Cal-PASS program eases transition from high school to college

Press release from California Partnership for Achieving Student Success:

Using a combination of classroom data and close collaboration among educators, the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-PASS) is easing the transition between high school and college, while reducing the need for costly remediation.

English teachers at West Hills High School in Santee are reporting success in aligning coursework to make sure that graduates are ready for the reading, writing and critical thinking that is expected at the college level.

Seniors at West Hills who earn an A or a B in English can enroll directly in English 120 atGrossmont College in East San Diego County. The community college composition course is transferable to the California State University and University of California systems. West Hills is part of the Grossmont Union High School District.

Normally, freshmen must take a community college assessment test and, based on the results, are placed in one of four levels of English: remedial, pre-collegiate, collegiate or transfer. Because West Hills has aligned its curriculum with the Grossmont-Cuyamaca system, the students can enroll directly in English 120.

"This initiative puts the Cal-PASS emphasis on the alignment of curriculum into practice, thereby saving the state money, the kids extra time and helping students be successful in a critical discipline.'' said Dr. Brad Phillips, executive director of Cal-PASS.

There are mountains of data available, but the key to making good use of it lies in finding the relevant data and developing conditions that enable educators to use the information to make better decisions.

Said Phillips, "Cal-PASS energizes teachers because the data empowers them to ask questions that really matter about their students and discuss the results with other educators, K-16. The reality is that Cal-PASS data creates the opportunity to make significant changes in the classroom."

Two recent placements in English 120 are Andrew Williams and Kristin Naour, graduates of West Hills. Based on college freshman assessment tests alone, these students would have been placed in lower-level classes that are not transferable. That would have meant more time in the system, more expense for the school and the students, and a greater chance of their dropping out. Today they are thriving in English 120.

"The reading in college is more difficult and challenging," Williams said recently, while speaking to a senior English class at West Hills. "I have been assigned an essay a week. You have to be pretty independent. I've gotten As on just about every essay."

Before the English alignment program, teachers at West Hills weren't fully aware of the demands that would be placed on their students as college freshmen, said high school English instructor Michelle Liddell, Williams' former teacher.

"As teachers, we were very isolated," Liddell said. "We didn't know what was going on at the university and the community college levels."

Cali Linfor, coordinator for the Cal-PASS English Curriculum Alignment Project and a teacher in the San Diego State University Rhetoric and Writing Department, said college freshmen often fall short of English requirements because their high school classes were too focused on Literature. There is not enough teaching of writing and critical thinking. "They might have been very capable students, but they did not have the practice," she said.

Cal-PASS is helping to change the situation. More than 7,600 elementary schools, high schools, community colleges, colleges and universities throughout California are participating in planning and data sharing. It is the only program that collects data about student success and transition from every segment of education, K-16.

Grouped into over 60 Professional Learning Councils across the state, teams of teachers from elementary, middle school, high school and college levels use Cal-PASS data to coordinate coursework and collaborate on new approaches to teaching. The disciplines are language arts, math, science, career preparation, English language learners and counseling.

In a time of tightening education budgets, Cal-PASS represents an important way to save money by making sure that students are prepared as they move from elementary school to middle school, high school and beyond. Using Cal-PASS data, educators can determine the answers to important questions, such as:

• How do my students do when they leave my class?
• Were they well prepared?
• Are changes in curriculum necessary to improve preparation?
• How many received degrees and how long did it take?

English teacher Stephanie Macceca is a Cal-PASS learning council participant from ValhallaHigh School in El Cajon.

"It would be normal to moan and groan about an outside agency coming in, but no one complains about Cal-PASS," she said. "They are doing exactly what we want to do: working together to create meaningful curriculum that is aligned with college.

"We are working collaboratively and that is what Cal-PASS has pushed us to do," she continued. "It is so much better for the kids. We have all of these different eyes looking at our work and everyone's point of view makes it better. It really improves the quality of instruction."

Dr. Cindy Miles, Chancellor of the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District, where Cal-PASS operates, says there is nothing comparable. Dr. Miles' experience across the nation gives her a unique perspective.

"The work is truly without precedent," she said. "There are hundreds of projects across theUnited States that focus on student success, collect data, and provide additional attention and services. But there is nothing else that has these ongoing  profound conversations with faculty from all different levels of education on an continuing basis that are based on real information - basic, relevant data - that they are using to make improvements. As a district, we are very proud of Cal-PASS and what it is accomplishing."

Cal-PASS is a partnership of the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office and the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District. More information about the program is available online at www.calpass.org.