Our Students Placed 2-3 Levels
Below College English,
but Look What They Can Do!
Summer Serpas
Assistant Professor of English at Irvine Valley College
Caroline Minkowski
Instructor, Department of English at City College of San Francisco
Andrea Hammock
Assistant Professor of English and Reading at Mt. San Jacinto College
CALIFORNIA ACCELERATION PROJECT
http://cap.3csn.org/
Supporting California’s 112 Community Colleges
To Redesign Developmental English and Math Curricula
And Increase Student Completion
An initiative of the California Community Colleges’ Success
Network (3CSN), funded through the Basic Skills Initiative of the
state Chancellor’s Office. Additional support from the
Walter S. Johnson Foundation, LearningWorks, and “Scaling
Innovation,” a project of the Community College Research Center
funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Katie Hern, Director
khern@chabotcollege.edu
Myra Snell, Math Lead
msnell@losmedanos.edu
California Acceleration Project’s
Community of Practice
The California Acceleration
Project’s Community of Practice
is an extended professional
development program, led by
Katie Hern and Myra Snell, that
brings together faculty from
colleges across California who
are piloting accelerated courses
in English and Math for a year of
training and practical support in
the theories and practices of
accelerated teaching.
 Over 100 California colleges
have participated in workshops
and conference presentations to
date, and 42 colleges are
receiving in-depth training and
coaching to offer new
accelerated English and pre-stats
courses through the community
of practice

California Acceleration Project’s
Three Principles of Acceleration

Backwards Design
Instruction should be aligned with students’ educational
pathways, with pre-college writing courses focused on
teaching the same kinds of reading, writing and thinking
skills students will use in college-level writing

Just-In-Time Remediation
Instructors should provide help for students when the
need arises as they work through college-level reading
and writing assignments.

Support for Student’s Affective Needs
Instructors should help students through emotional or
psychological barriers that block learning and have
nothing to do with their cognitive ability
The Math of Long
Developmental Sequences
Chabot College pipeline data for students
beginning two levels below college
composition and tracked for three years:





Do they pass the first course?
If they pass, do they enroll in the next course?
If they enroll, do they pass the second course?
If they pass, do they enroll in the college-level course?
If they enroll, do they pass the college-level course?
66%
93%
75%
91%
78%
Let’s do the math:
(0.66)(0.93)(0.75)(0.91)(0.78)= 33%
Fall 2006 Cohort. Students tracked from their first developmental English enrollment and followed for all subsequent English enrollments for 3 years. Pass
rates includes students passing on first or repeated attempts within timeframe. Basic Skills Cohort Tracker, DataMart.
Does Acceleration Work?
While we understand the math behind
acceleration, we often ask ourselves, “Can
students perform at the higher academic
levels required of them in the accelerated
classroom?”
Classroom Case Studies
Today, we will look at how students who
were placed 2-3 levels below college
English perform when we raise the
academic bar and allow students to show
they are capable of meaningful, complex
academic work when we follow the three
principles of acceleration.
Classroom Case Studies
Each presenter will discuss the following:
Traditional vs. accelerated track at her college
 Sample assignments and student writing from the traditional
track
 Sample assignments and student writing from the accelerated
track
 A comparison of grading strategies in the traditional and
accelerated track

