1. “ The process of all of us working together and coming together to share our students’ concerns and ideas has been one of the best educational pedagogical experiences I’ve had in many years.”

2. Strengthening Student Success: Making A Difference Friday, October 5, 2007 Moving Toward Alignment: An Account of the San Diego State University / Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District English Alignment Project Presenters Ryan Griffith and Micah Jendian

3. Provide Fall 2005 Cal-PASS GCCCD-SDSU Alignment Project Overview Provide Fall 2005 Cal-PASS GCCCD-SDSU Alignment Project Overview –Review the Shared Curriculum, and Instructor and Student Responses –Present Findings Chart the Institutional/Departmental Impact of the Project Chart the Institutional/Departmental Impact of the Project Trace Continuing Development Trace Continuing Development –Provide 2006-2007 Alignment Project Overview –Note What is Ahead Share Principles and Tips for Facilitating Regional Alignment Among Educational Segments Share Principles and Tips for Facilitating Regional Alignment Among Educational Segments Presentation Objective: To present one possible model for facilitating regional alignment

4. P r o j e c t O v e r v i e w

5. Project Impetus: Why Work Toward Greater Alignment? GCCCD  SDSU Transfer Students GCCCD  SDSU Transfer Students - Over 1,200 GCCCD students transfer to SDSU each year (almost 1000 Grossmont College Students) - Almost 15,000 enrolled students have the goal of transfer (almost 10,000 Grossmont College Students) - Over 1,200 GCCCD students transfer to SDSU each year (almost 1000 Grossmont College Students) - Almost 15,000 enrolled students have the goal of transfer (almost 10,000 Grossmont College Students) Increasing Number of GCCCD Faculty Receiving their Training at SDSU Increasing Number of GCCCD Faculty Receiving their Training at SDSU Significant Number of Faculty Teaching at both Institutions Significant Number of Faculty Teaching at both Institutions SDSU Writing Proficiency Assessment (graduation requirement for all students, including transfer students) SDSU Writing Proficiency Assessment (graduation requirement for all students, including transfer students)

6. Fall 2005 P ROJECT G OAL : to facilitate greater alignment between Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges’ English 120 and San Diego State University’s Rhetoric and Writing Studies 100. How and to what degree are our respective courses aligned? · How and to what degree are our respective courses aligned? How and to what degree could we be more aligned? How and to what degree could we be more aligned? To what degree should misalignment continue and, To what degree should misalignment continue and, if any, why? if any, why?

7. Core Elements of the Project  Instructors at each of the three institutions implement a common instructional plan (GCCCD “trying on” a prototypical assignment sequence based on the learning outcomes of SDSU’s Rhetoric and Writing Studies 100)  Participants engage in various reflective activities around the essential questions  Respect for the sovereignty and differences among the various institutions

8. T h e S h a r e d I n s t r u c t i o n a l P l a n

9. Instructional Plan Overview  T EXT Eric Schlosser’s “Global Realization”  G OALS OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL PLAN (SDSU Student Learning Outcomes Addressed)  Carry out small, focused research tasks and find information that enriches course texts; use appropriate reference materials in order to clarify your understanding of texts.  Articulate what argument a text is making; summarize or construct an account of an argument; translate an argument into your own words.  Note: Student work with the text and in writing the paper involves each of the RWS outcomes

10. Instructional Plan Overview 10 instructional days 10 instructional days Detailed day-to-day Instructional Plans with explicit instruction to address each element under “What Students Need to Do to Respond to the Writing Task” involving Detailed day-to-day Instructional Plans with explicit instruction to address each element under “What Students Need to Do to Respond to the Writing Task” involving - Prereading - Close reading of the text / argument analysis - Working with outside sources - Modeling and whole group workshopping to facilitate self and peer revision

11.      Clarifying Questions Regarding the Project?           Clarifying Questions Regarding the Project?     

12. Observations

13. How Students at Grossmont Responded: G REATEST D IFFICULTY : Constructing An Account of An Argument RATHER THAN Summarizing G REATEST D IFFERENCES FROM OTHER PAPERS :  No personal opinion  Sources (partially) provided S TRENGTHS EVIDENCED IN STUDENT WORK:  Strong Reading Comprehension  Writing without Opinion  Critical Thinking, Reading, & Writing Skills Developed

