7. NC State College Unique Characteristics NC State College Unique Characteristics Small city with some “urban issues”; outlying area is rural; co-located campus Low level of educational attainment in region Qualified for AtD consideration due to high % of student population being PELL eligible Self-financing our AtD work

8. Current Achieving the Dream work has two areas of focus: Developmental courses Gateway (or “gatekeeper”) courses

9. Why Developmental Education? REACH: A large number (66%) of NC State students need at least one of these courses TIMING: Most take these courses early

10. Developmental Education Impact on Student Persistence  SUCCESS = PERSISTENCE: 92% of NC State students who succeed in developmental courses go on to take more classes

11. Developmental Education Impact on Student Persistence  FAILURE = DEPARTURE: 47% of NC State students who do not succeed in developmental courses immediately leave the college.

12. Why Gateway Courses? Courses must be passed in order to move on in a major – “weeder” courses Typically taken early in academic career Persistence statistics virtually identical to developmental courses

13. How Will We Improve Student Success In These Courses? 1.Improve curriculum and instruction 2.Strengthen the college advising system In NC State’s AtD Work Plan, virtually all action steps align with one of these two areas!

14. We’ve Worked In Stages Developmental course interventions implemented in 06-07 Gateway course interventions implemented in 07-08 Early results look positive in many areas but too early to draw conclusions!

15. AtD Long-Term Impact (How Will We Know This Is Working?) Tracking by AtD cohort Performance indicators:  Developmental course completion  Gateway course completion  Credit completion  Persistence  Credential completion

16. AtD Long-Term Impact (How Will We Know This Is Working?) We’ve set measures for every performance indicator Long-Term Expectations:  Success rates for indicators will steadily increase  Reduction and eventual elimination of performance gaps for subgroups

17. Future AtD strategy possibilities: Maximizing financial aid as a retention tool Collaborating with Adult Basic Literacy Education partners to provide developmental education more efficiently Collaborating with secondary education partners to align college readiness expectations Offering a part-time continuing enrollment contract

18. Lessons Learned To avoid “Project Overload” we integrate our initiatives (AQIP, AtD, Perkins, strategic planning) Engage faculty early… and let them lead Student voices MUST be heard – and have the power to move us from “what?” to “why?”

19. Lessons Learned, continued Manageable number of interventions (3-5) Be clear on the results we expect -- and how, when and by whom they will be measured Learn from our mistakes, but celebrate progress!

20. QUESTIONS?