Achieving the Dream Student Success and Completion Board of Trustees Work Session January 11, 2012 Trish

Trish

What is Achieving the Dream? Overview and purpose Who is involved? Timeline of major AtD events How have other colleges benefitted from AtD? Developing a “culture of evidence” Link between AtD, GISS, and Accreditation Current list of data for AtD Examination of data Trish

Achieving the Dream helps more community college students succeed, particularly low-income students and students of color. Trish

What is Achieving the Dream? In 2004, ATD was conceived by the Lumina Foundation as a national initiative. ATD is… closing achievement gaps accelerating student success nationwide Trish

Why is ATD a national student success initiative? Fewer than half of all students who enter community college with the goal of earning a degree or certificate have met their goal six years later. The U.S. has fallen to… “average” in international education rankings 14th for reading skills, 17th for science, and 25th for mathematics. *The rankings are from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2010 report released by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Trish

Achieving the Dream is evidence-based, student centered, and built on the values of equity and excellence. Trish

Achieving the Dream Whatcom Community College is among 160 community colleges throughout 30 states ATD is helping 3.5 million community college students have a better chance of realizing greater economic opportunity achieving their dreams Trish

What does ATD provide? ATD Coach and Data Coach $50,000/year to… 2-3 campus visits each year $50,000/year to… engage faculty and staff expand IR capacity, and implement strategies Trish

What does ATD require? Strong commitment from College leaders Broad engagement of faculty and staff to analyze student data identify achievement gaps Input from students to gain insight Review of national research and promising practices Trish

Achieving the Dream video Trish

Who is involved with AtD at WCC? All faculty and staff who teach and support degree-seeking students ATD Core Team ATD Data Team: Student Success and Achievement Committee Required President, VPs for instruction and student services, institutional researcher, 1-3 faculty Occasionally public information, information technology staff Ron

Timeline of major AtD events Date Event Location June 2011 Kickoff event Seattle Sept. 2011 Opening week kickoff WCC Nov. 2011 Meeting of Washington AtD colleges & Best Practices Workshop Feb. 21, 2012 Professional Development Day February 28- March 2, 2012 AtD Strategy Institute Dallas, TX 4 per year Coaches visits Trish

Planning year timeline (2012) Date Task January Identify achievement gaps and potential obstacles February Prioritize 3-4 problem areas based upon data February-April Review promising practices May Submit a 4-year implementation plan Trish

ATD has driven student success to the top of the community college change agenda. Trish

How have other colleges benefited from AtD? Increased IR capacity and support Redefined assumptions about gatekeeper courses (i.e., which courses are actually the gatekeepers?) Broader institutional perspective in departments Heidi/Bob

How have other colleges benefited from AtD? (continued) Data is used to increase student success, not to evaluate faculty Improvements in accessibility, frequency, and user-friendliness of data More accurate targeting of achievement gaps and the impact of interventions (through disaggregating data) Heidi/Bob

What have other ATD colleges learned? Student success increases with the 3 Rs: Rigor in courses (high expectations and aspirations) Relationships (connections) Relevance (active, engaged learning related to students’ lives) Heidi and Bob

What have other ATD colleges learned? (continued) Students don’t do optional! Consider mandatory . . . Students need to be ready to succeed in college. Consider eliminating late registration. . . Heidi and Bob Consider mandatory . . . See guidebook Consider eliminating late registration, appropriate placement, first year experience . . .

Whatcom… What will our data tell us? What will we discover about our students? Heidi/Bob

Developing a “Culture of Evidence” Ed

Evidence-based planning & decisions Institutional Effectiveness Achieving the Dream GISS Student Achievement Initiative College-wide Data analysis Promising practices Student Success & Completion Evidence-based planning & decisions Accreditation Strategic Plan Ed Core themes Assessment Learning outcomes Programs & services review Strategic direction Budget decisions Annual goals & work plans

A comparison of ATD, SAI, and GISS Achieving the Dream (ATD ) Student Achievement Initiative (SAI) Governance Institute for Student Success (GISS ) Overseen by National Achieving the Dream (non-profit organization) State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) Association of Comm. College Trustees and the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin Consists of 160 colleges in 30 states 34 WA State CTCs 4 states and all their CTCs Focus Increasing success in college for non-traditional students Quantifying success and linking it to funding Providing common success measures for conversations about policy Cohort Transfer and workforce students entering each fall All students for the entire academic year All students entering fall divided into Basic Skills, Transfer and Workforce cohorts Funding College Spark ($250,000 over five years) SBCTC College skim to operating budget Based on points earned over previous year No funding at the present time AM We have 3 initiatives: ATD, SAI, and GISS … all the acronyms can get confusing. We will take a minute to look at the focus and cohorts for each of these initiatives. The focus of ATD is on …….. For example, we might look at students by age groups, sex, SES, ethnicity, and so on. ATD cohort includes transfer and workforce students entering each fall quarter. The focus of the SAI is to …… The cohorts include all …… It is a count of points, does not look at percent success. The focus of GISS is to …. Divided into 3 cohorts: BS, T, and Workforce.

