S TUDENT COHORT TRACKING CLINIC Presenter: Rick Voorhees

Goals for Today’s Work Together You’ll be able to – Define cohort tracking – Describe the components of cohort tracking – Make connections between cohort tracking and student success work – Learn how disaggregating cohort data can help colleges identify groups of students who are succeeding or not succeeding along pathways to earning degrees, certificates, or transfer

F OUR C OMPONENTS OF A C ULTURE OF I NQUIRY Component One “What’s Wrong” Use disaggregated longitudinal cohort data to determine: 1)Which student groups are less successful than others (i.e. identify gaps in student success 2)Which high enrollment courses have the lowest success rates Component Two “Why” Collect, analyze, and use data from other sources (focus groups, surveys, literature reviews) to identify the underlying factors (barriers or challenges) impeding student success. Component Three “Intervention” Use data from Component Two to design new interventions, or revise current ones, to effectively address the underlying factors impeding student success. Review and consider changes to existing practices and policies that impact those factors Component Four “Evaluation and Modification” Collect, analyze, and use evaluation data to answer 1)To what extent did the intervention (including policy changes) effectively address underlying factors? 2)What extend did the interventions increase student success Source: K.P. Gonzalez. Using Data to Increase Student Success: A Focus on Diagnosis. Retrieved March 12, 2013 at

T HE C ONTEXT Source: Bailey, T., Jeong, D.W., & Cho, S.W (2009, November) Referral, enrollment, and completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colleges. Community College Research Center: New York, New York

For Every 100 Students Entering the Nation’s Community Colleges

U PWARDS OF 80 P ERCENT W ILL B E R EFERRED TO D EVELOPMENTAL E DUCATION

O F T HESE 80 S TUDENTS, 50% W ILL C OMPLETE D EVELOPMENTAL E DUCATION

O F T HESE 40 S TUDENTS, 50% W ILL C OMPLETE G ATEKEEPER C LASSES

L ESS T HAN 10 W ILL G RADUATE OR T RANSFER

A RE W E H APPY W ITH T HAT ?

What Happens to Those Who Don’t Succeed? ? ?

W HAT IS A C OHORT ? A cohort is a group of students who enter a college or a program at the same time. One common cohort consists of first-time college students. As a first step, describing this cohort’s entering characteristics should be illuminating to decision-making. – What % are full-time? Part-time? – What % are referred to developmental education – What are their demographics: age, gender, income, race/ethnicity

What’s An Analogy?

O R M AYBE T HIS ? Creative Commons Source: Cecil'10.jpg/1024px-1970_AMC_Rebel_The_Machine_egl-Cecil'10.jpg

W HAT I S A C OHORT N OT ? Pass rates in courses over time Changes in persistence rates from year to year Calculating the number of students who enter compared to the number who graduate (not necessarily the same group of entering students) These approaches are often described as Cross Panel Comparisons. But they’re not the same students!

T RACKING C OHORTS Tracking entering cohorts beyond the first term allows the college to – Examine student progress: credits attempted v. credits completed, grades, success in gatekeeper courses – Identify when students change their enrollment status, achieve milestones, graduate, and/or transfer

T RACKING C OHORTS O VER T IME Starting fresh cohorts each year allows the college to know if success rates are improving

C OMPONENTS OF C OHORT A NALYSIS

Student Characteristics Name Identifier Date of Birth Race/Ethnicity Address English, reading, and math placement scores ESL status Last school/college attended Highest level of schooling Goal Pell Grant Major field of study Term 1 Progress Data Identifier Updated information: name, address, degree goal, declared major Number of college-level credits attempted and completed Number of cumulative credits earned Term Grade point Cumulative GPA Number of remedial credits attempted and earned Term 2, 3,4,5… Progress Data Identifier Updated information: name, address, degree goal, declared major Number of college-level credits attempted and completed Number of cumulative credits earned Grade point average Cumulative GPA Number of remedial credits attempted and earned Outcome Data Identifier Attainment of educational goal Employment status Relationship of current job to major Salary Hours per week employed Current institution New major (if applicable) GPA at new institution

Marco Level Cohort Micro Level Cohort SSBTN Template Intervention Level

T RACKING THE S UCCESS OF D EVELOPMENTAL S TUDENTS

C OMPLETION R ATES D EVELOPMENTAL M ATH S TUDENTS O VER F OUR Y EARS Source: Voorhees & Lee. (n.d.) Basics of Longitudinal Cohort Analysis. Retrieved April 15, 2012 at /default/files/resources/ATD_Longitudinal-Cohort-Analysis.pdf

D ISAGGREGATING D ATA BY R ACE /E THNICITY

P ROGRESSION BY R ACE /E THNICITY Source: Achieving the Dream Data Notes. January/February 2008

E VALUATING AN I NTERVENTION

P ERCENTAGE OF S TUDENTS P ERSISTING B Y E NROLLMENT IN A S TUDENT S UCCESS C LASS Source: Voorhees & Lee. (n.d.) Basics of Longitudinal Cohort Analysis. Retrieved April 15, 2012 at /default/files/resources/ATD_Longitudinal-Cohort-Analysis.pdf

D ISCUSSION