Making the "College Connection": Colorado's SUN (Success UNlimited) Initiative, an Intensive Transition Program

by Stephanie Moran, Paulette Church, Tim Birchard, and Nan Uhl, Durango Adult Education Center

The Durango Adult Education Center (DAEC), a community-based nonprofit adult education center in southwest Colorado, serves about 800 adult learners who are learning or strengthening their English skills, earning a GED, or providing a literacy-rich environment for their children in DAEC’s family literacy program. The DAEC was one of seven “College Connection” program sites for the Colorado SUN initiative, an out-of-school youth program called “Ready for College” that was funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE). College Connection was intended to successfully transition GED graduates into the community college, and the DAEC was actively engaged in implementation of College Connection from August 2008 to June 2010 in partnership with the Colorado Community College System (CCCS) and Southwest Colorado Community College (SCCC), a division of Pueblo Community College (PCC). With the goal of offering this intensive and accelerated learning program to GED completers, the program hoped to reduce the number of remedial classes students needed upon completion of the program, to build student confidence and academic skills, and to help students become independent advocates who could “navigate” the often complex college system competently.

College Connection Student Participants

Between fall 2008 and June 2010, a total of 45 students participated in the program. Of the 45 participants, 35 were GED graduates; 23 were within OVAE’s target age range of 18-24 with two students below the target age range and 20 students above the top of the range.  Females represented 64% of participants and males represented 36% of participants. Students’ racial/ethnic characteristics were: 61% white, 18% Native American, and 20% Hispanic.

Program Design and Conceptualization

The College Connection program was designed to enroll students in classes four days a week for eight weeks. Class time each day was allocated as follows: 1.5 hours of math; 1.5 hours of reading, sentence skills, study skills, and career exploration; and 1.5 hours of study lab. The program content was designed to resolve the demands placed on students who might falter without a holistic approach during the transition to college, and  DAEC personnel knew that students needed support in three realms: cognitive, affective, and logistic. The cognitive realm was of principal concern, because every student had one or more cognitive deficiency as measured by standardized instruments, including the Accuplacer or the TABE. Some students also struggled with diagnosed or undiagnosed learning disabilities. Finally, a large majority of students had weak math skills that made achieving a long-term goal, such as earning a Registered Nurse (RN) degree, nearly impossible without the concentrated and accelerated approach that a program like College Connection presented.

Along with the cognitive realm, program staff recognized the need to address the affective domain including: students’ fear and anxiety of not being college material or being unable to succeed; their lack of understanding about or valuing of higher education; their lack of support from friends and families; and their ambiguity about appropriate, realistic, and reachable college and/or career goals. Ignoring the affective realm with this student population was unfeasible and inappropriate, so program staff often assumed the role of major supporters and advocates for students. For example, some students were involved in serious legal predicaments and severe family conflicts or crises that required some form of intervention or support mechanism, and the professionals engaged in College Connection served in these support roles.

The third realm of the program design was logistical. Students needed assistance navigating college processes, procedures, and structures. This included financial elements, academic advising, college deadlines, and many other aspects of student support. This circle of concerns surrounded the students, and the College Connection solidified the circle of support by addressing students’ cognitive, affective, and logistics needs.

Program Components

Four program components were standardized from the first semester and they continued throughout the grant period, although the configuration of College Connection changed in response to several factors during the duration of the grant period.

The first and arguably the most critical component of College Connection was the intensive and accelerated college prep coursework. This piece consumed a minimum of 110 contact hours with instruction in basic reading, writing, and math, along with study groups.  Fortunately, since the three College Connection instructors had experience teaching college-level courses as well as adult education courses, they could accommodate the varied needs of the diverse students in the program. The primary text books used for the course were:

•  Dave Ellis’ Becoming a Master Student;
•  Pirozzi, Starks-Martin, & Dziewisz’s Critical Reading, Critical Thinking: Focusing on Contemporary Issues, 3rd ed, which combines college-level reading skills with excellent, short articles and essays of interest to a wide range of adults;
•  John Langan’s Sentence Skills with Readings, a less prescriptive but accessible grammar book;
•  Elayn Martin-Gay’s Basic College Mathematics; and
•  Allen Angel’s Intermediate Algebra for College Students.

The math instructor opted to use the texts required for developmental math classes at the college.

The second program component was a one-credit Academic Success course (AAA 101) that the teachers alternated teaching in 45-minute sessions. This course focused on study skills, sentence skills/reading skills, establishing cohort rapport, reviewing college resources, offering strategies for success, facilitating exploration of college student identity and values, and facilitating an extensive career exploration project which offered skills across the curriculum. Students researched careers and career clusters and industries, and they arranged and completed interviews with working professionals, and composed and revised papers related to the career exploration project.  To improve their writing skills beyond the career project, students read and highlighted main ideas and major details, and they developed summaries and narratives through writing. Several students described the career exploration project as “transformative” because they discovered that they could combine their passion with a field of study that offered them a family-sustaining wage rather than focusing on entering a career that would pay well (might not have been personal fulfilling).  Some students became more confident about their career path, and they attributed some of their confidence to meeting with potential mentors during the mock interview and job shadowing sessions.

The third component, learning communities, focused on creating a sustained and supportive community of learners through study groups, peer tutoring with study labs, and other exchanges that strengthen students’ affective domain. For example, study labs were a place for learning among peers and allowed students to ask their College Connection instructors for advice on communicating with college-level instructors and managing assignments in college-level courses. Many College Connection students struggled with primary life goals and often had competing priorities, so it was crucial that instructors and the designated student advisor, referred to as the “navigator,” to give time and credence to affective concerns. Boundaries were set between the navigator position and the college’s student services division to avoid creating enmeshment.  For example, students were directed to college and local resources when financial, medical, transportation, and other personal issues arose.

