TAIR 2007 Using CCSSE Results for Improvement

CCSSE Overview

Community College Survey of Student Engagement CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement Student Engagement… the amount of time and energy students invest in meaningful educational practices, is the underlying foundation for CCSSE’s work. CCSSE’s survey instrument, the Community College Student Report (CCSR), is designed to capture student engagement as a measure of institutional quality.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement CCSSE: A Tool for Community Colleges The CCSSE survey: is administered directly to community college students during class sessions; asks questions about institutional practices and student behaviors that are highly correlated with student learning and retention; and uses a sampling methodology that is consistent across all participating colleges.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort of participating colleges.  The 2006 CCSSE Cohort includes more than 249,000 community college students from 447 community and technical colleges in 46 states.  The 2007 Cohort will include 526 colleges across 48 states.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Emphasis on Student Engagement 20 Years of Research on Undergraduate Student Learning, Persistence and Success 1 Year of Really Cool Research in the Community College Field

Community College Survey of Student Engagement The CCSSE Validation Research A three pronged project that links responses to the CCSSE survey with three external student-level data-sets  the Florida community colleges  the CCSSE Hispanic Student Success Consortium  24 of the 27 initial colleges participating in the Achieving the Dream initiative

Community College Survey of Student Engagement CCSSE in Texas  53 (76% of) Texas community and technical colleges have participated in CCSSE ( )  45 of those colleges have participated more than once

Community College Students

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Test Your Community College IQ! What percentage of first time U.S. freshmen in colleges and universities enroll in community colleges? 1.24% 2.33% 3.45% 4.61% Answer: 45%

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Test Your Community College IQ! What percentage of community college students are 25 or older? 1.1/4 2.Almost 1/2 3.3/4 Answer: 46%

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Community College Students Contend with Competing Priorities Most Students Are Enrolled Part-Time Most Students Work Source: IPEDS, Fall Source: 2006 CCSSE Cohort data. 22% of students at 4-year colleges attend part-time

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Students who participate in college- sponsored activities

Community College Survey of Student Engagement “I’m a divorced, single mother. I can and need to do this. If I fall down, my kids are going to fall down. If I’m standing, they will be there, right beside me.” Giving Voice to Students Carolina Villamar (left) and classmate Luisa Castano. 26-year-old single mother of a 6-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter

Building a Culture of Evidence

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Understand What Is Happening  19% of part-time students versus 30% of full-time students say they often or very often talk about career plans with an instructor or advisor.  38% of part-time students versus 25% of full-time students say they never have those conversations.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Understand What Is Happening Part-time students are less likely to:  Work with other students on projects during class  Make class presentations  Participate in a community-based project as part of a course

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Share and Act On What You’ve Learned “Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There’s no better rule.” — Charles Dickens (1812–1870) Great Expectations

Using CCSSE Results

Community College Survey of Student Engagement CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective Educational Practice CCSSE reports survey results in two ways: national benchmarks — areas that educational research has shown to be important in quality educational practice — and students’ responses to individual survey items. The five CCSSE benchmarks are:  Active and Collaborative Learning  Student Effort  Academic Challenge  Student-Faculty Interaction  Support for Learners

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act 1.Identify key areas. 2.Identify relevant survey items and student groups in need.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act 3.Start with the benchmarks. 4.Look at individual survey items. 5.Disaggregate the data.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act 6.Involve the college community. 7.Design strategies and set targets. 8.Share the data and plans to address them.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act 9.Track progress by measuring outcomes. 10.Scale up efforts that are working. Modify or discontinue those that are not. 11.Repeat.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Florida measures progress Florida’s community college leaders wanted to know whether a new Student Life Skills (SLS) class was promoting student success. Measuring student progress from 1999 through 2004, data showed that significantly more students – 18% of all students - who took the SLS course achieved their goals. Among college-ready students, almost an additional 20% either graduated or transferred. Among those taking remedial courses, from 20-25% more students achieved their academic goals.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Support for Learners: an in-depth look The items that contribute to this benchmark include:  Whether the college provides the support students need to succeed  How much the college helps students cope with nonacademic responsibilities  Students’ use of academic advising/planning and career counseling services

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Support for Learners What are your most important services? How satisfied are students with them?

