Professional Learning Communities: Connecting Secondary and Higher Education Thomas Isekenegbe Ph.D Mary Ann Westerfield M.Ed. Cumberland County College Vineland, New Jersey

Cumberland County College Located in Southern New Jersey Diverse population of approx. 139,968 Unemployment rate is twice the State’s rate Income per capita $ 22,027 1/3 of adult population does not have a High School Diploma

Mission Cumberland County College is a comprehensive community college that is accessible, learning-centered, and dedicated to serving a diverse community of learners and employers through quality innovative programs, services and the appropriate use of technology for life-long learning.

Accreditation Cumberland County College is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

Degrees and Certificates AA AS AFA AAS Academic Certificates Career Certificates

Service Approximately 4,000 FTE students Four High School Districts

CCC Strategic Plan 2006-2011 Implement Career Pathways: Healthcare Criminal Justice Business and Hospitality Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Pathway decisions were determined by County Economy and Industry Partnership

Healthcare Career Pathways Community Based Job Training Grant (CBJT) DOL grant for Jan 2007 through Dec 2009 Pathways between secondary, post secondary, Workforce Investment Board (WIB), County vocational schools, and Cumberland County College

Why Professional Learning Communities? In order to create a seamless career pathway we needed to bring together: Administrators Teachers/Faculty Industry Conducted in a comfortable non threatening environment conducive for adult learning

Professional Learning Communities (PLC) Create an opportunity for a group of professional educators to meet and work collaboratively in an effort to affect student learning within the context of a professional learning environment.

Creating Change Success or failure of improved student learning starts and ends with the teachers Administrators and teachers work as one team to plan for shared ideas for instruction and student learning

PLC Goal Create a collaborative learning environment that assists in developing achievable expectations for student learners

Outcome of a PLC

Why did we do this? Promote and align healthcare opportunities in our county Increase family sustaining jobs Work collaboratively between County Public Schools, College, and Industry

Create successful transition from High School to Secondary Education Create an atmosphere where students have access to higher education Exposure to college level course material with daily classroom support from HS teachers

Initial Development of PLC Time Administrative support administrative support Budget considerations Participants Admin support: includes Superintendents, presidents, supervisors Budget includes: Coverage for time off Meeting space, food/beverages, supplies Compensation for participants Time away from respected duties ParticpantsBroad spectrum of participants Junior and senior faculty Mentor junior faculty New approaches for seasoned faculty Someone needs to coordinate and facilitate the first meeting and then this position can rotate

Meetings Convenient meeting times Convenient location Minutes to keep administrations and participants abreast of processes and outcomes

Not a one day event Progress Assess Reflect Develop Meet regularly Develop and assess the progress Ongoing with reflective process Develop

Impact Increase commitment to the mission and goals of all types of educational institutions Shared leadership Educators share power and authority in decision making

Our Project Need for Duel credit

Preparation May 2007 Obtain names from superintendents Goal: create 3 to 4 dual credit courses Letter to participants for best dates and times Offered CEU’s as incentive

First Meeting June 2007 Utilized Leadership Building on Cumberland County College Campus Time: 8 am to 2:30 pm College – space, food, and supplies Participating schools – participants replacements

Meeting One: Goals Establish a collaborative community between secondary and higher education Develop standardized curriculum for elective courses to be offered to HS students that will be accepted as HS elective credit and community college credit Explore teaching and learning strategies for student learning

Meeting 1 Discuss current teaching electives in schools and areas they would like to explore Round Tables each with laptop computer Worked as one group and developed Title – “Elements of Healthcare Careers” Course description Goals, objectives, and curriculum mapping

Concept Mapping Connect relationships between concepts Curriculum Student Activities Ideas Themes

Meeting 2 Worked in small groups All members brought books, syllabi Used computers to search internet for ideas Group one: “Legal and Ethical Issues in Healthcare” Group two: “Medical Terminology” Group three: “Nutrition”

Meeting 3 Groups reported on their process and outcomes Utilized computer screen to review content, grammar, and spelling Input on meeting state standards Incorporated Diversity and Information Literacy across the curriculum

Meeting 4 Discussed process of school board approval Created presentations Team would attend board presentations for support

Evaluations “I love this committee” “Excellent opportunity to work as a team” “Excellent collaboration/teamwork” “Great discussions” “I was impressed with how well CCC staff understood the needs of the high school students of our area”

We are we now ? Three of four public HS will offer courses All boards have approved Courses began Fall 2008 Ongoing meetings Share processes and collaborate on ideas Coordinate speakers Developing online resources

What still needs to be completed?

Questions? Thomas Isekenegbe, PhD Vice President Academic Affairs tisekenegbe@cccnj.edu Jacqueline Galbiati, MSN, RN Healthcare Pathway Director jgalbiati@cccnj.edu