SREB Field Tests Courses to Help Close the Readiness Gap
Transitional courses prepare students to succeed in college and careers
Atlanta, GA — In collaboration with partner states, the
Southern Regional Education Board is field testing two courses to
prepare more students for college and careers when they
graduate from high school. The SREB Readiness Courses are
designed to prepare students to start college in
credit-bearing courses instead of remedial classes.
SREB Literacy Ready and SREB Math Ready are now available
for states or districts to field test. They are available at
SREB.org/Ready and on iTunes U, free of charge.
SREB and partner states have worked since 2011 to develop, pilot
and revise the courses as a way to tackle the readiness gap that
keeps many students from completing degrees and advanced
certificates after high school.
Ready in high school, to avoid remedial courses in college
A student’s level of readiness is a strong predictor of whether
he or she will complete a postsecondary degree or
certificate. This is especially important at community and
technical colleges with open-access admissions
— institutions that serve a large percentage of public
undergraduate students. Seventy to 80 percent of students
admitted to two-year public colleges are assigned to at least one
remedial course, and the vast majority of them never complete a
degree.
“When states begin testing high school students using higher
college- and career-readiness standards,we will see that we have
underestimated the size of the readiness gap,” said SREB
President Dave Spence. “One thing educators can do right now
is test these courses and gauge their impact on helping
students enter college ready, without needing
remediation.”
The curricula are targeted specifically for students who are
determined through 11th-grade testing to be underprepared
for credit-bearing college work. As part of its action agenda for
statewide college- and career-readiness, SREB recommends
that students be assessed on readiness standards no later than
11th grade and that students who have not reached college-
and career-readiness levels be required to take the
courses.
Continuous improvement
SREB will continue to update the courses based on feedback from
formal field-testing in 50 to 100 schools during
the 2014-15 school year, as it did after pilots
in 20 schools in seven states during 2013-14.
Working with state trainers, SREB has trained more than 800
teachers in 15 states during 2013 and 2014. SREB plans to
train several thousand teachers over the next five
years.
“These courses hold promise for schools to increase the
number of students who meet goals for college attainment and work
force readiness,” said SREB Senior Vice President Gene
Bottoms.”We hope all schools will be watching the results.”
To develop the Readiness Courses, SREB brought together
teams of K-12 and postsecondary educators in participating
states to develop and field test the courses,
design assessments and teacher guidelines, and recommend
professional development for teachers.
Five SREB states – Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee – have worked with SREB over the past three years as lead writing states for the curricula.
Nine additional states were lead review states for the curricula: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New York, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Seven states piloted the initial version of the courses: Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina and New York.
Three SREB states — Mississippi, North Carolina and West Virginia — are field testing the courses widely this school year, as are two states outside the region, Indiana and Washington.
About the courses
SREB Literacy Ready and SREB Math Ready teach students specific
skills they need to think independently and learn at higher
levels after high school — in postsecondary study, job training
and beyond. They are grounded in foundational college-
and career-readiness standards in literacy and math.
Teachers use strategies that engage students to reach deeper
learning through productive struggle, group projects and
hands-on activities. Teachers who have piloted modules say the
courses help them differentiate instruction for individual
students. Both are built with flexible modules so that
schools can integrate parts into existing classes at several
grade levels in addition to offering the entire course as a
class.
PDF versions at SREB.org/Ready are for
in-class delivery. Online versions launched in summer
2014 give states and schools even more flexibility in
how to use the model curricula.
Literacy Ready: Ready for reading in all disciplines
SREB Literacy Ready teaches high school students strategies for
reading, writing about and understanding college-level documents
in all subjects. The rigorous course shows students how to
approach historical documents in a history course, for example,
in different ways than they would a short story, biology textbook
or chemistry lab report. Students learn to develop and defend
ideas from the text and write about them in
different formats.
Teachers who piloted the courses say students are highly engaged
in discussion and writing about their topics and take ownership
of their learning. Students say they have learned to
think and understand more deeply by reading and annotating texts
from different sources.
Math Ready: Ready for college-level math
SREB Math Ready emphasizes understanding of math concepts rather
than just memorizing procedures. Students learn the “why” behind
the procedure: why to use a certain formula or method to solve a
problem, for example. This equips them to apply math skills,
functions and concepts in different situations.
Math Ready pilot teachers say students have surprised them with
their understanding and engagement. Students say they
have learned to solve math problems by wrestling with them
before asking for help and that the hands-on activities
help them enjoy topics they dreaded in the past.