used: •  to help high schools set the challenge level and

content necessary for college and career readiness

•  as the reference point to design aligned HS and college courses

•  to create a more rigorous senior year •  to prepare student for workforce skills and

expectations •  to help higher education increase course

consistency •  to develop better college placement criteria

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Contact Information

•  Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC)

•  Toll-free: 877-766-2279 •  Email: [email protected] •  URL: http://www.epiconline.org/

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