News & Updates
Every Learner Everywhere, a network of 12 higher education and digital learning groups, including Achieving the Dream, published a new case study describing ATD’s support of Lehman College, CUNY, in its transition to equitized and student-centered syllabi.
“Equitizing Syllabi Case Study: How Lehman College and Every Learner Everywhere Collaborated to Transform Gateway Courses” chronicles the journey of Lehman College that began in the spring of 2021 when faculty participated in an intensive professional development initiative to further the college’s shift to equity-centered teaching.
The City University of New York’s only four-year college in the Bronx, Lehman College serves a diverse study body of more than 14,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Through this initiative, the college sought to create student-centered, inclusive, and accessible course design with particular consideration of first-generation and Hispanic students.
The Office of Online Education, the body that operationalized the initiative, targeted online courses with high DFWI rates (the rates of students receiving a D or F grade; withdrawing from the course, or taking an incomplete) and recruited faculty, including adjunct instructors, to participate in the project.
ATD led the effort to provide expertise in equity and evidence-based teaching practices as well as coaching. Over an 18-month period, the initiative passed through three phases. First was a case-making and foundational learning phase that focused on intensive training around why and how to implement evidence-based practices to promote student success in gateway courses. A second phase consisted of a pilot project to revise syllabi to be more equitable and student centered,
ATD coach Dr. Trent Mohrbutter, worked with Lehman faculty through this comprehensive process. “Over several months, we conducted multiple workshops focused on defining and integrating key components and language of an equitable syllabus,” he shares. “Faculty engaged in thorough analysis and peer reviews of their own syllabi, which they then enhanced to reflect these principles. The resulting syllabi, as indicated by student surveys, were significantly more helpful, resourceful, and useful, demonstrating a holistic improvement in their educational value.”
In the final phase of the project, faculty scaled their efforts by presenting their work to the wider college community. Scaling efforts undoubtedly influenced syllabi for courses well beyond those that were selected for the initiative, but, interestingly, the impact of the initiative grew not only in breadth but in depth as well. Faculty found that making changes to a course syllabus naturally resulted in changes to course content. As the report describes, “… if a syllabus indicates that inclusion for every learner is a priority, it naturally raises the question of how culturally relevant the course content is.”
Moreover, the issue of tone in syllabi translated to the faculty adopting a more encouraging and positive tone in their daily interactions with students. In essence, the syllabus served as an entry point for faculty to reevaluate far more than a handout; it made them reconsider fundamental aspects of their teaching.
Key Takeaways
ATD coaches introduced participating Lehman faculty to an equity-minded syllabus review guide and rubric from the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California Rossier School of Education, which aided in their decisions about how to alter their syllabi. The following are key changes that faculty made in their quest to equitize their syllabi and make it more student centered:
- A shift in tone, substituting inspirational language for any verbiage that warned against underperforming
- The use of images, links to videos, and the inclusion of inspiring quotes from representative figures to reflect the students in the course
- The addition of introductory messages that shed light on the alignment of and connections between goals, learning objectives, teaching practices, and assignments
- The destigmatization of support services and information on how to access them
Learn more about ATD’s expertise in teaching and learning.
For information about ATD’s Equitizing Syllabi Workshop, please contact the Teaching and Learning team.