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KCC is collaborating with 10 area high schools to increase the college readiness rate of high school graduates. All 23 feeder high schools in the KCC district have been invited to participate in the project.
Begun locally in October 2008, the team of 18 people from area high schools, KCC and other higher education organizations has been working to ensure that more local high school graduates would be ready for college-level course work.
A related goal of the initiative is for students to need fewer developmental classes in order to be prepared for college classes.
Beginning in September 2009, KCC has received $71,000 each year to serve as a pilot program for the College and Career Readiness Act, Public Act 095-0694, passed by the state in 2007. Funds are awarded by the Illinois Community College Board.
College and Career Readiness 2010-11 Program Plan
KnowHow2Go Campaign
The campaign continued this year as one outreach strategy to high school freshmen and their parents within the community. Early awareness of the importance of academic rigor (taking the hard classes beginning freshman year), attending all classes, getting good grades, and understanding the cost of developmental education in college for courses they should take in high school fosters active student participation in CCR efforts throughout the high school experience. More than 1,500 students and parents received this information each year.
COMPASS Testing
High school juniors were COMPASS tested prior to the development of their senior-year schedule. COMPASS scores were used to influence the courses they took during senior year so deficiencies could be addressed and college ready students could be encouraged to enroll in college courses. More than 190 students were tested in 2009; 650 students in 2010; and 700 students were tested in 2011.
High school principal participants reported that as a result of this effort, one high school received Board approval to require a fourth year of math for all seniors. Illinois only requires three years of math. Another district eliminated Algebra 1A and Algebra 1B from the curriculum offering thus requiring all incoming students to take at least Algebra 1 during the freshman year. Two other districts adopted block scheduling to allow more instruction time for math.
Curriculum Alignment
High school and college math and English faculty have convened faculty steering committee meetings/conferences to continue dialogue and progress toward the alignment of learning outcomes and assessments. This year math faculty analyzed aggregate data from high school Prairie State Achievement Exam reports to guide alignment efforts. From this analysis, the faculty was surveyed to determine critical concepts that are struggle points for students. Faculty approached these critical concepts using the Japanese Learning Study concept – faculty (14 faculty from middle schools, high schools and college) created a lesson script to introduce to students. One faculty presented the script (verbatim) while other faculty observed student reactions. Immediately after the lesson was offered, faculty reviewed their observations, revised the script, and presented it to another group of students. The scripted lesson is available for all high school faculty to use when addressing that particular concept.
This year English faculty focused on having the high school instructors, who have made revisions to their curricula based on college readiness efforts, share such revisions in an effort to inspire change in others. Some of the changes include: teaching grammar through the context of writing rather than in isolation, incorporating more writing/process-based writing, the reading of nonfiction, rhetorical analysis, peer evaluations, and more research writing skills. In May, English faculty worked on aligning their assessment of formal writing. Through a norming session, both high school and college faculty shared and explained what they consider to be A (B, C, D, and F) writing. Such discussion and activity will hopefully lead to a consensus of what is “effective writing.”
Mathematics instructional support
Student learning deficiencies were addressed during the high school day through diagnosis and intervention with online math programs such as MyMathXL (the high school equivalent of MyMathLab), ALEKS or Carnegie. This intervention creates an environment for self-paced learning and generates personalized student plans based on results. Seventy students participated last year. Four of these students moved out of state but 100% of the remaining students made grade-level gains as noted in post-testing scores. Approximately 300 students representing three school districts participated this year and two additional schools will adopt this system next year.
Summer Bridge Program
The program offers 14 hours of instruction and tutored study sessions per week for up to two developmental education courses in math, writing and/or reading. The MyFoundationsLab software has been scheduled into the day and students will work in this environment to address reading, writing, and math deficiencies with a credentialed tutor available. Each subject addresses the learning outcomes established by KCC’s full-time faculty.
- 35 students participated in 2010. Of them, 29 (83%) successfully completed coursework and the program.
- 24 junior and senior students participated in 2011. Of them, 77% successfully completed their course which advances them through the developmental education pipeline and gets them closer to college ready by high school graduation.
College Readiness and Transitions Steering Committee
The steering committee includes representatives from these high schools:
Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School
Central High School
Grant Park High School
Kankakee High School
Manteno High School
Tri-Point High School
Watseka Community High School
Momence High School
Herscher High School
St. Anne Community High School
Other agencies represented are the South Metropolitan Higher Education Consortium, I-KAN Regional Office of Education and KCC.
Contact information
To learn more about the College and Career Readiness Program, contact Julia Waskosky, dean of Student Development for KCC, jwaskosky@kcc.edu or phone 815-802-8510.
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