Transition Referral and Resource Center

Transition Referral and Resource Center The Transition Referral and Resource Center’s mission is to educate ABE/ESL students in navigating the community college environment through referral to appropriate services and providing resources to make informed decisions toward one’s academic goals. The Center refer students to specific programs such as I-BEST (Information Sessions) ABE/GED class information ESL Level 5 class (Transition class) AA/AS degree Short-term certificates Professional Technical Degrees Puget Sound Welcome Back Center The Center connects students to departments on campus that provide funding such as Work First- Women’s Programs Worker Retraining Opportunity Grant B-FET (Food stamps) Financial Aid

Transition Referral and Resource Center The Center directs students to appropriate students services departments such as Counseling Employment Center Admissions Tutoring Center Testing Center Educational Planning and Advising Center Other departments The Center collaborates to provide on-going student workshops such Financial Aid The language of college The U.S. educational system

Transition Referral and Resource Center The TRRC programs have resulted in substantially increased rates of college-level course taking above pre-intervention rates (2007 to present).  In 2008-2009, there was a sharp increase of ESL 4 and 5 students taking college-level courses due to the strong push and student interest of I-BEST (Integrated Basic Education Skills Training) classes. Although I-BEST is one way of getting students into college level classes and attaining their academic goals, advisors found that students’ academic focus is long-term, too. Since 2009 to the present, the advising of students in transitioning to college level courses is focused more on the long-term academic goals of the student.  More importantly, the effort of the institution, as a whole, is focused on rethinking and restructuring precollege education, classes where Level 4 and 5 students transition into. Due to this, innovative practices by faculty and staff in transitioning students from Level 4 and 5 to college level classes(from 2008 to present) include: Transition and Jump Start classes for ESL Level 5 students increase of TRRC visits into the classrooms and evening class visits College Knowledge classes and hybrid classes Therefore, the increase of students taking college-level classes (as noted from 2009 and on) show a more gradual increase as they work towards their long-term academic goal.

Transition Referral and Resource Center Qtr 1 Qtr 2 Qtr 3 Qtr 4 Qtr 5 Qtr 6 Qtr 7 Qtr 8 N #CLVL %CLVL 2004-2005 162 0% 1 1% 5 3% 6 4% 7 8 5% 9 6% 2007-2008* 287 2% 10 19 7% 30 11% 34 12% 35 36 13% 37 2008-2009 305 22 40 55 18% 68 22% 79 26% 85 28% 87 29% 88 2009-2010 252 12 28 41 16% 42 17% 47 19% na 2010-2011** 65 4 9% http://flightline.highline.edu/transitioncenter/ Table 1. Cumulative quarterly ESL-to-credit cohort transition rates to college-level credit (CLVL) across 8 quarters of enrollment compared to a historical 2004-2005 cohort of ESL 4 and 5 students. Students may have taken college-level courses during more than one quarter. Quarters may not reflect continuous enrollment. *First year of Transition Resource and Referral Center/ **Preliminary Data through Fall 2010

Transition Referral and Resource Center Figure 1: Comparison of rates of transition to college-level among ESL level 4 and 5 students. Rates of the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 are compared with a baseline 2004-2005 cohort prior to any intervention. Progress of the 2009-2010 cohort will be provided in the July data upload .

Total Target Population (4/5) Transition % of Target Population Transition Referral and Resource Center Total Target Population (4/5) Transition % of Target Population 2004-2005 162 6% 2007-2008 287 13% 2008-2009 305 29% 2009-2010 (6 qtrs) 252 (19%) 2010-2011 (2 qtrs) 65 (9%) Table 2: ESL-to-credit cumulative cohort transition rates within 8 quarters as of Fall 2009. Students are only counted once.

Transition Referral and Resource Center

Total Target Population (4/5) % earning 15+ college level credits Transition Referral and Resource Center Total Target Population (4/5) % earning 15+ college level credits 2004-2005 162 1% 2007-2008 287 4% 2008-2009 305 6% 2009-2010 (6 qtrs) 252 (5%) 2010-2011 (2 qtrs) 65 (3%) Table 3. Rates of earning 15 credits or more at college level in 8 quarters of enrollment. Quarters may not reflect continuous enrollment.

Transition Referral and Resource Center Moving Forward Internship Opportunities Increased collaboration with Learning communities Student Speak Opportunities More targeted IBEST enrollment And more…