The Six Interventions Named in the Transformation Fund RFA
In 2014-15, the California Acceleration Project convened a group of researchers and community college practitioners to review the national research on placement and remediation and identify the most powerful things community colleges could do to increase student completion of transfer-level courses in English and math and narrow racial achievement gaps on this metric. The result: the three-strategy action framework presented in Acceleration Strategies that Produce Powerful Results. Each of these strategies is reflected in the RFA, though the language varies.
California Acceleration Project Research Brief:Acceleration Strategies that Produce Powerful Results / Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation Program:
RFA Requirements
Metric:
Increasing Student Completion of Transfer-Level English and Math / Metric:
Increasing Student Completion of Transfer-Level English and Math
Interventions / Interventions
1) Changing Placement Policies:
Colleges broaden access to transfer-level courses, and make access more equitable, by adjusting cut scores, using robust multiple measures, and requiring algebra-based testing and remediation only for access to courses that require substantial algebra. / 1)Adopt placement tests or other student assessment indicators and related policies that may include multiple measures of student performance, including grades in high school courses, especially overall grade point average, results from the common assessment system, and input from counselors.
See also #2 (below)
2) Implementing Co-requisite Models:
Students classified as “below transfer level” are allowed to enroll in a transfer-level course with extra concurrent support, saving them at least a semester of stand-alone remediation and reducing their chances of dropping out (e.g.,“1A-plus” models: students co-enroll in English 1A and 2 additional units with the same instructor). / 2)Increase the placement of students directly in gateway English and mathematics courses that are transferable to the University of California or the California State University and career pathways, with remedial instruction integrated as appropriate for underprepared students [emphasis added].
California Acceleration Project Research Brief:
Acceleration Strategies that Produce Powerful Results / Basic Skills and Student Outcomes Transformation Program:
AB770 Legislation and RFA Requirements
3) Redesigning Remedial Courses:
Multi-level sequences in English and math are replaced with accelerated courses that are well aligned with the transfer-level requirements in students’ chosen pathway. / 6) Develop two- and three-course sequences, as appropriate, for completion of a college-level English or mathematics course, or both, for underprepared students, by utilizing technology, where appropriate, to enhance the adoption of the high impact practices specified in methods (1) to (5), inclusive.
CAP Strategies 1, 2, and 3 for Math
All three CAP interventions replace the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to mathremediation with a pathways approach that aligns placement and remediation with the students’ chosen program of study (algebra for math-intensive programs, statistics and quantitative reasoning for others) / 3)Align content in remedial courses with the students' programs of academic or vocational study to target students' actual needs and increase relevance. This method is intended to encourage the development of remedial instruction focused on a student's identified academic need informed by the student's intended course of study.
4)Contextualize remedial instruction in foundational skills for the industry cluster, pathways, or both, in which students seeks to advance.
Our review of the national research did not indicate that these interventions, in isolation, produced significantgains in completion of transfer-level coursework among students placed into remediation. There is some evidence, however, that they may augment the impact of the three strategies above. / 5)Provide proactive student support services that are integrated with instruction.