Creating the AANAPISI/ELL Success Coaching Model

The research clearly shows three major takeaways that were incorporated into the success coaching model for ELL courses: 

1. Building and sustaining relationships are crucial to fostering student success within a coaching framework.

2. The relationships work better for marginalized student populations when the staff who are coaching understand the students’ experience and use this understanding to inform their coaching techniques.

3. The type of success coaching model that the AANAPISI grant was asking for has never been done like this, at the scale it was asking for (serving 100% of ELL students within 5 years). 

What makes this model unique was that the AANAPISI grant also asked the success coaches to increase graduation and persistence rates for Pell-eligible, Asian-American students who make up on average 12-14% of the ELL population. To try to address both of these goals (scaling up to 100% of the ELL department and implementing targeted success strategies for this group of AAPI students), a model was created.

The success coaching model for the AANAPISI grant has two essential components: in-class visits to each ELL course section and hiring culturally responsive success coaches who share and understand the experiences of AAPI students.

In-class visits: In-class success coach visits were and are essential for scalability. This ensures that if a Coach were matched to every section offered by the ELL Department, every student enrolled would receive in-class coaching. A typical community college student spends most of their time on campus in the classroom and not in extracurricular activities, so the in-class visit became integral. Moreover, the success coach would need a strong working relationship with the faculty to build the visits into the course curriculum in a way that complimented instruction, but did not compete with it. The goal is that the more a student sees a coach within these visits, the more they understand the support a coach offers and the variety of skills they have (see Table A). 

The success coaching model is made up of five different in-class visits that are spread throughout a semester. This reflected the initial success coaching model that was implemented, but the coaching curriculum was more tailored to reflect the academic progression of students starting in ELL courses. Information that academic advisors traditionally presented often assumed that a student would start at college-level English and full time studies. However, this did not reflect the ELL and AAPI student experience. These visits are scaffolded to deliver more pertinent information as students progress through the term and levels. They are also timed with students’ needs at different points of the course, such as a success coach visiting a class to talk about on-campus resources at the beginning of the term. 

Table A

Outline of Success Coaching Visit Model: Purposes and Outcomes

Hiring Culturally Responsive Coaches: The research from programs that provide targeted, culturally competent support have a common thread that recognizes the racial, ethnic, and cultural background of the students they serve. Each program uses a student’s identity as the grounding for their program with the hope that equitable opportunities and a sense of belonging increase student persistence and graduation rates. The research that highlights strategies for AAPI students notes that hiring AAPI staff is an important step because then a student can see someone who looks like them in their class. Ideally, when a success coach from the AANAPISI model visits a classroom, the AAPI students in that class get to see a staff member who looks like them and understands their experience. When that student visits a success coach in-person for an individual advising meeting, the coach can use more interpersonal, culturally responsive strategies to build a deeper relationship. Specifically with the AAPI success coaches, these strategies range from talking through familial influences on program and career choice, speaking in the student’s first language or language spoken at home, recommending resources that more appropriately address students’ wellbeing and academic needs, or simply affirming that who they are outside of campus is equally valued on campus. Oftentimes, this may be the first time the AAPI student experiences this type of culturally responsive advising.

Success Coach Work and Additional Student Support Integration

The initial pilot of ELL courses integrated with a success coach model started in the fall semester of 2017 with seven sections. These sections were chosen in collaboration with the English Language Learning Department, then referred to as the English as a Second Language Department, and their curriculum reform also aligned with the AANAPISI grant outcomes. Each section implemented the new ELL curriculum as well as classroom integration of the AAPI success coach and additional student support services. 

One coach can expect to spend around 30 hours, maximum in total, on a single course that they are coaching (see Table B). As the course numbers grew in accordance with the ELL curriculum reform, coaches were assigned these sections. Success coach to student ratio was an important aspect when it came to sustainable growth, with the research confirming that strong relationships are the key to student success. Eventually, in the fall 2018 semester, one more AAPI success coach was hired in alignment with the grant directive and rapid expansion of the ELL success coach model, with the third AAPI success coach arriving in spring 2019. 

Table C below shows that sustainably growing the coaching model relied on two key components: 1. hiring more success coaches and 2. continued collaboration with the ACE Mentor program (further information on the collaboration starts on page 9). With these two components, coaches were able to maintain a caseload of (on average) 7-10 sections total each term. Targeted success coaching reached 79% of 601 ELL students in fall 2019 and 88% of 484 ELL students in spring 2020.

Table B

Success Coach Work Breakdown per Course Section

Table C

Success Coach Structure per Grant Years One through Three 

Additional adaptations were made each subsequent year to the initial coaching model in response to student inquiries and experiences.  For example, the AAPI success coaches noticed the need to tailor their advising content to the different levels of ELL.  Whereas Level 1 students require entry level support (e.g. navigating MyBHCC, learning how to register for classes, understanding program of study, etc.) Level 2 and Level 3 students need support with complex academic and career planning.  In Level 3, the last level before College Writing l, students want more information about the transfer process as well as job opportunities. In spring 2019, we built one classroom visit into the coaching model for Level 3 courses that specifically introduced resources to address these common questions. These details are outlined in Appendix A. 

