Alvin Granowski, Ed. D.

Delivers Keynote Address

at the VADE 2003 Conference

by Sally Harrell

Alvin Granowsky, Ed. D., a former Director of Reading and Language Arts for the public schools of Greensboro, NC, and Dallas, TX, has most recently served as vice president of Education for World Books, Inc. His readers and texts are used in schools through the nation.

Dr. Granowsky has served as a consultant to the North Carolina State Education Agency's Right-to-Read program and the New York State Education Agency's Reading Department. He has also served on the Board of the National PTA as reading consultant.

After more than 35 years as a teacher, author, and educational consultant, Dr. Granowsky believes that the future of our nation is tied directly to how well we educate our children.

His presentation was entitled "Lighting Eyes and Opening Minds"

He definitely met his objectives. Here’s what the program said he would try to do. It is followed by one teacher’s translation (your humble editor) of what he heard.

“Dr. Granowsky highlights where we have been in education, burned out; where many are today, off-balance; and where we need to focus our attention to make education meaningful. With humorous anecdotes, the talk emphasizes the need for teachers of high self-esteem and enthusiasm who will be ever watchful that the essence of education and lifetime learning are not pushed aside, narrowing what is taught to only content measured on a test.”

A Solution Whose Time Has Come

[One teacher’s understanding of Dr Granowski’s words]

by Tom Hargrove

Teachers, at all levels and all disciplines, have been demoralized for decades. They want to make a difference

but do not see it happening. Nothing seems to work. Why?

Forced integration in the seventies was intended to foster equality, to establish equity in education. It did not quite work as promised. So much went wrong that we could easily lose sight of the positive. As teachers, we know that nurturing pride in self is the key. Helping students gain a real world based sense of self worth and self-esteem is the true goal of teaching. What went wrong?

Up to the 1970’s, a high school diploma was considered a terminal degree for 50% of high school students. Those going on to college were the “haves” in our society. They had all the ‘extra’ help they needed. Then the focus shifted – or the standard was raised (or watered down)- and 75% of high school students now went on to college. The mastery and preparation levels of students did not change so the standards were lowered (changed). This was, in turn, unacceptable. [This change might be considered one of the reasons developmental education evolved into what we have today.]

The solution to this problem was “standardized” testing and minimum scores. That became, and still is, the problem. Teaching was forced to shift from teaching the subject to teaching the test. Tests became central and teachers and students, and their needs, were “pushed aside”. Tests and standards are supposed to be neutral but they are not. Whatever is tested will be taught. Whatever can not be tested, no matter how important, will be ignored. Much of what students need to learn that is truly meaningful cannot be measured. And, if it can’t be measured it isn’t …..

Dr Granowsky didn’t offer a magic cure. He did offer some practical advice. Teachers have to strive to nurture pride in self and a viable sense of self worth in their students. This includes a true understanding of self-esteem. The first step is for teachers to do this for themselves.

To be somebody you have to be somebody to somebody else. For teachers this means doing as “I say” not just doing what “I say”. We have to strive to make students feel and believe they are capable. As teachers, we must focus on the positive and guide our students towards increased fulfillment. Fine, tell us how.

He asks, in reply, how do you get good at anything? Practice, practice, practice. Practice makes perfect. Or, use it or lose it. He then redefines our job as being to enable our students “to continue learning” when we are not there. Our job is to assist our students to become lifelong learners. He asks, what is the point of education if not to help us become learners for life. What do you think?

His message is ‘shape an attitude and change a life’. Education is who and what we are in life and where we are going – as students and as teachers. As educators we must make learning come alive for ourselves and for our students, learning filled with enthusiasm and self esteem.

He didn’t say it would be quick or easy. He did say it was worth the effort. Your editor agrees completely. Do you?

So, where do we start? Today, with ourselves and those in our classrooms.

Teachers of the Round Table

How Can You Say No? You can’t.