longitudinal, cohort data intermediate steps Similarities: Student Achievement Initiative (SAI), Governance Institute for Student Success (GISS), and Achieving the Dream (AtD) longitudinal, cohort data intermediate steps building towards college level skills (basic skills gains, passing precollege writing or math) retaining the first year (earning 15 and 30 college level credits) completing a college level math course completing degrees and certificates AM

metrics (standardized, but slightly different) Differences: Student Achievement Initiative (SAI), Governance Institute for Student Success (GISS), and Achieving the Dream (AtD) cohorts metrics (standardized, but slightly different) WCC… develop useful and relevant data link to accreditation AM Cohorts may be different. Use standardized, but slightly different metrics. We are also developing data based on what is most useful and relevant to us. Important link to accreditation—support R#3.

Current List of Data Disaggregated course completion rates overall college / pre-college level courses high enrollment / low success courses pre-college math and English courses Math and English progression % of students successfully transitioning from pre- college level placement to college level courses Ed

Current List of Data (continued) Graduation and retention rates Effectiveness of placement testing Timing of first math course taken Success rates in courses with no prerequisites Academic Alert Ed

Disaggregated Course Completion Rates College Level Courses (2010-11) AM This graph depicts our overall CCR for all college level courses in 2010-11. Avg CCR was 79%. Completion includes only A to C and S grades. "n" represents the number of enrollments. We have disaggregated the data by different variables. What observations do you have about our CCR by sex?

Disaggregated Course Completion Rates College Level Courses (2010-11) AM The first 3 sets of columns are identical to the previous slide. You have a hand-out with a couple of the graphs we are showing today with an explanation sheet on top for understanding the dCCR data. We are disaggregating CCR by many variables and looking at many courses and sequences of courses on campus.

English Course Progression: Completion Rates Based on Initial Placement (2006–08)

Math Course Progression: Completion Rates Based on Initial Placement (2006–08)

What are we doing with this information? Examination of data: by faculty and data team Focus groups: ask students about experiences Fishbone groups: ask faculty/staff about root causes of gaps and issues Determine 3-4 most important achievement gaps Develop strategies to implement based on consultation with faculty, staff, and research Identify useful accreditation indicators Ed

Academic Alert at WCC Students are placed on academic alert for one of two reasons: Quarterly GPA falls below 2.0 Completed less than 50% of credits attempted 300 – 600 students are placed on academic alert each quarter. Trish

Number of Students on Academic Alert at WCC per Year Trish Note: Data for 2010-11 is based on projections from 2009-10.

Of all the students who attended WCC between fall 2005 and spring 2009, what percentage were placed on academic alert? 9% 27% 43% 65% Trish

Of all the students who attended WCC between fall 2005 and spring 2009, what percentage were placed on academic alert? 9% 27% 43% 65%

working part-time on campus working part-time off campus Of all the students placed on academic alert more than half (53%) were… working full-time not employed working part-time on campus working part-time off campus Get numbers for other items from Kim

working part-time on campus working part-time off campus Of all the students placed on academic alert more than half (53%) were… working full-time not employed working part-time on campus working part-time off campus Get numbers for other items from Kim

professional-technical / job-related high school diploma or GED 67% of students placed on academic alert reported their purpose for attending WCC as… personal enrichment professional-technical / job-related high school diploma or GED transfer to a 4-year college Trish

67% of students placed on academic alert reported their purpose for attending WCC as… personal enrichment professional-technical / job-related high school diploma or GED transfer to a 4-year college

Continuous improvement 1. Generate and analyze data 2. Identify which student groups are not doing as well as others 3. Determine why the group(s) are not doing as well (e.g., with focus groups) 4. Determine the interventions that will be implemented 5. Implement strategies Trish

ATD has infused evidence- based decision-making into strategic planning, program review, and budgeting. Trish

Questions? Trish

English Course Progression: Completion Rates Based on Initial Placement (2006 - 2008)

Direct indicators (learning outcomes) Accreditation Recommendations Services Review Recommendation #1 Type of data College Program Course Direct indicators (learning outcomes) Core learning abilities Program outcomes Course outcomes Indirect indicators (surveys) CCSSE Employer surveys Course evaluation Institutional data (numbers and rates) Achieving the Dream Graduation & retention rates Course completion rates Recommendation #2 Am This is a good summary diagram of how the 3 R’s relate to one another and the assessment work. As you can see, R#1 overlaps with Rs #2 and 3. Recommendation #3