The final component of the program was the “navigator,” who was instrumental in students’ success, starting with the program’s inception and continuing through the entire semester and beyond. The navigator combined the roles of marketer, recruiter, intake and orientation person, advocate, referral guide, referee, tour guide, financial aid guru, team-builder, barrier-buster, administrator/assessment/progress report manager, and cheering captain. The navigator was efficient, capable, and fully committed to this endeavor, and the program would have crumbled at a number of points without the ever-present commitment. Playing these multiple roles required the navigator to be a talented speaker, writer, number-cruncher, listener, motivator, and mentor. 

Capitalizing on a Partnership

A unique aspect of this bridge program is that DAEC operates independently of the community college system, so partnering with the community college was essential. Looking back, it is clear that some semesters went more smoothly than others, because while SCCC accommodated the College Connection program as best it could, there were internal operating structures that created difficulties for the non-traditional needs and approaches of the bridge program. However, the college administration allowed the program to use resources and textbooks as well as accelerate the schedule substantially from typical developmental courses, and these were important accommodations. The acceleration strategy was appreciated by students as they were given the opportunity to complete up to three developmental courses in a single semester, compared to a traditional route that would have spanned twelve months. As a consequence of the bridge, SCCC implemented accelerated approaches for some math and reading classes.

Student Assessment and Outcomes

The primary methods of assessment for the bridge program included the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE), a standard and nationally recognized test and the ACCUPLACER, a national college entrance placement test. Students were tested to determine their math and reading competency level using the TABE exam before the College Connection program and during the final week of the program.  Similarly, students were tested in math, reading, and English sentence skills using the ACCUPLACER exam, both before and after the program. Of the 45 students in the bridge program:

·      25% made gains of one or more levels on the sentence skills portion of the ACCUPLACER;

·      42% made gains of one or more levels on the reading portion of the ACCUPLACER;

·      78% made gains of one or more levels on the math portion of the ACCUPLACER

·      45% of math students made a gain of one developmental math course level;

·      22% of math students made a gain of two developmental math course levels;

·      8% made a gain of three developmental math course levels; and 

·      3% made a gain of four developmental math course levels.

At the instructional level, the study skills instructor used the “Discovery Wheel” in Dave Ellis’ Becoming a Master Student textbook to capture a snapshot of students’ self-assessment at the beginning and end of the course in 12 critical areas. Students then wrote about the changes they saw in a Discovery Statement generated from the assessment. All students made significant gains on this assessment in key areas like testing, time management, and memory. Often, even if students did not show improvement based on the assessment, they demonstrated an increased awareness of a particular skill. Students in the reading classes also worked through Reading Plus, a self-paced computer-based reading program that yields reams of assessment reports, from increases in reading rate, comprehension, eye scanning, and vocabulary. Reading classes also took a SCCC-required pretest exam, and a similar final exam in comprehension and vocabulary.

Program and Institutional Learning

From the perspective of the professional DAEC team, the Colorado Connection program was a resounding success that has influenced DAEC operations in several ways. First, it allowed the adult education center to build a “Beyond the GED” program that symbolically and structurally represents DAEC’s commitment to students who want to attend college after GED completion. Similarly, the program sends a message to other DEAC students who don’t think they are college material, showing them that they can succeed at DAEC with guidance and support. Although the College Connection grant funding has ended, DAEC now offers a free afternoon College Connection program that offers study skills, math, reading, and writing assistance.  Although the Navigator role is no longer funded or formalized, DAEC has adopted the practices and continues to function in ways consistent with the navigator role in many ways.

DAEC professionals also believe the College Connection program raised awareness about postsecondary education and increased buy-in among other adult educators at DAEC.  The program inspired instructors to encourage their students to attend the College Connection class concurrently with their GED classes.  The College Connection program also influenced the use of textbooks and resources with GED students. Students are now introduced to more critical thinking skills across the curriculum and concepts associated with college readiness are introduced to students earlier.

DAEC professionals are encouraged by SCCC’s use of some accelerated learning approaches for developmental math and reading classes and hopes that the Colorado Community College System evaluates the success of accelerated developmental courses. The adult education system encountered challenges when trying to work with the community college system. Despite these challenges, the Colorado Connection program offered exemplary support systems with a holistic and multi-tiered approach that provided out-of-school students with a dynamic opportunity to succeed where they might otherwise fail. The DAEC professional team recommends that OVAE continue this important work in Colorado and in the other states that piloted the “Ready for College” program, making an intensive transition program a hallmark of 21st century education. 

Some of the material for this article was summarized from the Implementation Guide organized and finalized by Kendra Stevenson Rodriguez, SUN’s Program Manager. To see the Guide in its entirety, go to: http://www.cccs.edu/Foundation/SUN.html  

Stephanie Moran holds an MA in English from Bowling Green State and the Literacy Instruction Authorization from the Colorado Department of Education. She has been an adult educator and GED Program Coordinator at the Durango Adult Education Center in Durango, Colorado since 2000 and teaches Literature and Composition at Southwest Colorado Community College. Ms. Moran can be reached at stephanie@durangoaec.org

Paulette Church holds an MA in Educational Technology, has taught at-risk college students and adults since 1989, and has served as the Executive Director of DAEC since 1999.

Tim Birchard holds an M.Ed. in Multicultural Education, has taught everyone from preschoolers to professionals in the U.S. and abroad, and has served as the Student Services Coordinator for DAEC since 2008.

Nan Uhl holds an MAT in ESL and is currently teaching GED and transition to college classes at the Durango Adult Education Center as well as developmental math at Southwest Colorado Community College.