Pathways to Student Success & Completion Montana August 15, 2011 Terry O’Banion President of 8th grade class. Flathead Valley years ago

Red Flags—National Once first in the world, America now ranks 10th in the percentage of young adults with a college degree. Over the last 30 years, the average industrialized country has increased postsecondary attainment by about 75%—more than double that of the United States. 1. Our failures have contributed to what is looming as a national disaster.

Red Flags National For the first time in our history, the current generation of college-age Americans will be less educated than their parents’ generation. Today, if you are born poor you are likely to die poor.

Red Flags—C Colleges 14% of CC students do not complete a single credit in first term Almost 50% drop out by second yr. 60% need remediation 33% recommended for dvlp. studies never enroll in those courses Only 10% of entering students who want a B. A. ever attain one Worse in some states: California: 83% placed into remedial math; 72% placed into remedial English

MONTANA BY 2030 Population increase 15.8% 18—24 year old decrease 13.8% 0—17 year old decreasing 25—64 year old increase 5.5% 65+ increase 122%

State of Montana OF EVERY 100 9TH GRADE STUDENTS IN MONTANA: 79 graduate from high school 11 enroll in two-year colleges 5 return for sophomore year 3 graduate with an associate's degree in three years Complete College America

15 Western States Montana Ranks: 15th--% of 25 and older enrolled in college 15th--% of 15-17 year old in at least one college course 13th—population in college 11th--% in two-year colleges

COLLEGE!NOW Just under 25% of Montana college students attend two-year colleges compared with nearly 45% in Western states. Policy Initiative: make two-year colleges more affordable/accessible Montana’s funding policy is about getting students to college, with little or no emphasis on getting students through college.

The Access Agenda Open-Door Philosophy Comprehensive Programs Low Tuition Geographical Access 11 Million Students

The Student Access Agenda Student Success Agenda Transformation The Student Access Agenda has become the Student Success Agenda focused on Completion 1. Montana has not signed on to Complete College America

Completion Agenda President Obama: 5 million more CC grads by 2020 Lumina: 60% increase by 2025 Gates: double number of grads CC Org: 50% more by 2020 Florida: double by 2020 Anne Arundel: double by 2020 Never in the history of the community college movement has an idea so galvanized stakeholders—from the White House to the state house. 28 governors signed Complete College America Alliance; 39 accepted Completion Innovation Challenge---$10 million in grants to make completion a state priority.

The Gates Foundation “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has identified the community college as a key player in education and is supporting its role in the national agenda to double the number of low-income young adults who earn a postsecondary credential…. investing $475 million over four years in its Postsecondary Success strategy.” Never in the history of the community college movement have such large amounts of funding from philanthropic groups been funneled into the community college. Never in our history have we been asked to play such a central role in American society.

Completion Agenda Create Model Pathways to Success & Completion Degrees/credentials with marketplace value Milestones and Momentum Practices based on evidence Low-income, under-prepared, first generation students 1. The Completion Agenda in a nutshell

Connection Entry Progress Completion From interest to application Entry From enrollment to completion of gatekeeper courses Progress From entry to course of study to 75% of requirements completed Completion From complete course of study to credential with labor market value

Pathway Components Connecting to high school & adult students Connecting to the college Preparing to begin classes Providing classroom instruction Monitoring first-term progress Preparing for subsequent terms Preparing for completion & next steps In addition to setting the context for the challenge ahead I will focus on two key goals in this presentation a) Make visible what is meant by a student success pathway b) Share some emerging guidelines

High School Connections Formal agreements Aligned courses Dual enrollment College assessment in 11th grade Remediation Early College High School & Advanced Placement Visits to community college campus Priority admissions 37% of high school graduates “intending” to enroll in college “melt” away over the summer. Students think a high school diploma certifies they are ready for college-----not if 60% still require some developmental studies. Of 900 Early College High School graduates in Texas last year, 95% had earned some college credit—one/third earned an Associate’s Degree. At 2 of these TX schools studied in depth 86% enrolled immediately in college compared to 57% of HS grads statewide. 66% Hispanic, 63% economically disadvantaged, and 74% first-generation.

Preparing To Begin Classes Print & electronic materials Mandatory Orientation Mandatory Assessment Mandatory Advising Mandatory Placement Individual Learning Plan Financial Aid Counseling Elimination of Late Registration Personal connections The intake process is confusing for students First generation don’t understand our language: GPA, advising, orientation----give your students a test. Examine your admissions form. Print & electronic materials are often—as one college described it—”inappropriately sophisticated.” In many states none of these services are mandatory—many colleges still allow a week of Late Registration.

Developmental Education Multiple assessments Supplemental Instruction Accelerated Learning Contextual Instruction Tutoring Learning Communities Bermuda Triangle in education—costs students and states $2.3 billion a year. Contextual Instruction: I-BEST initiative in Washington State—collaborative instruction with a basic skills instructor and a technical/vocational instructor; students 9 times more likely to graduate. National Center for Academic Transformation—Carol Twigg—10 year’s experience in large-scale course redesign: increased the percentage of students successfully completing a developmental math course by 51% on average while reducing the cost of instruction by 30% on average. Math Emporium in Virginia. 

First Term Progress Early warning systems Intervention strategies Student Success Courses First-Year College Experience Learning-Centered Teaching Strategies: project-based learning, learning communities, service learning, collaborative learning, contextual learning, classroom assessment techniques Early warning systems: Baltimore City CC—Performance Alert and Intervention System: Through grade reporting system faculty flag students who are not attending, not turning in assignments, not performing well, etc. Student success advisors intervene: retention rates for students who respond is 79% compared to 62% who do not respond—For African American males: 74% for responders and 55% for non-responders. Learning Communities: Guilford and Kingsborough 3. Maybe every instructor should begin every course, every term with a 30 minute or hour-long review of “How to be successful in this course.”

