Professional Development Project Proposals, Fall 2009

Two Learning Community projects for Fall Semester, 2009:

1. Writing in the End Zone III: New instructor

training and orientation

2. Math in the End Zone: Development of a new learning

community and new Math instructor training and
orientation

Overview of the proposed two part, Professional Development Project:

Two of our primary goals for these related professional development projects are

(1) to include, in a professionally responsible and supportive way, a fourth English

faculty member to CSM's Writing in the End Zone student success project/learning
community and

(2) to create and institutionalize Math in the End Zone, a new LCOM, in the same way
that we have utilized past professional development funds to establish Writing in the End
Zone.

1. The first project will support Anne Stafford as she joins the Writing in the End Zone
team of faculty and coaches. Fall, 09, she will be teaching for the first time the third
course in the WEZ sequence—ENGL 100/101—with the direct support of Coach Bret
Pollack and in collaboration with Rob Komas and the current WEZ instructors. Anne will
need time to become familiar with the different aspects of WEZ and to coordinate with
Coach Bret Pollack. Coordination between English and Football is an essential
component of WEZ, instrumental to its success. Anne will develop unique curriculum for
use in this specialized learning community, and she will need time to familiarize herself
with the WEZ specific teaching methods used to create consistency and coherence in the
three WEZ composition courses and three PE/football courses. After fall semester, if the
project goes well, Anne will join the rotation of WEZ instructors, helping to facilitate and
continue the overall success of CSM's Writing in the End Zone.

2. For the second project, Rob Komas and Coach Bret Pollack will be creating a new learning
community, Math in the End Zone, which will take as a model the current End Zone for English.
Rob Komas, Bret Pollack, and Anne Stafford, with the support of the current WEZ instructors,
will meet regularly to develop course curriculum and teaching strategies specifically designed to
meet the unique needs of Math in the End Zone students. The type of experience Rob will gain in
working with underrepresented students (in collaboration with Bret and the other WEZ
instructors) will have, we hope, many of the same benefits WEZ has had for the English
department and CSM Football—chiefly, rethinking how to best serve underrepresented, low
achieving students, engaging in department and interdisciplinary conversations about our
common challenges in addressing low achieving students' needs, and applying what is learned to
serving these students in general courses. The proposed project will also be instrumental in
opening up channels of communication between Math and the CSM football program as Math
instructors seek support in working with student-athletes in their courses.

To complete the two related projects, we request nine units of reassigned time, three units for
each of the three faculty members directly involved—Anne Stafford, Rob Komas, Bret Pollack.
While we request nine units, we would respect the committee's decision to award the two related
projects fewer units, as the committee deems appropriate.

Thank you for your consideration.

Please contact Bret Pollack (pollack@smccd.edu, X6467) or James Carranza

(carranza@smccd.edu, X6568) if we can provide the committee any additional information about
the proposed projects, or if we can answer any questions you might have regarding them.

*A brief overview of Writing in the End Zone:

Writing in the End Zone began in 2003. And it has grown in scope over the past four years. It is a
three semester learning community, which pairs sequential English developmental to transfer
level composition courses with PE/football courses. Faculty and coaches work in unison to
provide students the highest quality instruction, services, and support in order to facilitate
success in both the classroom and on the field. WEZ students are predominantly low-income,
African-American and Pacific Islander males. And, with regard to academics, they represent the
two lowest achieving groups of students on campus.

In the five years WEZ has been in existence, the success and retention rates of WEZ students
have equaled the average success and retention rates of general population students and have
substantially exceeded those of their non-WEZ peers. WEZ faculty members have shared their
work in department meetings and retreats, college-wide forums, and at two state conferences and
two national conferences. Writing in the End Zone has developed a reputation locally, and even
in the state, as a model student success project. Chabot College and De Anza College have tried
to develop similar projects. Diablo Valley College, Solano College, West Hills College, Lemoore
(Southern California), and College of the Redwoods have requested information as they are in
the process of developing similar WEZ projects. Soccer coaches and English faculty at City
College of San Francisco are currently planning a project using CSM's model as a guide.

Please visit iTunes U! http://www.smccd.edu/itunesu/. Writing in the End Zone students share
their experiences in a Podcast. (Click “CSM Courses” and then click “English-Kitamura.”)

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The nine requested units of reassigned time, three for each faculty member, will enable us to
accomplish the following goals and objectives:

Two Central Goals:

1. Include a fourth English instructor to the Writing in the End Zone learning community.

Currently, three ENGL instructors are responsible for teaching the three End Zone
composition courses. A fourth instructor added to the rotation will ease the load on the
current faculty and help to reinvigorate the project.

2. Develop and institutionalize a Math in the End Zone learning community.

We know that Math poses a particular challenge to CSM's lowest achieving group of
students—African-American and Pacific Islander males, ages eighteen to twenty-two.
Using Writing in the End Zone as a model, we hope to generate the same success in a
Math End Zone as we have in our English End Zone.

Objectives:
• research and develop a sustainable learning community—Math in the End Zone
• coordinate both learning communities in fall and organize for spring and beyond
• build upon and improve student math skills appropriate to Math 111 and eventually 112
• build student self-esteem and confidence in English and Math (and in academics in
general)
• meet or exceed student success, persistence, and retention rates for similar cohorts of
students and compare these to the rates of the general population of students in English
100/101 and MATH 111 and 112 courses
• collaborate with each other and current WEZ instructors—Teeka James, Jon Kitamura,
and James Carranza—to create innovative and appropriate curriculum and teaching
methods for both LCOMs. These will reflect department Student Learning Outcomes and
Institutional Student learning Outcomes
• evaluate the effectiveness of our curricula in both LCOMs
• revise and modify curricula and teaching methodology as necessary for both LCOMs
• outline our approach to teaching these unique LCOMs, so that other interested English
and Math faculty might participate in these LCOMs in future or employ specific
strategies in their own courses when working with student-athletes or students from
diverse backgrounds.

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Direct benefit to students:

Students in project English and Math courses will

• persist and succeed at a comparable or higher rate than similar cohorts in general courses
• increase self-esteem and confidence in English and Math
• develop critical reading, writing, and thinking abilities
• develop critical thinking and reasoning skills necessary to MATH 111 and MATH 112:
o solving one to two variable equations
o solving systems of equations
o checking solutions.

The proposed, related professional development projects meet the following Professional
Development, Long Term approved activities:

Retraining:
Developing original curriculum for these unique learning community courses will provide the
faculty directly involved the opportunity to learn more about CSM's diverse student population
in the two academic areas which we know pose them the greatest challenges—English and Math.
Anne Stafford, Rob Komas, and Bret Pollack will improve their own professional skills as they
share and learn new strategies for meeting the needs of traditionally underserved students. The
experience they gain in this collaborative project will enhance their abilities to address the needs
of students in the other courses they teach in the English, Math, and P.E. departments. And the
experience they gain will be a useful professional development resource in their departments

Research:
This project requires that Anne, Rob, and Bret research effective curriculum and teaching
methods for the courses in these learning communities. In the process, they must take into
consideration the unique cultural and educational backgrounds of the students they will be
serving. We feel the integration of English and PE and Math and PE, as well as the open
communication and collaboration between English, Math, PE/Counseling trained faculty will
provide unique insights into how to address the educational needs of our traditionally
underserved students. We would like to learn how to serve these students in a more holistic and
comprehensive manner. This collaborative project, we feel, is a step in the right direction.