Tulsa Community Colleges Achieving the Dream Presented at the 2010 OUCEC Conference October 26, 2010

 Multi-year, national initiative  Increase student success  Cohort population  First-time, full- or part-time degree-seeking freshmen ▪ Low income, minority, first generation  Data-informed processes  Institutional and state policies

 Goal 1. Successfully complete courses  Goal 2. Advance from remedial to credit-bearing  Goal 3. Enroll in and successfully complete gateway courses  Goal 4. Enroll from one semester to the next  Goal 5. Earn degrees and/or certificates

 Student focus groups/faculty & staff successful first-time freshmen  Cohort population: successful first-time freshmen  12 focus groups; 101 total students  Research Question:  What barriers or challenges did you experience in persisting to your second semester?

 College-wide collaboration:  Common course objectives  Common formative assessments ▪ Pre- and post-assessment (Learning & Study Skills Inventory) ▪ Written self-reflection  Lead teachers/mentors  Dedicated, robust website of faculty resources  College-wide training for faculty

Enrolled in SASDid not enroll in SAS *Significant at alpha <.01

Enrolled in SASDid not enroll in SAS *Significant at alpha <.01

 Plan a college-wide faculty training program  Distribute SAS manual  Update SAS website  Replace self-reflection writing exercise w/ time-management calendar  Discuss educational planning unit  Pursue alternative delivery format

1 st Semester Persistence Fall-to-fall persistence “C” or higher course completion Full Cohort75%50%61% All Male Students71%46%57% African American Male Students 56%25%31% Target Population: African American males Institutional cohort data, fall 2009

 Persistence: “What barriers or challenges did you experience in persisting to your second semester?”  All successful first-time freshmen African American male students eligible  7 focus groups; 109 total students  Data analysis released April 2, 2010

(24 barriers) AA Male Experience (17 barriers) Institutional (69 barriers) Managing College Life and Goals

 Mentoring Intervention Design  Addresses specific student-identified barriers  Anticipates specific target outcomes  Builds in assessment to determine if intervention reduces student barriers

 From ATD  A structure to frame the work is essential: 4- component process  ATD “Framing Document” provided 5 specific goals and an analysis of what the primary institutional and state regulating bodies should provide to meet the goals  Powerful national community of change agents  No one answer works

 For the college  To effect systemic change, the process must  be transparent and collaborative  involve as many of the stakeholders as possible  recognize the importance of human aspect of collaborative change  include mutual respect, the humility to listen and learn, open conversation, tolerance for new ideas, an ability to focus on working the problem

 For Institutional Research  Data-informed decisions require a panoply of data types and investigations  Data gathering and analysis must be timely to be useful  The 4-component process transforms the function and priorities of IR  The IR office needs to be fully staffed to meet the demands of data-informed decision-making processes

 For intervention teams  The collaborative process is time consuming and messy.  Structuring an intervention to target specific barriers with outcomes that are empirically verifiable requires a steep and ongoing learning process.  Stakeholders are enormously creative, innovative, and committed to student success.

 Communication  Community outreach  Curriculum Alignment: high schools  P20, the engine for profound change  4-component process to verify, assess, and revise curriculum alignment and academic standards

Tulsa Community Colleges Achieving the Dream Presented at the 2010 OUCEC Conference October 26, 2010