Preparing for Completion Audit credits accumulated Capstone courses and projects Transfer articulation agreements Transfer readiness course Job application Celebrating completion Planning for lifelong learning 1. San Jose-Evergreen CA—audit of last 5 years discovered over 1,000 students who qualified for a one-year certificate or an AA degree—college contacting them; why not just award. I understand that some student information systems have this audit function already built into the system.

Guidelines for Completion Establish a core leadership team representing all stakeholders in a minimum five-year effort to create and sustain pathways to completion for all students. Silos must come down: student services/academic affairs, administrators/faculty, career education/liberal arts education Faculty unions and faculty senates must be on board---Classified staff and part-time faculty must be engaged and involved Trustees must understand and support---Support from local industry and business stakeholders helps a great deal President must be a central leader: President at Gateway Community and Technical College in Kentucky is in the process of meeting in small groups with all college employees to orient them to the challenge and to enlist their support

Guidelines for Completion 2. Establish successful student pathways as the overarching transformational goal of the entire college; and align every policy, program, practice, and the way personnel are used to address this goal. Not just another innovation du jour or federally-funded project-----a college-wide framework to pull together all the projects, programs, practices, policies, and personnel Piecemeal reform with boutique programs and practices is impotent to bring about significant and lasting change; it is trimming the branches of a dying tree. If you have been a faculty member championing Learning Communities you need to become a faculty member who champions an integrated student success pathway that includes Learning Communities. If you have been a counselor who champions Intrusive or Robust Advising you need to become a counselor who champions an integrated student success pathway that includes Intrusive or Robust Advising.

Guidelines for Completion 3. Create programs of study with “instructional program coherence” that provide students with opportunities for structured deeper learning. Students need to be in a course of study---not just a series of disconnected courses. Too many choices for our students. Need programs for all students including the undecided. Undecided: a) learning community including a student success course, dvlp. or college-level English, psychology or b) 5 or 6 core courses in general education

Guidelines for Completion 4. Develop the capacity to collect, organize, and interpret data and make evidence-based decisions to effect meaningful change and increase student completion. Our Achille’s Heel—First major study on Achieving the Dream Colleges—5-years of first 26 colleges—about one-fifth of the colleges still struggled to implement many of the recommended practices “hindered primarily by weak institutional research capacity.” Our Institutional Research office has had to focus on “Compliance Reporting”---providing data for the state and federal government, accrediting and funding agencies-----rather than focusing on data for program improvement and for rational decision making.

Guidelines for Completion 5. Apply appropriate technological innovations to create, implement, and monitor the student success pathways to optimize efficiency and effectiveness. Technology is the only way we can create systems for collecting and using information and for monitoring student progress on the pathway. Rio Salado: Using data analytics and predictive modeling faculty receive 3 levels of warnings on their grade roster Technology has had more impact on teaching and learning than any innovation since the printed book---- but keep in mind that technology has great potential for expanding really bad teaching.

Guidelines for Completion 6. Implement guidelines for rapid, expansive “scaling up” of successful programs and practices. When we know something works for many of our students we need to scale it up and require it as soon as possible. Create guidelines for scaling up programs and practices that work on the front end; too often scaling up has been an after thought. In the major new study on the first 26 colleges in ATD, the most popular practices implemented were tutoring, supplemental instruction, academic advising, student success courses, and learning communities but “a majority of these reforms reached less than 10% of the intended target population” because they were not scaled up.

Guidelines for Completion 7. Prepare all employees through a strategic staff development program for their role in creating and sustaining student pathways to completion. 1. CA is an example of how staff development programs operate today: released time--list of workshop topics Astrological Signs and Handwriting Analysis. 2. If the Completion Agenda is to succeed colleges will need to create and sustain focused and intensive staff development programs required for all employees as a condition of employment---including adjunct faculty who teach the majority of the courses. Richland College

Declining Resources In 2009, 2010, and 2011 state budget shortfalls amounted to $430 billion. In 2012, 44 states are projecting budget shortfalls totaling $125 billion. FL: 2006-07—2010-11 increase enrollment by 34% funding decline by 25% per FTE 1. Declining resources is the elephant in the room for the Completion Agenda.

Florida Enrollment & Funding 1. So how do we make the Completion Agenda work?

Guidelines for Completion 8. Realign current resources and identify potential new resources—funding, personnel, facilities, and community support—to double the number of students who successfully complete a credential. Become more entrepreneurial: rent facilities, host flea markets, provide special services Expand workforce training—Humber in 35 countries Education a labor-intensive enterprise

Tidewater Community College Full-time faculty 320—part-time 1,129—administrators 86—support staff 421 (Total: 1,956) 32,808 credit and non-credit students 45,117 Associate Degrees Population: 1,090,400 Service clubs, churches, non-profit agencies, business & industry 1. Alverno—300 trained to give feedback

Guidelines for Completion 9. Create a transparent and user-friendly campus-wide communication system to keep all stakeholders informed and engaged and use to celebrate student success and institutional progress. Energize your current communication system and brand it with the Completion Agenda Use this system to celebrate institutional and student success—celebrate the milestones.

Key Questions Does this policy, program, or practice improve student success and completion? How do we know this policy, program, or practice improves student success and completion?

Why Do This Work? “Our programs are aimed at the kids without the money, without the best background, the first ones in their family to show up at college. The simple truth is, those are the kids who need us, and we’re going to help them. That’s what the change is all about.” Glenn DuBois, Chancellor Virginia CC System

Failure is not an option. The Completion Agenda Failure is not an option.

Terry O’Banion Ancora Imparo “Still I Am Learning.” Michelangelo obanion@league.org