Strategies to Increase College and Career Success for Community College Students Illinois Board of Higher Education August 10, 2010 Chicago, IL Davis Jenkins Community College Research Center

CCs Key to Meeting National Goals Increasing individual and societal returns to postsecondary education and credentials Calls from Obama Administration, state policy makers, major foundations to dramatically increase college attainment As 4-years become more selective, burden for increasing attainment falls on community colleges From , cc awards increased 25% To meet goals for increased completion (with fewer $s per student) ccs must improve productivity

CC Student Achievement Gaps Source: BPS (96/01).

CC Student Achievement Gaps Source: BPS (96/01).

Semi-Skilled Jobs Skilled Technicians Managers/ Technical Professionals Entry-Level Technicians Unskilled Laborer Jobs Entry-Level Skilled Jobs Disconnected Pathways to College and Career Success Workplace Literacy Training H.S./Adult Voc Skills Training Career-long Learning / Professional Development College Remedial / Developmental A.A. A.S. B.A. B.S. Advanced Certificate Graduate / Professional Education A.A.S Key = Weak connection between education levels = Strong connection between education levels = strong job connection to jobs Community College Programs High School Academic Programs ABE, GED, ESL

Questions for Local Stakeholders 1)What occupations in our region offer family- supporting jobs? 2)What is the demand for these jobs and how do workers get into and advance in them? 3)How effective are our education and workforce systems in preparing individuals to enter and advance in these fields? 4)What changes are needed to strengthen pathways to careers for individuals and the supply of qualified workers for employers?

IMPROVED EDUCATION/WORKFORCE OUTCOMES Work with employers to identify requirements for family-supporting jobs Convene faculty and staff across “silos” to diagnose leaks, design systemic solutions Local leadership for improved outcomes Implement solutions, evaluate effectiveness and improve further Assess effectiveness of existing programs; identify “leakage points”, achievement gaps Feedback loop – continuous monitoring Local Improvement Process

Demand-Supply Gap Analysis Source: EMSI, based on IPEDS data from 2007 and state regional employment projections.

Community College Student Milestones Took and passed college-level courses (for students starting in adult basic skills or remedial) Earned 12 college credits and still enrolled Completed college-level math and English Persisted term to term and year to year Earned 30 credits and still enrolled Earned occupational certificate Earned associate degree Transferred to a baccalaureate program

Community College Student Milestones

“Momentum Indicators” Took a college-success course Passed 80% or more of attempted hours in year 1 Passed college math within 2 years Passed college English within 2 years Earned 12 college credits in year 1 (for part-time students); earned 24 credits in yr. 1 (for full-timers) Enrolled full-time Enrolled continuously Entered coherent program of study

“Momentum Indicators”

Promising Practices College readiness protocols (El Paso CC) Bridge programs to connect adult basic skills students to college (WA I-BEST) Required college success courses (VA ccs) Risk factor early alert systems (Purdue Signals, Queensborough CC CUNY) Accelerated dev ed (Baltimore County, Denver) Accelerated programs (CUNY – Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) Aligned learning outcomes (Hillsborough CC, FL) University centers (Macomb CC, MI) and applied baccalaureates (WA ctcs)

Questions for State Policy Makers 1)What is the demand for family-supporting jobs by occupation, level of education and region? 2)How many credentials are awarded annually in demand fields by institution, credential type? Are these sufficient to meet the demand? 3)How many students are enrolled in programs that lead to demand jobs by institution, what are their demographics, where do they come from, and what is their likelihood of completion? 4)How can access to and completion of programs leading to career-path jobs be improved?

IMPROVED EDUCTION/WORKFORCE OUTCOMES Analyze gap between job demand and credential production by region Engage practitioners to diagnose “leaks”, implement and evaluate systemic solutions State-level leadership for improved outcomes Set system performance measures and create policy incentives for innovation Track progression within/across education institutions and into the labor market Feedback loop – continuous monitoring State Process for Promoting Continuous Improvement

WA Student Achievement Initiative Performance funding for WA 2-year colleges based on student achievement of key points across mission areas: –Remediation (basic skills gains, passing precollege writing or math) –First-year retention (earning 15 then 30 college level credits) –College-level math (passing math courses required for either technical or academic associate degrees) –Program completion (degrees, certificates, apprenticeships) Initial funding ($1.8M in fall 2009) based on each college’s change in total points from baseline year Colleges receive quarterly performance data to help decide where to invest resources to accelerate student achievement

New OH Performance Funding Policy Performance funding for 2-year colleges based on student achievement of “success points” Colleges will receive increasing share of base- budget funding based on share of total success points (5% in 2011, increasing to 20% by 2015) Universities receive funding based on course completion, not just enrollment

Suggested Steps for IBHE Strengthen longitudinal tracking of students within/ across education sectors and into labor market Report achievement of intermediate and “completion” milestones as well as “momentum indicators,” disaggregated by level of readiness, age, enrollment status, race/ethnicity and gender Report rates of progression and success by college Engage colleges in identifying areas for improvement and developing and evaluating strategies using local data

(More) Suggested Steps Provide guidance and TA to colleges on using data to improve programs and services Partner with ISBE and DCEO agencies to strengthen knowledge worker career pathway/ “supply chain” tracking and improvement Partner with outside researchers to answer questions critical to the state’s policy agenda Communicate research findings strategically to practitioner and policy audiences

For more information: Please visit us on the web at where you can download presentations, reports, CCRC Briefs, and sign up for news announcements. CCRC funders include: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, The Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation (NSF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education Community College Research Center Institute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University 525 West 120th Street, Box 174, New York, NY Telephone: