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PR# S411B210027
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EEDW Insights and Highlights
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February/March 2024 EEDW Project Newsletter
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Director's Overview and Updates
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If you haven't conducted education research, terms like "control," "treatment," and "intervention" in reference to students may sound a little awkward, maybe even questionable. But those are the terms we live by in EEDW. EEDW is fundamentally a research project, the purpose of which is to provide insight into a strategy for helping students enroll in--and succeed in--particular dual credit courses and programs of study. Currently, we are providing interventions and support in 7 ECHSs throughout New Mexico, with around 2,000 students in their combined enrollment. Those students were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. We generally refer to students as belonging to either the "encouraged" and "business as usual" student populations.
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What does it mean for a student to be in the "encouraged" group?
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- targeted text messages with encouragements to sign up for online IT courses
- intentional outreach by school leaders about the value of IT courses, regardless of the career pathway
- focused encouragement and support for enrolling
- opportunities to engage in Q&A sessions and other events with business and industry partners
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Over the course of several years (and we're in the first year intervention year now), we want to see whether students in the encouragement group sign up for online IT courses at a greater rate than their peers. For the schools and school leaders, it means being a part of an important study that can inform future practices and policies nationwide. It also means the opportunity to offer new experiences to students and to get support for fulfilling their primary mission. Sure, it's a little work (very little), but the results will be valuable.
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Yes, without a doubt. Through EEDW, we can learn how to help students engage in coursework that will prepare them for future careers and help them develop the skills they will need to succeed.
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What's Happening Right Now?
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Nothing is static, and the project continues to grow and evolve. We have the ability to support additional implementation sites. We are in discussion to bring on two new sites this semester. We hope to accomplish this by the end of April, which will provide just enough time to assign students to treatment and control groups, begin the encouragements, and offer support for student success before the current school year ends. The first collection of enrollment data can begin as early as next fall.
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Pulling the Data: We're still working with a few sites that are struggling to provide intentional outreach to the encouragement students, as well as to provide formative data about their site-based activities. However, our impact data, where we learn about the results of our efforts, will come from enrollment data provided by the NM PED. First enrollment data collection will occur as early as this summer, which is why our efforts right now to get students enrolled in online IT courses are critical. And since we're looking ahead, consider how our ongoing efforts now may affect students' dual credit enrollment for the fall semester. Gathering 2025: Given the success of the 2024 Gathering, we're already in the planning phase for next year's event. (By the way, in a few weeks, we'll be meeting with the project evaluators who conducted the focus group sessions. They will provide lessons learned from the sessions to help us understand how to help schools better, improve differentiation between the student populations, foster increased IT enrollment, and collect more thorough and more timely site data.)
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Fall Stakeholder Conference: We're putting together a two-day event just for ECHS counselors and students in the encouragement group. It will feature opportunities to learn about IT careers from professionals, strategies to prepare for and succeed in higher education, and the chance to visit actual work sites.
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We anticipate holding the conference in September in Albuquerque, with all expenses paid. This will be PD for counselors in IT fields, and encouragement for students to get enrolled in IT coursework, so it's a "two-fer." Now, we just need a better name for the conference. Stay tuned for more information!
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For those of you who attended The Gathering 2024, I really appreciated the opportunity to meet you in person. I believe that the work we do together is better than the work we do alone. Thank you for being a part of this project. I look forward to continuing our partnership and working together to help our students succeed long after they leave our schools.
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HED Partner Spotlight
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AMANDA VESCOVO - DOÑA ANA CC
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"Propelling Students into the Future"
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In my opinion, the greatest value of the EEDW program is the opportunity to introduce and encourage participation in computer technology courses early in the high school experience. Often, early college high school students interested in STEM fields have only been exposed to engineering. By having the intentional EEDW program courses offered, students are more likely to select them as high school electives before high school graduation. I am hopeful that this opens up areas outside of engineering, such as cyber security, computer technology, IT, game design, etc., for the students’ future career aspirations.
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"In my view, the primary benefit of the EEDW program lies in its capacity to introduce and foster involvement in computer technology courses during the initial stages of high school education."
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ECHS Counselor Spotlight
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KELCI PIKE - TAOS ACADEMY
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“Developing Leadership and Social Skills in a Modern World!
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By providing them with guidance, resources, and support, I can help students identify their interests, talents, and goals, ultimately enabling them to make confident and informed choices that align with their aspirations. Working with high school students to explore their academic choices, skills, and strengths allows me to make a positive impact on their lives by empowering them to reach their full potential. I try to help every student graduate high school with a clear plan of what they need to do to achieve their personal career or academic goals, so they have a planned pathway toward their definitions of success.
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"In order to support the evolving technological landscape and meet the demands of businesses, organizations, and individuals in our community, it is crucial that we have qualified individuals who can effectively fill these vital positions.
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EEDW ECHS Spotlight
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Bond Wilson Technical Center
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“Industry Based, Centered on Student Learning, Focused on the Future!”
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Athena Talk facilitates for Bond Wilson Technical Center the asynchronous dual credit certification classes through San Juan College. This is our first year offering the classes through SJC, so this is ground-breaking for our district. Intro to Information Technology was the first class offered in the fall at Bond Wilson, and in the spring of 2024, Bond Wilson will offer A+ Hardware and OS certification.
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Ms. Talk stated, “Before joining the EEDW, there was no IT pathway in place at BWTC. Before joining, we had a slim computer science/mechatronics pathway post-COVID pandemic.”
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Tech Leader Spotlight
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Stephen Rickman
Director of Network and Information
City of Clovis, NM
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Meet Stephen Rickman, the Information Technology Director at the City of Clovis, NM. We are fortunate that he shares his valuable knowledge and guidance as part of our advisory board as well! In this Q&A, Stephen shares the importance of tech talent, key skills sought in potential hires, and advice for those pursuing careers in IT and cybersecurity.
