EduGuide Implementation
Marking Period 4 of 2014-2015
Rollout Plan for EduGuide
- Post one EduGuide lesson in your course every week, beginning with the week after Spring Break. (You may start earlier if you wish). Use the EduGuide Introduction Materials to let students know what this is and what they can expect to get out of this work.
- Make each lesson worth points for students. We suggest you make it worth what a typical homework assignment would be worth.
- Do not replace an assignment with the EduGuide assignment.
- Let students know that they should complete the assignment that is posted. It is estimated that it will take students 10-15 minutes; however, we suggest that you tell them to plan about a half an hour to complete it.
- Each Friday, please give us your honest feedback about how the implementation is going in your course. The feedback form is linked at the bottom of this page.
Plan Moving Forward
Previous Information
Background on the Program
EduGuide is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping students reach their academic and personal goals. Last summer we were approached by EduGuide and asked if we would consider having a partnership meeting with them. We met their initial criteria for being one of their partners. After a lengthy meeting and application, we were accepted as one of their partner schools and received an in-kind grant to cover a large portion of the cost. The remainder of the cost is being paid for as an approved Title I funded program.
Getting To Know Grit
The Leadership Team felt that this would be a worthwhile program for our students, because what it does is teach students "grit." I'm sure that you've heard a lot about grit as it pertains to education. The leading researcher in this area is Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania. Duckworth's research premise is that grit and self-control can predict achievement, and further, that grit can be taught. The other big name in the grit-arena is Carol Dweck.
This article, "True Grit," is a good place to start if you've heard little about this notion, or even if you have, and want a refresher. And if you want to know how gritty you personally are, here's a quick Grit Scale with 12 questions . A TED talk given by Angela Duckworth "The key to success? Grit" is here .
Why EduGuide & What Will It Do For PALCS?
Here's what we liked about it:
1. It's online and self-paced. Students will spend about 15 minutes a week doing the work.
2. It's designed to "build a culture of college and career success." This is the big thing. We have known for a long while that there are a number of students who are not engaged, or who are semi-engaged. We are looking for ways to help turn that around, and we feel that this program could be one of the ways to help.
3. It's research based, and EduGuide has evidence that it works. There is some evidence that it has helped students improve their GPAs (.3 grade points; a slight increase, but an increase), has improved academic behaviors, helps increase degree completion, and closed achievement gaps by half.