Today’s presentation is based on information gathered for an
article titled “Faculty Across California Impressed by
Accelerated English Students” by Homeira Foth, English
Instructor at Chabot College. This article is available on the
California Acceleration Project’s website: cap.3csn.org
Summer Serpas,
Assistant Professor of English
sserpas@ivc.edu
Acceleration at IVC
Traditional Sequence
Reading 370:
3 units plus a .5 unit lab
Writing 301:
3 units plus a .5 unit lab
Writing 201:
3 units plus a .5 unit lab
Writing 1:
College-Level Writing
Accelerated Sequence
Reading 370:
3 unit class plus a .5 lab
OR test into WR 301
EXP 389:
A 5 unit, one-semester
course plus a .5 unit lab
Writing 1:
College Level Writing
Sample WR 301 Assignment
Writing 301—Serpas
Spring 2012
WA 3: Friends, Good Friends, and Very Good Friends
Final Draft Due Date:
Thursday, April 5th
Context
In her essay “Friends, Good Friends, and Very Good Friends,” Judith Viorst categorizes the various types
of friends she has. She writes, “[T]he friendships I have and the friendships I see are conducted at many
levels of intensity, serve many different functions, meet different needs and range from those as all-theway friendship of the soul sisters […] to the most nonchalant and casual playmates” (150).
Assignment
For this assignment you will write three paragraphs. The first paragraph will be a summary of Viorst’s
essay. This paragraph will serve as an introduction and should end with a thesis statement in which you
mention the two types of friends you plan to discuss in your two subsequent paragraphs. The next two
paragraphs should each describe one type of friend and provide an example from your experience. You
must choose one of Viorst’s categories and create one of your own.
Developing your paragraph
· In your first (introductory) paragraph, you will be summarizing Viorst’s essay. This means you
should begin with a TAG statement that introduces Viorst’s thesis and move to a discussion of
her main points and a few key supporting examples. You should mostly use your own words, but
you can use brief quotations if you would like. Be sure to cite quotations properly with a page
number citation.
· Your introductory paragraph should end with a thesis statement in which you introduce the two
types of friends you plan to discuss in the following two paragraphs. You should connect your
thesis statement to your summary with a transition.
· In your two subsequent paragraphs, you should begin with a topic sentence that names the type
of friend you will discuss in that paragraph.
· You should develop your paragraph by beginning with an explanation of the friendship type
you plan to discuss in that paragraph. In your paragraph in which you use one of Viorsts’s
friendship types, you should summarize her explanation of that type of friend. In your paragraph
in which you introduce a type of friend that you made up, you should explain that type of
friendship in your own words. You should then move into a fully-developed example or examples
from your own life of one or more friends who fit into that category. Be sure to explain why the
friend fits in the category as you explained it.
· For the closing of these paragraphs, you should evaluate why that type of friend is important in
your life. Be sure to incorporate the word because into this portion of your analysis. For
example, “My special-interest friend is important because…”
Characteristics of the
WR 301 Assignment

Simplistic topic—Lack of critical thinking
◦ Categorizing types of friends

Very little reading
◦ 3 ½ page article: “Friends, Good Friends—and
Such Good Friends” by Judith Viorst from The
Simon and Schuster Short Prose Reader

Prescriptive
◦ Tells the students exactly what they should do
and gives them little to no freedom to make
academic decisions on their own
Characteristics of
Student Writing in WR 301

Formulaic
◦ Student follows the pattern described in the prompt

Lack of analysis
◦ Thesis contains no analytical depth

Lack of critical thinking
◦ Analysis at the end of the paragraphs is very brief

Very little academic creativity
◦ Student makes up a type of friendship not discussed
by Viorst in paragraph 3

