In partnership with RMC Research, Denver, Colorado and |
____________________________________________________ This page lists updates for Year 2 of the IES grant. Year 2 is the first year of data collection, July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009. For information about Year 1, click here. For the Fall 2008 project update, click here. ______________________________________________________ October 21, 2008 Northstar attended a meeting last week hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Corrections. This joint meeting of the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), College Of The Air (COA) administrators and instructors, DOC Site Coordinators, Education Directors, IYO Grant Manager, and the IYO Committee was held at the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility (MSDF). Since Wisconsin pioneered COA and has been participating in the program for three years, they have served in an advisory capacity to the Five State Study. The meeting was an informative exchange of ideas and updates on the latest legislation and changes to the grant. The COA instructors were able to voice concerns and troubleshoot ideas regarding working with a population they neither meet nor speak to and the challenges of working within correctional environments. Assignments, tests, and questions are relayed either through mail, email, or fax by site coordinators. Instructors then respond to students through the same communication means. Distance learning delivery modes are often criticized for their lack of personal contact. Instructors rarely, if ever, get to meet their incarcerated students face-to-face. An opportunity for MATC instructors to listen to the stories of offenders brings life and meaning to otherwise anonymous students. When asked what their greatest challenge was teaching college academics to this incarcerated population, MATC instructors articulated the lack of personal contact with students. This considerable effort mitigates that challenge. One notable concern has been the placement of Speech 201 in the first certificate. Speech has proven to be a challenge for some states in the Five State Study which do not or cannot (because of security restrictions) possess video cameras for recording speeches. Furthermore, MATC explained that Speech remains in Certificate I because completing the courses in Certificate I means the student has completed the Liberal Arts requirements for occupational associate degrees at the colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System. The MATC bookstore manager also attended the meeting at MSDF. Book acquisition solutions include ordering books earlier for the anticipated number of students, sharing books among institutions, and improved communication. Discussion included states providing an "open P.O." authorizing an amount for book purchases. Individual sites could then order books and draw from the statewide pre-approved amount. Last week, Northstar sent out postcards to all IES sites last week querying how to improve the data collection process. To review COA: A core of general education courses is provided by MATC, accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education. All courses begin at the 200-level to better facilitate transfer to colleges and universities throughout the nation. Students are enrolled by Site Coordinators who then facilitate course participation--they do not instruct students. Instructors are located at MATC campuses and coursework is broadcast over the Transforming Lives Network satellite. Performance measures are dictated by each instructor, by curricular review, and by national standards for accredited schools. Recognizing that offender students need frequent feedback, MATC has divided its 66-credit program into three 22-credit certificates. November 12, 2008 MATC registration for TLN/COA classes began November 7 for Spring 2009 semester. Sites will be enrolling the SAME students that participated in TLN/COA courses in the fall, 2008. Northstar conducted pre-testing for fall students and will be post-testing the same students at the end of spring semester. CAAP scores and related information from fall data collection are being mailed to sites this week for distribution to students. December 11, 2008 South Carolina has joined the study. Eight sites will be participating and will begin their first semester this spring. They will also hold a summer session to catch up with the other states. Beginning Fall 2009, South Carolina will be on the same schedule as other states with fall and spring data collection visits by Northstar. Northstar is requesting sites to contact them IF they did not receive CAAP results for students last August/September (2008). Also remember Spring 09 class registration is now open for MATC. Registration information has been mailed to all TLN sites. All forms and information can also be found at: http://coa.matc.edu/. January 13, 2009 Dr. Meyer at RMC Research is developing spring data collection instruments for Spring ‘09 semester data collection. All states which participated in the study during Fall ’08 semester are enrolling the same students for Spring ’09 semester. The study requires pre-testing for students before beginning postsecondary instruction the first semester and post-testing after students have completed two semesters. Spring post-testing will be administered in May/June ’09. Dr. Steurer of the Correctional Education Association has been working through contracts and MOU’s for participating states. Northstar has just returned from South Carolina to meet with Dr. Reagan, Weyland Burns, and all of the South Carolina site coordinators to help the study’s new state launch their first semester at MATC, Spring ‘09. Northstar also met with Oklahoma site coordinators in Oklahoma City this week. MATC Spring ’09 classes begin January 27. February 11, 2009 South Carolina has joined the study. Last week Northstar traveled to eight sites to pre-test students. The week in South Carolina was extremely successful and all sites were prepared and well informed. Dr. Meyer at RMC Research is revising and preparing instruments for spring data collection. Northstar will travel to case study sites, three per state, in March for spring data collection, which includes observations of classes in session. Northstar will visit the other sites, the non-case sites in all states, in May or June. A new group of students at all sites will begin the fall of 2009. As reauthorization of the IYO grant increases the age limit to 35 (after July 1, 2009), the research team expects to increase the age for study participants, pending IES approval. This should significantly increase the number of students in the study. March 23, 2009 Spring data collection is well underway. Northstar has just returned from Nevada, Iowa, and Oklahoma to visit case study sites. Next week Northstar will visit the Massachusetts case study sites. Non-case site visits will occur in May for those four states, and South Carolina will be visited again this summer. Dr. Meyer of RMC Research and Northstar are preparing to present preliminary findings for Year 1 of data collection at the Correctional Education Association Leadership Forum in Annapolis, Maryland, March 29-31. April 17, 2009 The research team presented preliminary finds at the CEA Leadership Forum in Annapolis, MD last month and conducted site training for participating sites. States participating in the training were Oklahoma, Nevada, Massachusetts, and South Carolina. The research team met with several state leaders offering an invitation to be the sixth state in this study. May 18, 2009 The IES grant welcomes Tennessee to the study. Tennessee is contributing four sites and will begin participating in Fall 2009. The research team is half way through spring data collection, which will conclude in May. June 24, 2009 By the end of summer semester, South Carolina will be officially “caught up” for Year One of the study. Four other states completed Year One in the Spring 2009 semester. This fall (2009) will kick off Year Two with all six states: Iowa, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The research team is collecting data at a current total of 40 institutions nationwide. July 23, 2009 Over 400 people attended the Correctional Education Association conference held in Madison, Wisconsin, July 19-22. IES study participants from Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Nevada, and South Carolina were able to attend the special luncheon for the six states involved in the study. Topics included:
Betsy Rezel from the Milwaukee Area Technical College also attended the meeting to answer questions from IES site participants. |