Using Benchmarking Data to Improvement Student Retention: What One College Did With The National Community College Benchmarking Project Data Terri M. Manning, Ed.D. Brad Bostian Central Piedmont Community College Charlotte, NC

Withdrawals Have Been a Problem For years the College has believed that when it came to withdrawals, we weren’t that different from the national average”… but – there was no national average. When other colleges were contacted, withdrawals were not measured consistently which made it impossible to compare. When we were invited to join the pilot group for the Benchmarking study, I was a strong supporter for comparing withdrawal rates.

Different Definitions Withdrawal rates based on registration would look at the total number withdraws based on the total number of grades given (A,B,C,D,F,I,W). If one student takes four courses and withdraws from one course she was retained in 75% of her courses. Withdrawal rates based on headcount would look at the number of students who withdraw from all their courses and completely exit the college. If a college has 25,000 students and 2,500 withdraw from all their courses and exit the college, they have an 90% retention rate. Many colleges are studying this 2 nd group to determine what their “trigger” courses are… what courses were these students taking that term when they dropped all their courses and left the college… especially those who never come back.

CPCC Students Who Withdraw from All Their Classes and Exited the College * Based on Unduplicated Headcount (14.6%)(14.4%)(14.6%)(14.2%)

CPCC Registrations and Withdrawals Based on Grades for Courses * Based on Total Registrations (seats) (21.9%) (22%) (22.1%) (22.4%)

Issues with Student Withdrawals Community College’s Withdrawal Policies Usually more liberal than the university and can impact transfer success Usually more liberal than the university and can impact transfer success Facilitates an A,B,C, I, W culture (we had this grading scale until Fall 1990 – no Ds or Fs) Facilitates an A,B,C, I, W culture (we had this grading scale until Fall 1990 – no Ds or Fs) Students don’t commit early – a “wait and see” philosophy Students don’t commit early – a “wait and see” philosophy Impacts retention rates, graduation rates and impacted by “cheap” tuition Impacts retention rates, graduation rates and impacted by “cheap” tuition Impacted by systemic change (quarters to semesters, etc.) Impacted by systemic change (quarters to semesters, etc.) Is impacted by the culture (faculty, advisor and student attitudes and behaviors) Is impacted by the culture (faculty, advisor and student attitudes and behaviors)

CPCC Transfer Students at UNCC in 2000 (N=3,446) Gradesat CPCCat UNCC A3,708 (26.4%)13,936 (22.8%) B2,573 (18.3%)16,000 (26.2%) C1,435 (10.2%)11,920 (19.5%) percent A-C 54.9% 68.5% _______________________________________________ D 340 (2.4%) 4,797 (7.9%) F 686 (4.9%) 6,722 (11.0%) Withdraw4,357 (31%) 6,117 (10%)

Do Withdrawals Really Impact Transfer Students? “..if 20% or more of all grades received (by community college students) were withdrawals and repeats, the probability of transfer decreases by 38.7%.” Sources: Moving Into Town and Moving On: The Community College in the Lives of Traditional-age Students, U.S. Department of Education, 2005, p. 85.

Withdrawal Pattern from One Term Of the 39,946 Class Registrations (26.2%)

Withdrawal Rates at the College by Percent of College Level Courses 35.4% 26.1% 27.5% 27.2% 23.4% 22.8% 21.9% 22%

A look at One Student Jane Doe (not her real name) entered CPCC in the Fall She had the following Accu-placer College Placement Test Scores: TestScorePlaced Sentence Skills (Eng) 92ENG 111 Sentence Skills (Eng) 92ENG 111 Reading (comprehension and vocabulary) 90None (cut 79) Reading (comprehension and vocabulary) 90None (cut 79) MathArithmetic59 MathArithmetic59 Algebra50MAT 060