And We Are Glad We Didn’t

As preparations for the conference were being finalized, some of those involved in ESL teaching requested a Roundtable at the conference to discuss ESL issues of concern. It seemed like a good idea so roundtables were set up for each discipline. Your editor attended three (ESL, Reading, and Writing). They were all different. They had nothing in common except for the energy of the participants and their desire to find better ways to help their students. The practical advice, tips, and suggestions that surfaced had to be worthwhile based on the speed writing of the participants.

VADE Membership Climbs at Peer Group Conference
By Patricia Parker

Many Developmental Educators throughout the state took advantage of the opportunity to join VADE at the February Peer Group Conference. Below are the total numbers of VADE members for each college. In the next month, Patricia Parker will be mailing out VADE membership pins to all those members not in attendance at the conference. We are currently working on a system in which you will receive an email from Patricia Parker when your membership dues have been verified. This email will serve as your receipt as well as verification that we have you correctly entered into our VADE database. This process will begin during the next membership cycle, details will follow in the first reminder to pay annual dues.

College Memberships

BRCC 2 NVCC 9

CVCC 2 RCC 1

DCC 4 NSU 1

GCC 3 SVCC 6

JSRCC 1 TCC 13

JTCC 3 TNCC 9

LFCC 1 VHCC 5

NRCC 2 VWC 1

VADE Moves Forward with Regional Workshops

By Glenda Lowery, President

The first fully-funded VCCS Developmental Education Peer Group Conference was an unqualified success. Despite the winter storm that struck Virginia the weekend before, 90 participants traveled to Virginia Beach for professional development and camaraderie. The sessions and roundtable discussions offered various opportunities for educators to recognize and react to issues involving developmental education in the state. But we cannot bask in the glow of our successes for long. It is time to move forward and start planning activities for 2003-2004.

Becoming a peer group has given VADE some new options but has forced us to make some choices. One, we could continue to have a conference every year, but it would only be partially funded. Or two, we could have a fully-funded peer conference every other year, except one of the stipulations of being a NADE affiliate is having a yearly conference. The Executive Board discussed this

dilemma and came up with the idea of having five regional workshops in even years and the peer conference in odd years. The regional conferences will be a collaboration between VADE and the Regional Centers for Teaching Excellence. The regions include Midcentral in Richmond, Northern Virginia, Tidewater in Newport News, Southwest in Abingdon, and Central Virginia in Danville.

Each planning committee will consist of members of the executive board plus other interested educators. They will determine the location, date, time, and topic of that particular event. The workshops will be held at various times during the 2003-2004 academic year and will allow participants in that region to drive to and from the event in the same day. The cost, including registration and lunch, will be minimal and may even be free for VADE members.

At the business meeting on Friday morning during the February conference, this idea of regional workshops was presented to the VADE membership and was positively received. Of course, at this point these ideas are still on the drawing board. I contacted the regional directors and planned to meet with them at the New Horizons Conference April 3-5 in Roanoke, but I didn’t get there in time. But Rick Dollieslager, one of the directors and a member of VADE’s executive board, came to the rescue. He and Ann Bartholomay pitched the idea to the directors and they have promised their support.

Another idea that we brought forward at the business meeting was the possibility of having VADE officers elected for two-year terms. But during the March 17 executive board meeting, we decided that would require changing the constitution and getting permission from NADE which requires that officers be elected every year. During even years, elections will have to take place electronically.

I will let you know more about the progress of the regional workshops next fall. In the meantime, if you would like to help, please contact me or any other member of the executive board. Executive board members will be recruiting VADE members in their regions to help with the development of each event, so we may be calling on you for assistance.

A Program that Works

And Now an Award to Show for It

By Chris Jennings

The National Council of Teachers of English/Two Year College Association, in partnership with College Composition and Communication Conference (CCCC), has awarded Tidewater Community College (TCC) the 2003 Outstanding Program in English award. Responding to national concerns about the educational system's failure to prepare high school seniors for college, TCC has created a focused approach for collaboration between high schools and colleges.