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Support for Learners Most Important Services [very or somewhat important] 89% Academic Advising and Planning 83% Computer Lab 78% Career Counseling 77% Financial Aid Advising 74% Skills Lab 71% Transfer Credit Assistance *2006 CCSSE Cohort

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Satisfaction with Most Important Services [very or somewhat satisfied] 71% Academic Advising and Planning 71% Computer Lab 50% Financial Aid Advising 51% Skills Lab 45% Career Counseling 37% Transfer Credit Assistance *2006 CCSSE Cohort

Community College Survey of Student Engagement A Texas College Acts on Fact After its first CCSSE administration, Cedar Valley College (TX) set a goal of making tutoring available to more students. The first objective was to provide tutoring to every CVC student who needed it, a change from the earlier practice of providing tutoring only to students who met particular guidelines. CVC created a tutoring center located in the middle of its campus to provide tutoring in all disciplines, for all students. The president committed funds to the center, and the college hired a director, employed additional tutors, and trained tutors extensively. The new tutoring center established relationships with faculty members, who broadly advertised its services. When CVC completed its second CCSSE administration, the college scored significantly higher than other colleges in the frequency of use of tutoring services. CVC also learned that students ranked tutoring as one of the three services with which they were most satisfied.

2006 CCSSE Special Focus Findings

Community College Survey of Student Engagement 2006 Special Focus: Academic Advising and Planning  CCSSE respondents value academic advising more than on any other student service.  There is a gap between the number of students who value advising and those who use it.  89% of students say academic advising is somewhat or very important; 55% report using that service sometimes or often.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement CCSSE Focus Question: Academic Advising and Planning While attending this college, what has been your best source of academic advising? Academic advisor (not faculty) Academic advisor (faculty) Friends, family or other students Online I have not received any academic advising

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Key Finding: Academic Advising and Planning While attending this college, what has been your best source of academic advising? Academic advisor (faculty) 43% Friends, family or other students 26% I have not received any academic advising 13% Academic advisor (not faculty) 10% Online 7%

Community College Survey of Student Engagement To think about… What are you doing related to advising and planning that is showing positive results? What are areas that you need to strengthen? With which groups of students are you most successful? With which students are you least successful?

Community College Survey of Student Engagement  How do you know?  How will you learn about students’ actual experiences and perceptions?  Who needs to be involved in designing strategies for improvement?  How will you involve them?

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Integrated Counseling and Advising Network Central Piedmont Community College (NC) initiated a student success planning initiative entitled ICAN. After initial advising, students consult with faculty advisors who are experts in their field, familiar with specific courses in their department, and knowledgeable about educational and career opportunities in their areas. Peer advisors, who are usually students, assist other students in navigating the catalog, preparing schedules, locating classrooms, etc. Finally, ICAN has developed a comprehensive online interactive advisement system intended to supplement the student/advisor relationship.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Resources for Involving the College Community Student Services Predictions and Hopes es.pdf

Community College Survey of Student Engagement More Resources for Involving the College Community Engaging Faculty to Strengthen Student Success Faculty Predictions and Hopes Student Focus Groups Toolkit

Community College Survey of Student Engagement North Hennepin Community College (MN) To engage faculty members in reviewing CCSSE results, North Hennepin Community College (MN) gathered faculty members and asked them to predict students’ responses to the survey items Instead of doing this exercise on paper, the college used personal response system “clickers” and got immediate feedback after posing each question. The actual student data then were displayed for discussion. After getting this feedback, the faculty members were randomly divided into groups and assigned one CCSSE benchmark. Each group identified two priorities for change related to their benchmark. These priorities now are part of the college’s assessment plan initiatives.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (VA) J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (VA) participated in CCSSE in 2004 and an action plan for communicating and interpreting the survey results was developed that included a “Guess Our CCSSE Results” web survey. This survey provided a forum for faculty and staff to predict the college’s performance on the CCSSE via a web survey. The college also scheduled Introduction to Student Success Data Forums to provide the college community with opportunities to learn about the results of the CCSSE, the VCCS (Virginia Community College System) core competencies assessment, and other information gathered about student success at the college. The presentations were followed with conversations about how the information could be used to focus both institutional and individual activities on the goal of enhancing the learning environment to improve student success.

Community College Survey of Student Engagement Discussion 1.How was CCSSE introduced at your institution? 2.How have your survey results been communicated internally? 3.How have you used your CCSSE results been used to inform and promote student success?