Another example of adapting the coaching model came in response to the ELL Reform which was successfully completed in fall 2020. The success coaches specifically created a coaching visit to explain to the students how this would affect their programs of study in fall 2020 for all three levels of ELL. We believe that part of the success of the model is due to its adaptability to current student inquiries and institutional changes, especially at a community college where policy changes occur frequently. At the end of each semester, the AAPI Academic Coordinator and success coaches meet to determine if there should be any changes implemented. 

In addition to coaching, other integrated support services were being built out including continual faculty collaboration with the college’s Language Lab. The Language Lab specifically supports language learners of English as well as Spanish and French who are enrolled in Global Language courses.  To build out these student support services, the staff started by learning more about the local AAPI population, their skills, cultural backgrounds, and strengths. The staff met with community leaders, organizations, and collaborated frequently with the Asian American Student Success Program and Asian American Studies Department at UMass Boston. 

Another support service that was built out was the ACE Mentor program, a peer mentor program run by the Office of Learning Communities and was part of the original success coaching model in the Title III Grant. Students are hired to serve as ACE mentors to various learning community courses throughout departments to help students adjust to the academic, social, and personal environment at BHCC. The ACE Mentor program was introduced as part of the integrated support services of the Title III AANAPISI grant and offers academic, personal, and social support to students enrolled in ELL level 1, 2, and 3 courses. Each semester, the program hires eight to ten ACE mentors to deliver services in ELL courses.

Introduction of the ACE Mentor+ Model (Pronounced ACE Mentor Plus)

After a significant growth in ELL course offerings in spring 2019 and to support the sustainability of the integrated support services, a more sustainable mentoring and coaching model was necessary. As seen in Appendix A and B, the senior special programs coordinator - who oversees the ACE Mentors program - and the AANAPISI success coaches collaboratively designed a mentoring and coaching model for ELL courses that maximizes delivery of services. This exercise helped highlight the areas for strong collaboration and establish the groundwork to develop the ACE mentor+ model. From this convening, we also learned that all ELL levels have unique needs and require different levels of support as outlined in the previous section. This information helped us create a model where ACE mentors+ perform selected success coaches’ duties and visits in all level 1 courses. In turn, success coaches are relieved from attending all success coaching visits in level 1 and can focus on supporting students in level 2 and 3, where their expertise is a better match. The ACE mentor+ model was created, revised, and approved by the Learning Communities director, grant coordinators, and LifeMap director.

ACE Mentor+ Model Defined

With the introduction of the ACE mentor+ model, ACE mentors assumed selected AAPI success coaches duties, including in-class visits, and elements of peer advising in all ELL level 1 courses with the support of the AAPI academic coordinator. These duties were in addition to the regular ACE mentor responsibilities of building community and supporting students’ academic endeavors.

The ACE mentor+ model mirrors the success coach model of 5 visits and reflects the adaptations required for a student mentoring and peer advising model:

• During the first visit, ACE mentors+ introduce their role, begin building relationships, and establish their leadership role by facilitating an icebreaker with the students. 

• During the second visit, ACE mentors+ provide first semester peer advising where they discuss how to stay on track and provide students with a comprehensive guide to resources on campus. They capitalize on this time and begin scheduling outside of the classroom one-on-one meetings with students to provide further personalized support. 

• During the third visit, the AAPI success coach assigned to the class supports the ACE mentors+ in presenting an introduction to educational planning and understanding program of study. This visit dives into specifics about what steps should be pursued after ELL courses. The AAPI success coach attends this session to answer any more complex questions that might have come up. 

• During the fourth visit, the ACE mentor+ and AAPI success coach co-present on educational planning and class registration for the upcoming semester. 

• The final visit focuses on answering any lingering questions from students and provides final reminders for the next semester.

Table D

ACE Mentor+ Model

Training

ACE mentors+ are recruited from ELL classes and invited to apply to the general ACE Mentor program. During interviews, applicants are able to express what class(es) they prefer to mentor. Naturally, ELL recruited students have a preference to serve in ELL courses, as they relate directly to the students and offer their own experiences as an example for others. All hired ACE mentors are required to attend a pre-semester training as well as bi-weekly training during the semester. This element of the program stays at the core of the ACE mentor+ model. However, we recognized that ACE mentors+ would require additional training specific to perform the selected ELL success coach duties. We believe that a vital element in the successful execution of the ACE mentor+ model is the comprehensive training provided by the senior special programs coordinator and AAPI success coach. The senior special programs coordinator focuses on providing the general, personal and professional development training and the AAPI success coach focuses on delivering the ACE mentor+ specific training. When merging both training models, ACE mentors+ are engaged in weekly trainings.

The current ACE mentor+ model is designed to train the students one week before they are scheduled to visit the class. This allows time for ACE mentors+ to practice and check in with the AAPI success coach regarding any concerns or clarifications about the upcoming visit. 

Table E

Sample ACE Mentor+ Training Outline