Directed by Chris Jennings, Associate Professor of English, TCC, the Consortium for Innovative Instruction: Aligning Writing Instruction in Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions was selected as the Exemplary Program in the category of Enhancing Developmental English. This model is currently being used throughout the Virginia Beach City Public School System (VBCPS) to create high school writing centers and sponsor professional workshops for college and high school faculties. Thanks to a grant award of $600,000 from the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), this program offers a creative response to the challenges of educating two-year college students. It demonstrates the power of institutional partnerships and provides a reform movement that supports teachers who identify and employ solutions to problems.

As a result of project activities at Salem, Landstown, and Kellam High Schools, graduating seniors' writing performances have improved. Students enrolling at TCC have also demonstrated greater success in college writing. Over the course of the project, VBCPS students enrolling in developmental writing courses at TCC fell from 49.2% in 1998 to 38.5% in 2001. Writing samples from project students showed an overall improvement of 60%, with readiness levels increasing from 11% to 51% over the 2001 –2002 academic year. Following the progress of students from high school to college revealed more accuracy in placements using portfolios (73%) than with traditional methods (58%). Moreover, students placed with portfolios achieved greater success in their coursework and higher retention levels at TCC than those who were placed traditionally.

TCC has created a model for partnership that has been shared with colleges in seven states. Nine postsecondary dissemination sites include J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Richmond, Virginia; John Tyler Community College, Midlothian, Virginia; Forsyth Technical College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; Greenville Technical College, Greenville, South Carolina; Florida Community College, Jacksonville, Florida; Southwest Michigan College, Dowagiac, Michigan; Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona; and California State University, Fullerton, California. Working in a hub and spokes approach, each of these sites has adapted the TCC model to collaborate with high schools to improve student success in college.

COMPASS Review Task Force Report Topic of Conference Session

By Glenda Lowery

One of the hot topics of discussion across the state has been COMPASS placement scores and how they are working. The VCCS has been using COMPASS for placement since 2000 as recommended by the Developmental Studies Implementation Task Force. In the fall of 2002, the system office appointed the COMPASS Review Task Force “to evaluate the effectiveness of the COMPASS and ASSET placement score ranges that were established by the original task force.” Dr. Charles White, vice president of Instruction and student services at New River Community, was the chair of the group. In January 2003 the task force released its report.

Dr. White was at the Developmental Education Peer Group Conference in February to explain the group’s recommendations. Here is a summary of the report.

Overall, the task force “agreed that the guidelines appear to be placing students appropriately most of the time,” but encouraged colleges to use multiple measures. In addition, since the cut-off scores were not identified for different levels (for example, ENG 01 and 03), “colleges with multiple levels of developmental and college-level courses have established more detailed placement guidelines” with the existing guidelines.

Specifically the task force made eight recommendations:

Each college should continue to set its own cut-off scores with the established system-wide ranges, but they should be the same for transfer and occupation/technical students.
Each college should identify “reading/writing intensive” courses and prohibit students who need developmental reading and writing from taking those courses until they successfully complete those developmental requirements.
Colleges should use multiple measures to place students if the institution offers more than one level of developmental reading and writing.
Colleges should determine appropriate policies for students whose scores in reading, writing, and math fall below Ability to Benefit guidelines.
Colleges will collect ACT/SAT scores and can use them for placement purposes if the scores are less than three years old.
The VCCS will revise the common application to provide a field to record ACT/SAT scores.
Each college will collect scores for ACT and SAT tests to possibly exempt students from taking COMPASS/ASSET tests.
Each college will work with its local school divisions to examine relationships between upper level Standards of Learning and college placement.

Dr. Antonette "Toni" Cleveland, Vice Chancellor of Academic Services & Research at the System Office, sent out an email the beginning of March that announced that the recommendations had been approved by the presidents.

Virginia Community College System

Guidelines for Preparation of Academic Faculty

FYI

By Rick Dollieslager

Of concern to many at the Spring Conference was VCCS-29. The critical section discussed was a change in qualifications for teaching developmental courses. The text follows. The strikeovers indicate where there is a change.