HISTORY FILE DISPLAY S.S.NUM TERM/YR JANE ANN DOE (this is a real student record) TRM COURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE FAL 00 RED090 IMPROVED COLL READ 4.0 C 12/18/00 T90990 FAL 00 GEL120 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY 4.0 F 12/18/00 T90990 FAL 00 HIS111 WORLD CIVIL I 3.0 C 12/18/00 T90990 FAL 00 MAT070 INTRO ALGEBRA 4.0 W 12/18/00 T90990 FAL 00 PSY150 GENERAL PSYC 3.0 W 12/18/00 T90990 FALL 2000 TERM GPA: 1.27 TRM COURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SPR 01 MAT070 INTRO ALGEBRA 4.0 B 03/13/01 T90990 SPR 01 MAT080 INTERMED ALGEBRA 4.0 DRP 01/03/01 T90990 SPR 01 MAT080 INTERMED ALGEBRA 4.0 DRP 03/07/01 T90990 SPR 01 SPA181 SPANISH LAB W 05/08/01 T90990 SPR 01 ENG111 EXPOSITORY WRITING 3.0 B 05/08/01 T90990 SPR 01 HIS112 WORLD CIVIL II 3.0 C 05/08/01 T90990 SPR 01 SPA111 ELEM SPANISH I 3.0 W 05/08/01 T90990 SPR 01 SOC210 INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY 3.0 C 05/08/01 T90990 SPRING 2001 TERM GPA: 2.54

TRM COURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SUM 01 MAT080 INTERMED ALGEBRA 4.0 B 07/03/01 T90990 SUM 01 ENG113 LIT-BASED RESEARCH 3.0 C 07/31/01 T90990 SUM 2001 TERM GPA: 2.57 TRM COURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE FAL 01 MAT161 COLL. ALG. 3.0 W 12/18/01 T90990 FAL 01 REL211 INTRO TO OLD TEST 3.0 C 12/18/01 T90990 FAL 01 SPA111 ELEM SPANISH I 3.0 B 12/18/01 T90990 FAL 01 SPA181 SPANISH LAB B 12/18/01 T90990 FAL 01 MUS110 MUSIC APPREC 3.0 C 12/18/01 T90990 FAL 01 GEL120 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY 4.0 W 12/18/01 T90990 FAL2001 TERM GPA: 2.40 TRM COURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SPR 02 ENG231 AMERICAN LIT I 3.0 W 05/15/02 T90990 SPR 02 PSY150 GENERAL PSYC 3.0 C 05/15/02 T90990 SPR 02 SPA182 SPANISH LAB I/F 01/31/03 T90990 SPR 02 SPA112 ELEM SPANISH II 3.0 I/F 01/31/03 T90990 SPR 02 COM231 PUBLIC SPEAKING 3.0 D 05/15/02 T90990 SPR 02 MAT161 COLL. ALG. 3.0 W 05/15/02 T90990 SPR2002 TERM GPA: 0.90

TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SUM 02 BIO110 PRINC OF BIOLOGY 4.0 W 07/29/02 A10100 SUM 02 MAT161 COLL. ALG. 3.0 W 07/29/02 A10100 TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE FAL 02 SPA112 ELEM SPANISH II 3.0 W 11/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 SPA182 SPANISH LAB W 11/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 ENG241 BRITISH LIT I 3.0 W 12/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 PSY281 ABNORMAL PSYC3.0 W 12/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 HUM211 HUM I 3.0 W 12/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 MAT140 SURVEY OF MATH 3.0 F 12/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 CIS110 INTRO TO COMPUTERS 3.0 W 12/18/02 A10100 FAL 02 COM231 PUBLIC SPEAKING 3.0 W 12/18/02 A10100 FALL 02 ACADEMIC INTERVENTIONFALL 02 TERM GPA: 0.00 TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SPR 03 MAT140 SURVEY OF MATH 3.0 W 05/19/03 A10100 SPR 03 PED122 YOGA I 1.0 W 05/19/03 A10100 SPR 03 COM231 PUBLIC SPEAKING 3.0 W 05/19/03 A10100 SPR 03 SPA182 SPANISH LAB W 05/19/03 A10100 SPR 03 SPA112 ELEM SPANISH II 3.0 W 05/19/03 A10100 SPR 03 PSY281 ABNORMAL PSYC 3.0 W 05/19/03 A10100 SPRING 2003 ACADEMIC INTERVENTION

TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE FAL 03 BIO110 PRINCIPLES OF BIOL 4.0 W 11/16/03 A10100 FAL 03 COM110 INTRO TO COMMUN3.0 W 11/16/03 A10100 FAL 03 SOC213 SOC OF THE FAMILY 3.0 W 11/16/03 A10100 FAL 03 ENG242 BRITISH LIT II 3.0 B 12/15/03 A10100 FAL 03 CJC112 CRIMINOLOGY 3.0 DRP 07/31/03 A10100 FALL 03 ACADEMIC SUSPENSIONFALL 2003 TERM GPA: 3.00 TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SPR 04 CHM121 FOUND. OF CHEM 3.0 W 02/19/04 A10100 SPR 04 CIS110 INTRO TO COMPUT 3.0 W 04/01/04 A10100 SPR 04 CHM121A CHEM LAB 1.0 W 02/19/04 A10100 SPR 04 MAT140 SURVEY OF MATH 3.0 W 04/12/04 A10100 SPR 04 COM120 INTERPERS COMMUN 3.0 W 04/12/04 A10100 SPRING 2004 ACADEMIC INTERVENTION TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE SUM 04 BIO110 PRINCIPLES OF BIOL 4.0 B 07/20/04 A10100 SUMMER 2004 TERM GPA: 3.00

TRMCOURSE TITLE HRS GRADE DATE PROGCODE FAL 04 PSY241 DEVEL PSYCHOLOGY 3.0 B 12/09/04 A10100 FAL 04 GEL120 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY 4.0 C 12/10/04 A10100 FAL 04 SOC213 SOC OF THE FAMILY 3.0 A 12/13/04 A10100 FAL 04 PSY281 ABNOR PSYCHOLOGY 3.0 B 12/12/04 A10100 FALL 2004 TERM GPA: 2.92 This Student Enrolled in 58 courses in approximately four years. She completed 20 (35.5%) of them with grades of A-D. She flunked or withdrew from 38 (64.5%) courses. She was allowed to change majors from undecided to the college transfer program code of Associate in Arts in the summer of She was placed on academic probation/intervention four times and immediately allowed to reenroll the next term in a full load of classes.

Then Along Came the NCCBP We decided to look at withdrawal rates as a percentage of: The grades in all college-level courses The grades in all college-level courses The grades in remedial courses The grades in remedial courses The grades in certain college level courses (English Comp I & II, Speech and College Algebra) The grades in certain college level courses (English Comp I & II, Speech and College Algebra) We all submitted our data and guess where CPCC was in the mix???

Data from the NCCBP Pilot Year –Grade Distribution for College Level Courses Min.Med. Max.CPCC Min.Med. Max.CPCC A26%33.4%45%26.1% B18%23.3%27%21.1% C6%13.9%17%12.7% D1%4%8%3.5% F2%4.9%15%6.7% W1%16.2%29.9%29.9% Definitions were slightly changed the next year.

Response of the College We were appalled We decided to study the subject and Do a pilot intervention project The English, Reading and Humanities Division volunteered to facilitate the project within their courses with their fulltime instructors Brad Bostian volunteered to lead the initiative - The group began meeting in Fall 2004

The Intervention In the Spring of courses were selected by faculty participating in the study 11 control sections were carefully matched based on time of day, location and course title Faculty volunteers discussed elements of the intervention and agreed upon the following standards

The Intervention Students must sign a release form Students in the selected sections would have “holds” put on their records - not allowing them to withdraw from pilot courses during Spring 05 without instructor permission If a student wanted to withdraw, the faculty attempted to work with them to keep them in the class as long as possible (offering assistance and additional help) Faculty agreed to do the following as part of regular classroom activities:

The Intervention First Day Strategies: Provide a class orientation on the first day of class Provide a class orientation on the first day of class Student Info Sheets Documents, resources to assist with their success (writing center, tutors, librarians, etc.) Documents, resources to assist with their success (writing center, tutors, librarians, etc.) A realistic discussion of the value of the skills to be learned in the course A realistic discussion of the value of the skills to be learned in the course A syllabus with assignments and policies discussed A syllabus with assignments and policies discussed A positive statement of your teaching philosophy and you belief in the student’s ultimate success in the course A positive statement of your teaching philosophy and you belief in the student’s ultimate success in the course

