Spring 2021 Virtual Events

Examining the disaggregated success data for our own courses can bring up feelings of defensiveness, shame, frustration, and hopelessness. Three English faculty from Sacramento City College will share how confronting and reflecting on our own data allowed us to move from these initial reactions to concrete, targeted actions that lead to more equitable outcomes, even in our current online environment. We will also discuss three ways our college has supported faculty in this process.

In this interactive session, Joe Feldman, career educator and author of the book Grading for Equity, and Dr. Shantha Smith will provide a brief overview of the history of traditional grading and how the continued use of those practices can negatively impact teaching and learning, raise stress, and perpetuate disparities. They'll introduce the framework of equitable grading and provide an example, then California community college faculty will share practices they have adopted based on Feldman's work, and their impact on students.

What is going on when success rates range from 20 to 100 percent across different sections of the same course? Is it AB 705? Online vs. face-to-face? Student factors like race or high school preparation? Faculty factors like part- vs. full-time status? Something else? Researchers from De Anza College will present their investigation into the variability in pass rates in transfer-level math and English. Then an English faculty member from Irvine Valley College will share practical tips for addressing variability as a department.