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"Communication skills are crucial for relaying information to team members and end-users, while professionalism and research into the organization demonstrate commitment."
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Where's a great place to learn about new initiatives in Dual Credit?
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Where's a great place to share what we're doing with EEDW?
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ANSWER: South Padre Island
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EEDW project director David Bowman and ECHS/HED coordinator Eric Arpelar attended the NACEP Dual Credit Summit in South Padre Island, TX, February 18-19 this year to learn about strategies, challenges, and new opportunities for dual credit students, as well as to present what we're doing and what we have learned so far.
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Eric's session: "Bridging the Gap: Preparing Traditional College Professors for Dual Credit Students" In this session, Eric provided insight on students' needs for success, particularly wrap-around services provided collaboratively by ECHSs and their higher education partners. Participants discussed instructional approaches appropriate to high school students and how they may differ from practices common to higher education. The session provided a deep look into the communication matrix that the EEDW higher education working group members drafted, which was further refined at The Gathering 2024. download a copy of Eric's presentation
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David's session: "Dual Credit Challenges: Policies and Practices to Increase Student Success" After a look into the EEDW project, partners, and progress, David presented findings and impressions resulting from our ECHS and higher education partnerships and project experiences. Participants discussed factors that promote or hinder higher enrollment in dual credit courses and successful completion of programs of study. download a copy of David's presentation
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The conference provided a great opportunity to meet new colleagues, and it opened the doors for additional conferences and partnerships for disseminating EEDW.
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Follow this LINK to watch a video of highlights from the NACEP Dual Credit Programs at South Padre Island.
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Eric Arpelar attended the 2024 NMHEAR Conference. Read his summary below.
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Educators from across the State of New Mexico including counselors, administrators, academic advisors, and faculty members, met with representatives from the New Mexico Public Education Department and New Mexico Higher Education Department to discuss the future direction of dual credit initiatives in New Mexico. The event aimed to foster collaboration and knowledge-sharing, empowering attendees to contribute to shaping the future outlook of dual credit education in New Mexico.
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Key Note Speaker & Luncheon
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Dr. Kevin Yee - Director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Central Florida.
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The speaker's presentation, "Re-Thinking the Assessment Cycle in the Era of Generative AI," highlighted the transformative impact of GenAI technologies on higher education, sparking discussions about job replacements and the need for a reevaluation of traditional methods. The introduction of GenAI technology beckons a new era of student outcomes assessment, urging innovative approaches. Despite challenges, there is a promising outlook for refining evaluation processes, data analysis, reflective practices, and overall improvement strategies. Educational institutions are leveraging GenAI's capabilities to enhance educational outcomes and promote academic excellence.
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The First Ever NMDCP Annual Business Meeting
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The New Mexico affiliate chapter (NMDCP) of the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) held its inaugural state meeting, marking a significant milestone in enhancing concurrent enrollment standards. The gathering attracted educators, administrators, and stakeholders from various educational institutions, fostering dialogues, sharing best practices, and advocating for student success in concurrent enrollment schemes. The event aimed to enhance the effectiveness of concurrent enrollment collaborations.
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EEDW - The Gathering - "Bridging the Gap"
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The inaugural EEDW: The Gathering was a tremendous event for our higher education partners, counselors, and principals from our participating ECHSs. The day began with an opening from Executive Director David Bowman, who welcomed everyone to the meeting and the project. This was followed by the HED and ECHS Coordinator, Eric Arpelar, addressing the format of the day's events.
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In the first sessions, we had breakout groups of higher education students led by San Juan College’s dual credit coordinator, Annie Willmon. There was a breakout session with ECHS principals that was led by the Deming ECHS principal, Bryan Simpson. Lastly, there was the counselor breakout led by a special guest, Anna Brown, guidance counselor at Cuba High School, to give a comprehensive perspective to the ECHS counselors. Also, during the counselor’s session, they had a special visit via Zoom from our program officer, Dr. Sonji Jones-Manson.
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After the breakouts, Jaime Cherry, EEDW Business Engagement Coordinator, facilitated an IT panel that consisted of industry professionals: Cathy Ford, CEO and Owner of Red Owl Business Services; Chris Hammer, Cybersecurity Specialist from ANM; Erin Scott Adams, a Front-End Engineer at TREK Bicycles; and Buckey Johnson, Senior Enterprise Systems Administrator from Sandia Labs.
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This session was extremely beneficial and eye-opening for the higher education and the counselors. At the same time, there was also a principal's focus group that was taking place with our partners from RAND, led by Andrea Phillips and Jennifer Jefferies.
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Following this, everyone was treated to a work lunch that was catered to New Mexican cuisine. During the working lunch, the HEDS and ECHS worked on the communication model that was launched by Eric Arpelar in early 2023 with the Higher Ed Working Group. This transitioned well into the afternoon session of collaboration between the ECHSs and their partnering institutions on how they can work and collaborate on the EEDW project and the growth of IT pathways.
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The afternoon continued with a focus group involving the ECHS principals and higher educators examining a case study led by Ricky Williams from P2C and NS4ED and Dr. Steve Sanchez, a retired educator and superintendent. At the same time, RAND was having a focus group with the ECHS counselors.
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The day concluded with the group being addressed by Executive Director David Bowman on the future of the EEDW Project and the announcement of The Gathering II on February 26th, 2025. Site to be announced in the near future.
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We have the potential through EEDW not only to improve learning experiences during the high school years and post-graduation studies but also to prepare students for success when they first step into their professional roles.
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Thank you for all you do!
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