The work on literacy and equity at Pasadena City College is really impressive, and I am not surprised by it! Although we are still growing our FYE at Northern Essex Community College, we also have woven Reading Apprenticeship strategies into the course with great results. Ours combines strength-based learning, Reading Apprenticeship, and all the other more typical FYE topics like Financial Aid, Academic Advising and time management. We have not yet instituted a one book project, but that is something we should pursue as we know how unifying reading together can be.
So far, our FYE course, which is called the College Success Seminar developed as part of an Achieving the Dream strategy, is showing positve results in retention and higher GPAs. We started with students who placed in dual or triple developmental classes (over 500 students presently), so the results are particularly good in terms of this cohort. The recent data on retention for students who complete our CSS class with an A-C from Fall 2011 to Spring 2012 is 97.2% (as compared with our overall retention rate of 72.9%).
Another Achieving the Dream strategy we are endeavoring in is a support for students in gate keeper classes like Human Bio, or Chemistry, or Introduction to Business or Criminal Justice. Here too, we are relying on Reading Apprenticeship professional development and classroom strategies to support student learning. It has been transformative! Our initial data is that students complete these courses with an average of a grade higher than in previous semesters. We are still looking into more longitudinal data and retention in these courses. (stay tuned!)
The beauty of Reading Apprenticeship is that is helps both faculty and students. It engages both faculty and students in their authentic academic voice and metacognition. For students, without the chance to develop their reader’s voice, they struggle to find an authentic academic self. When students understand what they are reading, are engaged in what they are reading and are given opportunities to discuss their ideas with their peers and their professors, they then have the support they need to start grappling with writing about texts, and understanding what they need to in order to succeed on tests and in their chosen fields of study.
