Review: Accelerated Learning Program

James L. Dunn
ENGL B8104
Basic Writing Theory & Pedagogy
December 16, 2014

Review: Accelerated Learning Program 

_____________________________________________________________________________
Gabriel, Susan L., and Jamey Gallagher. Accelerated Learning Program. The Community College of Baltimore County, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://alp-deved.org.> 
______________________________________________________________________________

The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) at The Community College of Baltimore County has become a national model in acceleration for basic writers.  Yet, when it comes down to it, ALP is not really accelerated at all.  Students actually spend the same number of hours in class as traditional students.  What’s different, however, is that students are taking their basic writing course concurrently with their first year composition course (English 101), rather than sequentially.

This program is a big deal because it offers non-traditional and developmental writers a chance at the American Dream.  Instead of blocking the path for non-traditional students to earn college credit and begin their college careers, ALP offers a much-needed approach to dealing with obstacles to college access, and thus economic and social prosperity.  Anyone who cares about social justice should fully embrace CCBC’s Accelerated Learning Program.

Actually, here is how the program works:  Eight students who have placed into a non-credit-bearing basic writing course are “mainstreamed” into a credit-bearing English composition course with twelve other composition students.  Thus, ALP students are therefore enrolled at the same time in two English courses that meet consecutively and are taught by the same faculty member. After attending the English composition course, ALP students proceed as a cohort to another classroom where the basic writing section is taught in a workshop format that supports the students’ work in English 101. Student activities include the scaffolding of essays, skills-building, conferencing, peer review, and discussion of and attention to affective and material concerns that may impact students’ academic performance.

Located in metropolitan Baltimore, The Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) is the largest two-year community college in the state. It has over 77,000 students, 35,000 of whom are credit students.  Yet, like many community colleges nationwide, a majority of their incoming students place into some form of developmental education (math, reading, or writing).  According to the Accelerated Learning Program, when it began as a pilot in 2007, the pass rate for students who placed into Basic Writing II, a traditionally taught class of 20 students, was a disappointing 57% percent. Furthermore—and possibly even more regrettable—was the finding that 16% percent of those Basic Writing II students who passed the course failed to take any more English courses and were often lost entirely to the institution.  Some of these students had been setback by life’s exigencies, whether those be financial, relational, health-related, psychological, or material (transportation or child care). By 2007 it was clear that CCBC needed to reexamine the way that basic writing instruction was being implemented, the Accelerated Learning Program was conceived and piloted.  Thus, ALP was borne to tackle one of developmental education’s most enduring challenges: how to move basic writing students along from basic writing courses to the successful completion of first-year composition courses while at the same time retaining them in colleges or adult learning centers.

Well, ALP has had some worthwhile results.  Since the inception of ALP at CCBC, data have shown that both retention and completion rates for students enrolled in the ALP far outstrip those of students who take Basic Writing II in a classroom with twenty students. The CCBC data was verified in 2010 by a quantitative study conducted by The Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Teachers College, Columbia University. In addition, data from fall 2011 indicate that ALP students have a higher retention rate at the institution: one year after taking a developmental writing course, ALP students 24% of ALP student had accumulated at least 15 college credits, whereas on 11% of students who took the traditional developmental course had done so. After two years, 24% of ALP students had accumulated at least 30 credits versus 12% of traditional students.

Proponents of the Accelerated Learning Program attribute its success to several intersecting factors: the “shortening of the pipeline” for basic writers who can now take two English courses during the same semester, thus lowering the odds that life issues might force them to drop out early in their college program; the one-on-one coaching provided by their professor; the support and social networking with their fellow students; and the increased attention to those affective and material needs that may interfere with course completion. According to the Accelerated Learning Program, the model has been so successful that it has scaled up from the original 10 sections in 2007-2008 to 160 sections in 2011-2012.

In fact, one of the biggest benefits of mainstreaming basic writing students into a credit-level writing course is psychological.  This placement helps students to no longer think of their basic writing course as a hurdle standing between them and the credit course. Instead, they can view it as something is immediately helpful to them in the credit English course.  More importantly though, it also improves their sense that they are really “in college” and not in some isolated pre-college holding area, thus reducing the stigmatization many development students feel.

Another feature of ALP that leads to improved retention of students is the fact that their instructors recognize the importance of paying attention to affective and life issues of their students.  Let’s face it.  One of the major reasons developmental students fail to complete their developmental work and pass the gatekeeper course is not difficulty with writing, but more often difficulty in their lives or with their confidence or stress levels.  ALP instructors, aided by the small class size, are able to address some of these problems before they derail students.

Another ways that ALP deals with the psychological and social development of its students is through smaller class size.  ALP students are members of a cohort of just eight students, who spend six hours a week together.  Often developmental students have little attachment to college and little opportunity to develop friendships.  Fortunately, in ALP, the eight students become friends, and they will know one faculty member well enough to seek help if needed.

Teachers should not underestimate the power of social networking in the learning process.  ALP students work with stronger writers in their credit-bearing English course.  By allowing developmental students to register for sections of credit English in which the majority students are credit-level students, the developmental students are exposed to strong role models.  This pairing is great in courses like English where students do a great deal of group work like peer review. The stigmatization and demoralization effect of being isolated in all basic writing sections is reduced by working with mentors and peers.

In fact, relationships seem to be a key part of the pedagogical strategy of the Accelerated Learning Program, for the instructors are able to focus on the individual needs and issues of each student.  As a result, instructors are able to build trust with students and to work more productively with basic writing students.

Another key feature of ALP is the pipeline through which students have to pass is shortened by one semester.  Since these students take the basic writing and credit-level writing course at the same time, students do not have the opportunity to drop out between courses.  Because ALP requires students to take both courses, it is impossible for students to drop out between them.

The Accelerated Learning Program not only benefits students but teachers also.  Since the same instructor teaches the ALP course and the credit course, it makes it easier for the teacher to coordinate the two courses.  In addition, knowing what the ALP students have just completed in the credit course makes it easy for the instructor to reinforce or answer questions about the material just covered.  Knowing what is coming up in future classes in the credit course makes it easier for the instructor to provide scaffolding activities to prepare students for the next task in the credit course.

Despite the improved retention and completion rates for ALP students, however, some educators may argue that basic writers do not need a fast track to first-year composition.  Instead some might argue that basic writing should emphasize extensive direct instruction in teaching the fundamentals of grammar and conventions or focus on sentence and then paragraph construction as well as the five paragraph essay.

All in all, ALP is a positive example of what basic writer instructors can do when they have the time, resources, and the opportunity to build relationships with students where they can work more intensively and productively with them.  This program is good because restructures the basic writing course in the institution and gives students an opportunity to break through barriers that not only stigmatize them but also keep them from being a full member of an academic community.  No wonder this program is being expanded in community colleges around the country.  This program is one real chance to do right by students who through no fault of their own may are not adequately prepared for the rigors of academic discourse.  Teachers and administrators everywhere should give a look if they really care about opening the doors to “second chance” students at our community colleges.