February 22, 2007 Diego James Navarro, Director, Digital Bridge Academy, Cabrillo College Web: Phone: The DBA Curriculum-Based Persistence Model: Preparing and Bridging At-Risk and Underprepared Students to Community College National Evaluation and Technical Assistance Center

2 "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire!” -- William Butler Yeats

3 Digital Bridge Academy Mission  Give under-prepared students, many who do not see themselves as college-bound, a new and unique opportunity to:  reclaim a positive experience of learning in an academic environment  succeed in higher-education  work effectively in knowledge-based careers

4 Typical Academy Student  91%  91% Latino and other minorities  Ages: 17 – 55 years old  70% ESL backgrounds  63% from parents in migrant occupations (same)  65% 1 st in family to attend college  Basic Skills Level: 9 th Grade to college-level  Do not typically see themselves going to college Lack success in school; under prepared for college- level study Not exposed to the sciences in High School  Do not understand their capabilities – self- efficacy  Unsure of career possibilities and major

5 DBA Curriculum-Based Persistence Model TIME

6 DBA Model Under-Prepared Students Under-Served Students Students from Poverty Students with Multiple Risk Factors Digital Bridge Academy Transfer to 4 Year University Prepare for Knowledge-Based Career Tracks For example: IT Engineering Business/Management Allied Health majors Lab technician careers Criminal Justice Teaching Normal Community College Courses

7 Other Courses Towards their Major at their Community College (10.5 – 14.5 units) DBA Bridge to Community College Education DBA Bridge Semester (16.5 Units college-level) Optional DBA Seminars (1.5 Units) Under-Prepared Students Under-Served Students Students from Poverty Students with Multiple Risk Factors First Semester Second Semester Third Semester Fourth Semester Fifth Semester

8 Success / Completion Rates – Years 1 & 2 100% 94% 33%63%62%71% Passed Course100% Retention Complete at least 12 units Complete 10 units or more Complete 8 units or more 93% 100% 92% 76% 89% 92% 81% 88% 92% 65% 71% 27 93% % 13 85% % 26 92% % (64% out of school; 45% No HS Dipl.)

9 Success / Completion Rates – Year 3 Passed Course Complete 8 units or more Complete 10 units or more Complete at least 12 units Retention 100% 71% 100% 86% 67% 76% 81% 100% 83% 92% 71% 79% 88% 100%

10 DBA Teaches Professional / Knowledge Work Skill Set  Self-Control and Self-Management  Managing Action  Project management  Creating conditions for team self-management  Facilitating and recording team meetings  Participating in knowledge creation Product development process Scientific Method  Identifying and managing innovation  Using tools of total quality management  Participating in sales process – developing and selling one’s ideas  Budgeting process – proposal creation  Facilitating change  IT Skills – MS Office Suite

11 Core Program Strategies  “Light the Fire Within”  Build student’s self-efficacy & create learning community cohort  Initiate in the Foundation Course and reinforce in the Bridge Semester  Academic acceleration not remediation  One semester to full-time, college-level performance  Flexible environment of learning and growth in student’s complex lives  Their progress is not linear; support shift from student’s current milieu  Engineer for dissemination  Easily adaptable to different ethnicities & careers

12 DBA Persistence Model INTAKE FOUNDATIONCOURSE INTEGRATED BRIDGE SEMESTER (1 st Semester) DIGITALMANAGEMENTSERIES (Semester 1+) INTERNSHIPS (Semester2+) (Semester 2+) BEHAVIORSYSTEM TIME

13 Piloted Dissemination of Foundation Course  Trained 15 faculty from 6 community colleges – Summer 2006  Evaluator’s findings:  Other Faculty Can Successfully Teach the Foundation Course  Curriculum designed to serve a variety of students, including age, skill, and gender diversity in the classroom  Curriculum was effective with students of all ethnicities (White, Latino, African-American, Asian) and in urban and suburban areas “ This went from good to great. You could not convince me that this would not work in other parts of the country. ” (Faculty trainee).