The Intervention Mini-communities Groups of 3-5 students who trade contact information, contact each other when someone is absent. Use these groups for peer-editing and group assignments and activities. Groups of 3-5 students who trade contact information, contact each other when someone is absent. Use these groups for peer-editing and group assignments and activities.Conferences Conference with each student in your office at least twice per term to discuss needs and progress. In between - provided continuous feedback about their progress. Conference with each student in your office at least twice per term to discuss needs and progress. In between - provided continuous feedback about their progress. Contacting missing students Contact those who miss two consecutive class periods (besides the mini-communities) Contact those who miss two consecutive class periods (besides the mini-communities)

The Intervention Welcome back and reintegrate students who have been absent Welcome back and reintegrate students who have been absent Treat tardies and early departures as absences – have an attendance policy Treat tardies and early departures as absences – have an attendance policy Positive teaching Try to involve every student every week Try to involve every student every week Structure assignments to ensure continual student success (quizzes to make them keep up, rewrite until it is excellent, etc.) Structure assignments to ensure continual student success (quizzes to make them keep up, rewrite until it is excellent, etc.) Active Authentic Assignments Assignments where they learn by doing, work that reflects the real world Assignments where they learn by doing, work that reflects the real world

What Happened? By the 16 week of the term (end of term but before grades were turned in): The Control Group The Intervention Group Entire Division Withdrawals for English Classes 7 - W %217.1% % 8 - Blank % % % 9 - Drop %5819.6% % Total

Did it Impact Their Other Classes? The Control Group TheInterventionGroup Withdrawals from all their classes 1 - A 60.40%50.40% 2 - B 40.30%130.90% 3 - C 50.30%70.50% 4 - D 10.10%10.10% 5 - F 30.20%60.40% 7 - W % % 8 - Blank % % 9 - Drop % % Total

Once Grades Were In….. Control Group Intervention Group English, Classes A6625.9%5824.4% B7328.6%7832.8% C3112.2%3213.4% D2.8%52.1% F176.7%3113.0% I31.2%00% W6324.7%3414.3% Unsuccessful Completions F, I, W F, I, W8332.6%6527.3% There were 5.3% fewer W’s, I’s and F’s in the Intervention Group when compared to the Control Group

What About “Walk-Aways?” Students Who Withdrew From All Classes - Spring 2005 ControlIntervention Total Total in cohort # who withdrew % who withdrew10.0%7.3%8.7% There were 2.7% fewer “walk-aways” in the intervention group as compared to the control group.

Lessons Learned The Intervention strategies worked. If we could decrease W’s, I’s and F’s by 5.3% across the College, there would be approximately 2,450 additional successful completions per term. If we could reduce “walk-aways” by 2.7%, there would be 65 more students complete each term. We need to study and address “walk-aways.”

Recommendations PoliciesSupportInstructionPolicies Earlier withdrawal deadlines Earlier withdrawal deadlines Instructor permission required Instructor permission required-or- Set two W-methods, one early date for most W’s, with later withdrawals requiring instructor permission Set two W-methods, one early date for most W’s, with later withdrawals requiring instructor permission

Recommendations (continued) Support Make support more systematic Make support more systematic Advisement for all students, not just those in programs Advisement for all students, not just those in programs Interventions for perpetual W, F’s & Drops Interventions for perpetual W, F’s & Drops Better training and technology for faculty advisors Better training and technology for faculty advisors If necessary hire more staff If necessary hire more staff

Recommendations (continued) Instruction Change faculty/administrative culture Change faculty/administrative culture Understand need for educating all students See the successes that exist Use aggregate AND individual instructor and student data to measure outcomes Train faculty to teach differently Keep our instructors learning

English, Reading & Humanities BestWorst Range W’s By Instructor 11%29% 18% Drops By Instructor 3%12% 9% Success By Instructor 76%45% 31% Success Rates By Campus 69%61% (West) 49% 8% 20% (Cato) (Virtual) Success Rates By Course 77%47% 30% (REL 212)(HUM 160) Ranges of Drops and Withdrawals –

One Instructor’s Learning Curve Successful Completions = A-C Grades

Different Instruction Engage students on the first day Meaningful, interesting, active work Meaningful, interesting, active work Use mostly active learning Let students seek and discover Let students seek and discover Force success Guide them through the steps like a coach Guide them through the steps like a coach Create a classroom community Collaborative learning, conferences, positive communication, involving every student Collaborative learning, conferences, positive communication, involving every student

For A Copy of This Presentation: Click on studies and reports Withdrawal pilot presentation