The Writing Center Title V Impact
October 08, 2018 - 09:48 AM
As the grant draws to a close, the Title V Director, Lisa Rodriguez is cataloging the final newsletter in blog form here. With 22 projects across Instruction, Student Services, and Information Technology, the Title V played a major role in expanding services to students with the focus on creating sustained support for learning (one of the important pillars of the new Guided Pathways model).
Writing Center Director, Dr. David Charbonneau reported "In 2017-2018, supported by the Title V grant, the Writing Center experienced continued program growth for both the Tutors in the Classroom program and Directed Learning Activities. The grant funded 29 sections of Tutors in the Classroom across the AmLa and English composition sequence, including a number of sections under the Pathways to Transfer program. Success rates ranged above the course averages across the board for all sections supported by TCs with the most impressive numbers occurring in the English 1A/66 accelerated sequences where students who logged hours with the tutor had success rates 24-43% higher than students who did not see the tutor. Veteran tutors in the program also helped train less experienced peer tutors within the Writing Center.
The DLA program continued to thrive under Title V. In 2018, the Writing Center tutored 2,757 students working on directed learning activities (duplicated student headcount) which is an increase of over 100% since the advent of the grant's support. In addition, DLAs were developed for critical thinking issues, including Identifying Warrants/Assumptions, Evaluating Websites for Research, and Identifying Logical Fallacies. Students completing DLAs with the English composition sequence had success rates of 12-16% higher than the overall course averages. Given the relatively low cost of this intervention, these success rates testify to the value and sustainability of the program. In addition, in the spring of 2018, the Center successfully converted all of its online DLAs to ACCESS-enabled versions."
Between Fall 2013 and Fall 2018, Title V invested more than $ $474,093 towards deepening the quality and quantity of tutoring, both in the Center, as well
as in the English classrooms. Funds supported a Tutorial Services Specialist/Supplemental
Instruction Coordinator and a Professional Expert who all provided TC (Tutor in the
Classroom) supervision and training, conducted Assessment of Written English preparation
workshops, expanded Directed Learning Activities to include non-English subjects such
as Paralegal Studies, as well as other important student learning support tasks. The
Title V also funded in center tutoring for students taking English classes, computers,
a large digital display monitor for the lobby, and professional development opportunities
for center staff and adjunct faculty associated with the center.
The Educational Research Analyst for the Title V and Title III grants, Lisa DiDonato
of the Research and Institutional Effectiveness office, provided the campus with upwards
of 25 data reports on the impact of the Writing Center on student success. Reports
can be found on the Title V reports page, click here.
The final data on the Writing Center & Title V efforts will be available in January 2019 when the Annual Report for the fifth and final year of the grant is published.
