Identifying Promising Practices Promising Practices for Community College Student Success A FIRST LOOK

What the Data Say 2 90% of entering students strongly agree or agree that they have the motivation to do what it takes to succeed in college. 85% of entering students strongly agree or agree that they are academically prepared to succeed in college. 79% of entering students aim to complete an associate degree; yet nationally nearly half of entering students leave college before their second fall.

Data Do Reflect Reality 3

Our Practice: What Lies Between Student Expectations and Aspirations 4 Student Success and Completion Promoting Learning that Matters

Bridging the Gap – Practices that Work Student Expectations and Aspirations 5 Student Success and Completion “Best” Practices

Identifying & Promoting High-Impact Practices 6 To help colleges identify what should be in the “Black Box of Student Engagement” Large-scale 3-year national research effort funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Using 13 practices currently identifying as Promising Practices Multiple sources of data – quantitative and qualitative

Bridging the Gap – Practices that Work Student Expectations and Aspirations 7 Student Success and Completion Planning for Success Initiating Success Sustaining Success

Promising Practices for Community College Student Success  Planning for Success: Assessment and Placement, Orientation, Academic Goal Setting and Planning, and Registration before Classes Begin  Initiating Success: Accelerated or Fast-Track Developmental Education, First-Year Experience, Student Success Course, and Learning Community  Sustaining Success: Class Attendance, Alert and Intervention, Experiential Learning beyond the Classroom, Tutoring, and Supplemental Instruction 8

Center for Community College Student Engagement 9 Survey of Entering Student Engagement (SENSE), administered during the 4 th and 5 th weeks of the fall term focuses on students’ experiences from the time they decide to attend through the end of the first three weeks of the term Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), administered in the spring term gathers information from students about their overall experiences at the college Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (CCFSSE), administered in conjunction with CCSSE to all faculty teaching credit courses gathers information on instructors’ perceptions of student experiences and about teaching practices and use of professional time Community College Institutional Survey (CCIS), collects information on identifying and promoting high-impact educational practices in community colleges gathers information about whether and how colleges implement a variety of promising practices

Planning for Success: Selected Preliminary Findings

11 Assessment and Placement 82% of entering students who tested into developmental education report their colleges REQUIRED them to enroll in developmental courses during their first term. (2010 SENSE Cohort Data) 38% of students report using materials provided by college to help prepare for the assessment test. (2011 SENSE Promising Practices Data) 44% of colleges report offering some form of assessment test preparation, but just 13% require all students to use. (2011 CCIS Data) Data Disconnect? Can more students test out of developmental education?

12 Orientation Entering students who attended an on-campus orientation prior to the beginning of classes Entering students were not aware of a college orientation Colleges reporting they require ALL first-time students to participate in orientation. Data Disconnect? Does orientation matter? 45% 19% 38%

Preliminary High-Impact Analysis: Orientation Increases Student Engagement! OrientationNo Orientation Source: 2011 CCSSE data

Initiating Success: Selected Preliminary Findings

Accelerated/Fast-Track Developmental Ed 15 42% of colleges report offering accelerated or fast-track developmental education programs and 13% say they require for all first-time developmental students. 26% of developmental students report enrolling in accelerated or fast-track developmental courses. Data Disconnect? Could more students not only test up or out of developmental education, but also move through developmental education more quickly?

Student Success Courses 16 83% of colleges report offering student success courses and 15% make them mandatory for all first time students. 27% of entering students report enrolling in a student success course. Learning Communities 56% of colleges report offering learning communities, but just 1% them mandatory for all first time students. 13% of students report enrolling in an organized learning community. Preliminary analyses: students enrolled in student success courses and learning communities have higher engagement scores!

Sustaining Success: Selected Preliminary Findings

Tutoring and Supplemental Instruction 18 85% of entering students report never using tutoring services by the end of the first 3 weeks. And, among same group 69% say they never participate in Supplemental Instruction during same time period. 87% of colleges report offering supplemental Instruction, but just 14% make it mandatory for developmental education students. Data Disconnect? Are students getting the academic support they need to succeed?

It’s Not Just About Having the Most Innovations The effectiveness of educational practice depends on…  Quality of implementation  Specific design of the practice 19

Design Principles for Effective Practice  A strong start  Clear, coherent pathways  Integrated support  High expectations and high support  Contextualization  Intensive student engagement  Design for scale  Professional development 20 The Three R’s Redesign Student Experiences Reinvent Institutional Roles Reset System to Meet Students’ Needs, Communities and the Nation

From Promising to High-Impact Practices Student Expectations and Aspirations 21 Student Success and Completion CCSSE & SENSE Benchmarks Analysis Focus Groups CCSSE & SENSE Item Analysis Self- reported student outcomes Matched student- record outcome data

ICCCI Kickoff Meeting May 23, 2012 Angela Oriano Associate Director Center for Community College Student Engagement