BUT HOW WILL THIS WORK FOR ME? Reading Apprenticeship at Edmonds Community College… a work in progress. Melody Schneider

Who are we? 11,800 Average students per quarter 1,200 Average students per quarter working toward high school diploma or GED 1,350 Average ESL students per quarter 1,152 International students from 70 countries 137 full-time and 324 part-time instructors

The Silo effect Divisions Humanities and Social Services STEM Health and Human Services Pre College Business International Library

How does it start? Year one A question… why aren’t students reading? Too much technology? Change in attention span? Why didn’t they learn this in high school? Identifying the need. A common concern with little intervention. What types of discussions are happening at your institution?

Who was involved? Achieving the Dream coaches recommended Reading Apprenticeship. Two administrators saw the value and supported faculty training. We started with 12 faculty members who wanted to learn more. These faculty represented 4 divisions. Funding identified to support training. None of us really knew what we would be getting. Who at your college is interested in Reading Apprenticeship? How do you or did you find those people?

From an idea to the classroom… Cohort training Summer 2012 Fall/Winter 2012/13 we applied strategies in our classes. Cohort group met a few times to talk about what we were doing. One of our faculty members created a Google site with resource links. Some early results in classes were promising. We informally shared results and ideas with colleagues.

How does this move beyond the few to the many? Some questions we considered: Should RA training be mandatory? Should we do in house ‘training?” How important is this to the college? How does this fit into our mission? How does RA connect to current initiatives? Do we focus college-wide? What funding could be used to support integration? What questions do you need to consider at your institution?

The work of year two A point person – identifying a campus coach. Reassigned time to focus on Reading Apprenticeship. Connect to Faculty Professional Development. Connect to Achieving the Dream Using Title III funds to support initial faculty development efforts.

Approaches Faculty Learning Communities -6 in the first year. Workshops – campus wide and department specific – 6 in the first year. Information sessions- 3 in the first year. Conversations – endless. Show and tell- all the time.

WHAT WE LEARNED

Instructors have reservations… I can’t cover as much - what do I have to give up? Doesn’t work in math Doesn’t work with computerized textbooks Doesn’t work online I need to deliver information, not teach people to read. The discussions about these reservations revealed deeper beliefs and assumptions we then explored. What reservations do you have?

Safe, supported environments encourage faculty engagement. Learning Communities – regular meetings, assignments, shared leadership, experimentation and feedback. Sharing experiences and ideas. Problem solving together Learning communities are a commitment. In each FLC faculty from different divisions – breaking down the silos.

Talk with everyone Surprising ideas and people Learning support center – tutor training Library… vertical texts and connecting to Information Literacy

Some results At the end of last year 86 faculty had participated in some form of Reading Apprenticeship training. Library stocked the book, Reading for Understanding for faculty. Divisions bought the books for faculty members. Requests from new faculty for Reading Apprenticeship training. Institutional researcher is tracking classes using Reading Apprenticeship. Library Resource Guide created.

What faculty are saying… I learned so much about...1) Teaching my students how to approach a text. 2) How not to fear the text…. I have a new and more developed understanding of how I know things. I learned to look more critically at what I ask students to do. When I incorporated RA techniques into my teaching I could see students grasp concepts more fully. I have used the support and valuable ideas in RA learning communities summer 2013 and spring 2014 quarters to enhance the level of reading instruction in my ABE classes. This quarter 15 students took Casas reading and math tests to assess progress and we saw 8 federal gains in reading and 6 federal gains in math. Students assure me they will carry their new-found reading techniques into future classes.

I believe that the RA faculty learning communities have the power to transform the culture of our community college. First of all, they provide much needed space, time, and support for faculty to reflect on their own teaching practice. Where else is there a space on campus where faculty can acknowledge that a lesson did not go as planned or that their students aren’t doing their homework? Conversely, where is there a place for faculty to share and celebrate with others what is working well, such as a strategy that engaged students in a difficult reading?.

Some of the techniques are so effective that I feel at a loss if I go back to using a previous approach. When I have students in my class who have previously been introduced to RA, they invariably demonstrate advanced skills in processing and analyzing text as compared to students who have not encountered RA. RA appears to have a lengthy half-life.

What students are saying: What challenges me most is the evidence logs. Not only do we have to read it, but we also have to demonstrate our understanding about what the writings are about. It helps improve my critical thinking skills, so it’s all good. Among all the classes I took this quarter, I read the most text in this course because I do the evidence logs. My way of thinking has improved. I have never been in a class that put more emphasis on critical thinking skills than this one. Evidence logs push us to think deeper into whatever we are reading. I developed critical thinking skills because of the evidence logs that we had to do for every chapter. My critical thinking skills are being boosted at an insane rate. I stop looking at things just by the surface, but rather to find underlying causes. I have also learned to question more.

MOVING FROM WE TO I TO WE AGAIN Year 3

Few resources No reassigned time for campus coach. No funds to support part-time faculty engagement. Instead of one person leading the work, others needed to participate. How to keep engagement strong and sustainable? Incorporate into Faculty Professional Development activities. Embedding in New Teachers’ Academy Workshops led by other faculty on FPD days. One Faculty Learning Community.

Ideas for the future… Panel of faculty showing their work with RA during Kick Off week Workshops focused on specific tools or concepts in RA Teaching squares for RA users Online models for using RA Regular Meet-ups of RA users throughout the year. Work with Divisions and Departments on including RA strategies in their specific content areas

Moving forward… What is the next step? Defining support for RA. Identifying new opportunities for faculty engagement – new part-time faculty orientation for example. Identifying new leaders across campus. Who are the “we” in your college? Who would be committed to moving beyond the initial push? What kind of commitment does the college want or have to give?