Not an illustration of college-level writing
◦ This assignment does not illustrate what the student
will be asked to do in other college-level classes,
neither in content nor structure
EXP 389
Fall 2012
S. Serpas
Essay 6
Some people believe that it is human nature to be cruel to others. These people might argue that this
cruelty is why Stanley Milgram’s subjects acted as they did, and why no one helped Kitty Genovese. Do
you accept this explanation of human psychology? Yes? No? Somewhat? And why do you see it like
you do?
In coming up with your own position on this issue, I encourage you to think about all that you’ve learned
about Milgram’s experiment from
·
·
·
·
“The Perils of Obedience” by Stanley Milgram,
“Review of Stanley Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience” by Richard Herrnstein,
“Review of Stanly Milgram’s Experiments on Obedience” by Diana Baumrind, and
the ideas in Chapter 4 of Lauren Slater’s Opening Skinner’s Box: “In the Unlikely Event of a
Water Landing: Darley and Latane’s Training Manual—A Five Stage Approach.”
Consider the grey areas, rather than arguing strictly on one side or the other. Instead of saying YES we
are cruel, or NO we are not, try to come up with a more complex answer to explain human behavior.
In your essay, be sure to include:
·
·
·
Support for your argument with relevant ideas, information, and quotations from Milgram’s essay
Support for your argument with relevant ideas, information, and quotations from Slater’s Chapter
4
Evidence that contradicts your argument from Milgram and/or Chapter 4—in this part of your
essay, you’ll need to explain what you think of this evidence (Do you disagree? Do you
acknowledge that it has some merit?) and discuss why this evidence does not cause you to
abandon your own position
Things to Shoot For:
·
Show that you have carefully read the texts from this unit, and that you have fully digested and
considered the different viewpoints and evidence.
·
Show you are really thinking about the topic—these are complex questions, so don’t settle for
easy answers. And don’t feel that you have to take an either-or position.
·
Write so that someone not in our class could understand it. Assume your audience has not read
these texts. That means you’ll need to briefly summarize key ideas/information and explain any
unfamiliar terms.
·
If you use the exact words from something you’ve read, be sure to put those inside “quotes” in
your essay, so that readers know you’ve borrowed another writer’s wording.
·
Write at least 4 complete pages, typed, 12 point font, double-spaced, 1 inch margins.
Characteristics of the
EXP 389 Assignment
Complex and extensive academic reading
assignments
 High level of critical thinking required

◦ “Consider the grey areas”

Freedom to make academic choices
◦ “Things to Shoot for”

College-level thinking and writing
required
Case Study: Ypani Guerrero




Ypani placed three levels below college
writing and had previously taken our Reading
370 class.
In the previous semester, she tried to enroll
in WR 301 (two levels below college-level
writing), but could not get a seat.
She was a model student who always asked
for feedback and incorporated that feedback
into her writing.
She had me shaking my head thinking, “Why
was she placed so low?”
Characteristics of EXP 389
Student Writing:Ypani Guerrero
An ability to navigate the ideas in two
very difficult texts
 Strong grasp of the concepts in the text
 Ability to integrate quotations into both
her writing and her argument
 Looks at complexities and shows an
ability to see beyond black and white
arguments
 Struggles in word choice, awkward syntax,
missing commas

Approaches to Grading
We must look beyond the superficial
“prettiness” of papers produced by
traditional assignments.
 We should see past superficial
“messiness” and look for examples of
strong critical thinking and an ability to
synthesize ideas.
 We must praise emerging critical thinking
and writing skills.

Ypani discusses her
experiences in the accelerated class
Caroline Minkowski
Instructor, Department of English
City College of San Francisco
cminkowski@ccsf.edu
Acceleration at CCSF
Traditional Sequence
English 91:
6 units
Accelerated Sequence
English 91:
6 units
English 92:
3 units (no longer offered)
English 93:
3 units
English 9293:
6 units
English 96:
3 units
English 1A:
College Level Writing
English 961A:
College Level
Writing
Sample English 92 Assignment
“Jonetta Grissom’s Future” from Integrations
•Students
read a case study about Jonetta
Grissom, a waiter at a restaurant who wishes
to take time off work to participate in a
government-sponsored computer training
program.
•Then, they
write an essay in which they
evaluate arguments for and against granting
Jonetta the time off and explain what decision
her manager should make and why.
Characteristics of the
English 92 Assignment

Short, below-college-level reading
assignment
◦ 3.5 page case study

Prescriptive
◦ Explicit instructions for thesis and
organization

Contrived topic
◦ No real-world connection
◦ No critical thinking
◦ Not likely to generate interest
Characteristics of
Student Writing in English 92

Lack of coherence
◦ The paragraph topics do not connect.

Lack of analysis and critical thinking
◦ The thesis is overly broad.
◦ The paragraphs contain a lot of information from
the text but not much analysis.