14. How Students at Grossmont Responded: W H A T T H E Y L E A R N E D  Writing an essay takes time and is not always easy  “Objective” thinking and writing  Methods to determine key points and argument  How to construct an account of an author’s argument  The importance of: - Rereading - Explaining the purpose of outside sources

15. F i n d i n g s:

16. A REAS OF M ISALIGNMENT between Eng 120 and RWS 100 Writing Greater emphasis on general writing skills (¶ development, sentence-level correctness, and writing style) Greater emphasis on correct MLA documentation 5-7 essays and “at least one long investigative research paper” Possible inclusion of the “modes” G ROSSMONT -C UYAMACA SDSU Writing Greater emphasis on close, critical reading and argument analysis essential element in constructing effective papers Greater emphasis on addressing the prompt 4 assignment types / papers over the course of the semester Reading Texts sometimes used solely as a catalyst for student writing Role of fiction left to instructor discretion Reading Close, critical reading, rereading, and argument analysis Skills developed exclusively with non-fiction texts

17. A REAS OF M ISALIGNMENT between Eng 120 and RWS 100 Research Greater emphasis on a final “research paper” with student generated topics G ROSSMONT -C UYAMACA SDSU Research Smaller research projects as a way to deepen / complicate understanding of a text Greater emphasis on production of written work Greater emphasis on the sequential steps involved in critical reading and research

18. GCCCD – SDSU Shared Values All project participants want our students to: Read texts closely and critically Work responsibly with sources Use appropriate MLA style and format Utilize all aspects of the writing process Respond directly to writing prompts Employ appropriate writing structures Edit their writing for grammar and usage conventions

19. Initiating Institutional Change: from findings into departmental conversations

20. Questions Posed to GCCCD Faculty Given what you have learned about the project and seen of the instructional plan and SDSU’s RWS SLO’s...  Which of the identified areas of misalignment seem most significant for our departmental conversations?  What other significant areas of misalignment, if any, exist?

21. As we continue working to create/revise our Department’s Student Learning Outcomes, the findings of the GCCCD-SDSU Alignment Project are certainly among the various contexts which will inform our work. The following appear to be the chief questions as we move forward with our discussions: To what extent do we as a department recognize the value of greater alignment for our students and faculty? Given the project findings, what, if any, specific adaptations to our own outcomes / curriculum do we, as a department, want to endorse / pursue? What steps and support would be needed in order to facilitate and implement such changes?

22. Advancing Institutional Change : from conversation into practice

23. Sample GC SLO Prior to Alignment Project Students will:  Evaluate expository essays and fiction in order to understand how professional writers employ organizational and rhetorical techniques to develop their ideas clearly and persuasively  Research and write a fully documented research paper, using skills necessary for the detailed study of whatever field the student may enter at a four- year institution Provisional SLO Revision Post Project Students will:  Read critically and analytically, identifying central arguments and lines of reasoning in a number of different kinds of texts, emphasizing non-fiction  Evaluate primary and secondary sources for depth, breadth, credibility, and relevance  Identify and synthesize multiple points of view, noting how various perspectives inform, complicate, and build upon one another. Student Learning Outcomes Work

24. Continuing to Move Toward Alignment

25. 2006-2007 P ROJECT G OAL : to facilitate greater alignment between Grossmont and Cuyamaca Colleges’ English 120 and San Diego State University’s Rhetoric and Writing Studies 100.

26. Collaboratively Identify Skills Fundamental to our Articulated Courses Collaboratively Identify Skills Fundamental to our Articulated Courses Develop Beginning of Semester Instructional Sequence Develop Beginning of Semester Instructional Sequence Core Elements of the Project

27. What’s Ahead Finish Sequence Development Finish Sequence Development Implement the Sequence Implement the Sequence Revise Beginning of Semester Sequence Revise Beginning of Semester Sequence Disseminate Materials Disseminate Materials Brainstorm Next Steps Brainstorm Next Steps

28.  Respect Sovereignty  Recognize Protocols  Understand Mission and Roles  Generate Investment  Honor the Process  Get Concrete  Reflect  Suspend Judgment Moving Toward Alignment: Tips and Principles

29. ryan.griffith@gcccd.edu micah.jendian@gcccd.edu More Information About Cal-PASS www.calpass.org or contact Shelly Valdez, Director of Regional Collaboration svaldez@calpass.org