For foundations and developmental preparatory programs:

To teach courses in the foundations and developmental preparatory programs, a person is ~~(a) usually~~ expected to possess ~~a masters degree with a major in the teaching field, or (b) in special cases a person may teach in the foundations and developmental programs with~~ a baccalaureate degree with a major in the teaching field and related occupational and/ or teaching experiences., but such persons are expected to be working on their masters degree.

Dr. Antonette "Toni" Cleveland, Vice Chancellor of Academic Services & Research at the System Office in an email response to my request to clarify the status of this change said “Rick: I am copying Marian Hassell and asking her to send you the "official" response. However, the State Board did approve the change in minimum requirement for developmental faculty. They will now fall in column 3 of the "29" and can teach with a bachelor's degree. John Dever should have a
copy of the change as well. Remember this is a MINIMUM and a college can set the bar higher.”

________________________________________________________________

VADE Seeking Regional Workshop Volunteers

The VADE Execute Board is seeking volunteers to help with the Regional Workshops now in the planning stages for next spring. VADE and the Centers for Teaching Excellence are sponsoring the events.

So far, no volunteers are designated to help with the Southwest and Northern regions. If you would like to volunteer for those two regions, or any of the others, please contact one of the Executive Board members.

VADE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

2003-2004

Name	Office	School	Address	Phone	Email
Glenda Lowery	President	Rappahannock Community College	52 Campus Drive, Warsaw, VA 22572	804 333-6778	glowery@rcc.vccs.edu
Sarah Martin	Immediate Past President, Political Liaison	Virginia Western Community College	P. O. Box 14007, Roanoke, VA 24038	540 857-7223	smartin@vw.vccs.edu
Sally Harrell	President Elect	Tidewater Community College	1700College Crescent, Virginia Beach, VA 23453	757 822-7494	sharrel@tcc.edu
Christine Jennings	Treasurer	Tidewater Community College	1700 College Crescent, Virginia Beach, VA 23453	757 822-7145	tcjennc@tcc.edu
Laura Powell	Recorder	Danville Community College	1008 South Main Street, Danville, VA 24541	434 797-8553	lpowell@dcc.vccs.edu
Rebecca Eller	Conference Coordinator	Blue Ridge Community College	P. O. Box 80, Weyers Cave, VA 24486	540 234-9261 ext. 2310	ellerr@brcc.edu
Gail Neal	Two-Year College Representative	Danville Community College	1008 South Main Street, Danville, VA 24541	434 797-8561	gneal@dcc.vccs.edu
William Parker	Four-Year College Representative	Norfolk State University	700 Park Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23504	757 823-9567	whparker@nsu.edu
Rick Dollieslager	Web Master, Journal Editor	Thomas Nelson Community College	P. O. Box 9407, Hampton, VA 23670	757 825-3543	dollier@tncc.vccs.edu
Thomas Hargrove	Newsletter Editor	Tidewater Community College	1700 College Crescent, Virginia Beach, VA 23456	757 646-5515	thargrove@tcc.edu
Patricia Parker	Membership Chair	Rappahannock Community College	52 Campus Drive, Warsaw, VA 22572	804 333-6788	pparker@rcc.vccs.edu
Ann Bartholomay	Special Liaison	Southwest Virginia Community College	P. O. Box SVCC, Richlands, VA 24641	276 964-7258	Ann.bartholomay@sw.vccs.edu

Virginia Association

for Developmental Education

All faculty, learning assistance professionals, researchers, program administrators, student support personnel, and other educators interested in developmental education in Virginia are cordially invited to become members of VADE. The membership charge is $10.

Please fill out the form and mail with check (made out to VADE) to membership chair Patricia Parker, Rappahannock Community College, 52 Campus Drive, Warsaw, VA 22572.

Thanks. We hope to see you at a Regional Workshop in the spring!

Membership Form 2004

Membership good through 12/31/04

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Are you willing to serve on the VADE Executive Board? ____Yes ____No ____Maybe

Are you willing to help with the 2004 workshops? ____Yes ____No ____Maybe

Are you willing to help with the 2005 conference? ____Yes ____No ____Maybe