Lack of college-level reading and writing
skills
◦ The essay does not synthesize information from
multiple sources.
◦ The essay does not contain direct quotes.
◦ Student had no opportunity to make decisions
about organization, paragraph topics, etc.
Sample English 9293 Assignment
Final Project: Can We Stop Gang Violence?
•Individually, students
answer the course’s
driving question using evidence from the texts
they read throughout the semester plus one
source from the library’s online databases.
•In
groups, students publish their essays in
online zines and present their zines to the
class.
Characteristics of the
English 9293 Assignment

Critical thinking
◦ Argument about a complex, multifaceted issue

Cumulative reading skills
◦ Synthesis of a semester’s worth of academic
reading materials

Research requirement
◦ Evidence from one article from the library’s
online databases

Real Audience
◦ Essays published online
Case Study: Lauren Leung
Lauren placed three levels below transfer.
 She grew up in Hong Kong and moved to
the United States four years ago.
 She was accepted at San Francisco State
University but chose to attend CCSF for
financial reasons.
 She has a growth mindset: she never gave
up, asked for help, took advantage of all
rewrite opportunities, and was very
engaged when working in small groups.

Characteristics of English 9293
Student Writing: Lauren Leung






Fully comprehends the course’s texts and the
articles from the library
Develops arguments with text-based evidence
from multiple sources and clear, thorough analysis
Makes original arguments
Acknowledges different points of view
Needs to work on breaking up paragraphs,
transitioning between ideas, and identifying
grammatical errors
Shows her ability to work more independently
Approaches to Grading
Acknowledge what students can do
instead of evaluating them from a deficit
perspective
 Positive competency levels on grading
rubric

◦ Exceeding, meeting, approaching, developing,
beginning
Lauren’s Zine
http://kkmblgroup.blogspot.com
Andrea Hammock
Associate Professor, English & Reading
Mt. San Jacinto College
ahammock@msjc.edu
Acceleration at MSJC
Traditional Sequence
English 61 / Reading 63
4 units / 4 units
English 62 / Reading 64
4 units / 4 units
English 98 / Reading 98
4 units / 3units
English 101
Freshman Composition
Accelerated Sequence
English 61:
4 units
English 92
Accelerated Reading & Writing
5 units
English 101
Freshman Composition
Sample English 62 Assignment
“Compare and Contrast”
Write a paragraph with a clear topic
sentence and appropriate transitional
words where you compare and/or contrast
your life now to your life one year ago.
Characteristics of the
English 62 Assignment
Mode-based paragraphs
 Little reading
 Prescriptive

◦ Explicit instructions for topic sentences,
topics, and organization

Basic topic
◦ No critical thinking
◦ Not likely to generate interest
Characteristics of
Student Writing in English 62

Lack of interest
◦ Student was unable to “dig deep”
Lack of analysis and critical thinking
 Lack of college-level reading and writing
skills

◦ Student had limited opportunity to make
decisions about organization, paragraph topics,
research, etc.
◦ “NO time” for reading or research
Sample English 92 Assignment
Final Project:
What Hinders Our Success?
Students answer a question related to the
course’s theme using evidence from the
texts they read throughout the semester
plus multiple sources from the library’s
online databases. They write a 6 page,
analytical research essay and present the
results to the class.
•
Characteristics of the
English 92 Assignment

Critical thinking
◦ Argument about a complex, multifaceted issue

Cumulative reading skills
◦ Synthesis of a semester’s worth of academic
reading materials and Outliers

Research requirement
◦ Evidence from 3-5 articles from the library’s
online databases
◦ Appropriate use of outside sources
Case Study: Robert White
Robert placed two levels below transfer.
 Had “never passed an English class.”
 Admitted on the first day of class that he
does not enjoy English, writing, or reading
 Strong writer, critical thinker, motivated
 Fixed mindset turned into growth
mindset
 Now considers majoring in English

Characteristics of English 92
Student Writing: Robert White
Significant depth and breadth of writing and
knowledge
 Develops arguments with text-based
evidence from multiple sources and clear,
thorough analysis
 Makes original arguments
 Acknowledges different points of view
 Grammar errors fixed themselves
 Show confidence
 Continues to work on considering all
solutions to problems

Approaches to Grading
Praise and support
 Questioning
 Emphasis on thinking
 Student analysis and self-reflections
 Little discussion of grammar

Robert Discusses Acceleration