TOPS AND CB CODING: PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE DEVELOPED AND PRESENTED BY: ASCCC CCCCO - INSTRUCTIONAL SERVICES CCCCO - MIS The Exciting World of Curriculum Coding 8/16/2015 1

California Community Colleges Student Success Rates in Basic Skills and ESL Fiscal Year to Fiscal Year Academic Year ESL Success Rate English Success Rate Math Success Rate Total Basic Skills Success Rate %59.5%53.7%61.2% %60.7%56.2%62.7% %60.5%55.1%62.2% %59.4%53.7%61.3% %58.8%52.5%60.6% %59.3%52.2%60.5%

ARCC Reporting Statewide Data

Data on Our Student’s Preparation 4

Purpose of Course Coding 8/16/ General Overview - Purpose of Coding Curriculum represents the vehicle of our work and the means by which all student work is accounted for at the State Chancellor’s Office. The course coding and data are not locked away. They are public information, mandated and used as the vital statistics to report on our work, the students’ outcomes, and the effectiveness of our institutions.

Uses of Course Coding 8/16/ The following represent a few reports created purely on the MIS * coding without ever referencing the Course Outline of Record: Allocation or Funding to the colleges Census data FTES counts for apportionment FTEF counts for staffing reports Equity reporting (?) Reporting to the federal database IPEDS Report to the California database CPEC Report to the state legislature ARCC – Accountability report for California Community Colleges * MIS = Management Information Systems

Types of Coding – TOPs Taxonomy of Program 8/16/ Every course is classified within a Taxonomy of Program (TOPs) code. For instance, TOPs coding identifies the program of study such as 0401 = general biology, 1701 = mathematics, 1502 = English. The program is not the one defined by your institution, but rather the program taxonomy at the Chancellor’s Office. This program classification is then translated into federal program coding and data elements for national reporting.

Types of Coding – (CB) Course Basic Data Elements 8/16/ Every course is described or defined by 22 course basic codes (CB coding) that assigns data elements to allow reporting and analysis according to specific curriculum functions. Some examples: Course title (CB 02) TOPs code (CB03) Credit status (CB 04) Transfer status (CB 05) Basic skills status/ Degree applicable (CB 08) Repeatability (CB 12), etc Course Prior to Transfer (CB21) Noncredit Category (CB22)

Enrollments (SX) Student Demographics (SB) Sections Courses Fin. Aid Assess. PBS VTEA Matric. Pgm. Awds. Emp. Demo. Sessions Calendar Assignments EOPS DSPS Emp. Assign. Cal- WORKs CCC MIS Database

10 Why do we code courses? What are the data uses?

11 Research Questions Legislative Analyst Office (LAO) Department of Finance (DOF) California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) California Student Aid Commission Public Policy Institute UC/CSU Legislature – Committees and individual members Community College Organizations Newspapers Labor Unions Data Matches Transfer to UC/CSU/NSC match Dept. of Social Services EDD/UI Match/Wage Study Accountability Reporting Justification & Funding Matriculation EOPS DSPS Career Technical Education (CTE) Perkins Core Indicator Reports Perkins Allocations BOGW Administrative Funding Federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) Reporting CCC Data Mart Annual Staffing Report

How is the data used? 8/16/ The data, based upon the coding, can be used to Justify funding increases or decreases Provide a rationale for policies Provide accountability for expenditures such as Perkins and Basic Skills Initiative Dollars Program review Educational improvement

13 What happens when data errors occur?

Data Errors in Reporting 8/16/ The first data errors were CB 21 coding. meant to show student progression from the lowest level C to level B to A to college level. only 3 levels, math, English and reading really had 4 levels and ESL had 6 prior to transfer level. No colleges had a common beginning; college level was different for every college – even colleges within a district. There was no mechanism to see what other colleges did in defining levels, no levels were comparable.

CB 21 Coding problems Some college coding had no progress – all courses were coded at the same level Some courses were in the wrong order of progression Some courses were incorrectly identified as transfer 15

Coding Problems 8/16/ The next slides are real examples from various colleges. Can you identify any errors?

Sample Coding – All are Credit Courses 17

Sample Data – All are Credit Courses 18

Other Coding problems CB 21 was incorrect HOWEVER Some courses were incorrectly identified as transfer (CB 05) Some courses were incorrectly identified as degree applicable – contrary to Title 5 (CB 08) Some courses were NOT identified as Basic Skills when they were basic skills Some courses were placed in the wrong TOP codes 19

Sample Data – All are Credit Courses 20

Sample Data 21

What do we need to do to correct the problems? A reference = rubric to show levels and progress comparable across institutions Correctly coded courses A means of including noncredit such as ABE and ASE in progress accountability We need to identify linkages between credit and noncredit to get progress towards credit and transfer from noncredit

Establishing a Rubric Is not standardization Does not drive curricular changes Is not common course numbering or articulation Is not MIS wagging the dog IS a mapping exercise designed to maximize our ability to show student progress AND your good work

What is “Course Prior to Transfer Level”? The course “level”, in terms of number of levels prior to transferrable level – a bright line Primarily for basic skills/remedial courses, not transferrable courses Used for English, writing, ESL, reading, or mathematics in a sequence – NOT for non- sequential courses such as study skills or ESL Civics Can be used for credit, noncredit; degree applicable and non-degree applicable NOT used for transferable courses – they are college level

Changes 8/16/ TOP codes will change The 4930 TOP codes for basic skills will not exist, math will be math 1700 and English will be English, reading is a new TOP code as are ESL  This stops the same course from having two different TOP codes  This means the CB code will describe the course as basic skills or not  The TOP code changes will mean that MIS will kick out any unchanged TOP codes allowing for an internal correction

Rubrics: ESL Currently not defined at all in CB 21 Work thus far suggests- Credit  Writing  Reading  Speaking and Listening Noncredit  Integrated

Things to Consider If you code every basic skills class at 4+ levels below, you will have few improvements It pays to have a full “ladder” using as many levels as possible to show differentiation Noncredit = perfect solution for 30 unit limit on basic skills in Title 5…be cognizant of where the noncredit ladder “ties in” with credit  Progression into credit levels also shows progress

Things to Consider Levels must mean the same thing across colleges  Student movement does not preclude you from getting credit for success elsewhere…  …provided your neighbor is coding properly and uniformly as well

Things to Consider If your “ladder” has more than 4 steps:  Keep as many as you can, but some may have to be compacted  You may have 7 levels of ESL, your neighbor has 3  If we allowed everyone to code their own number of levels, colleges would be advantaged/disadvantaged based solely on their curricular segmentation—not good  Research indicates too many steps are a barrier to progress  There are TIPPING POINTS

Guidelines for the work The rubrics describe coding for basic skills levels. They DO NOT prescribe or standardize curriculum. The level descriptions ARE NOT comprehensive. The rubrics DO NOT dictate anything The rubrics ARE NOT the final authority. They are a referential guide Each local college may code the basic skills courses appropriate to their curriculum and program descriptions. This is a local decision and local process

Making Changes The results of your work will provide new clarity to this data element System Office/ASCCC will promote workshops on the new meanings and how to use the rubric Subsequent MIS submissions will be superior Success Rates should reflect accurately and uniformly

How will this recoding happen?  Who-discipline faculty, curriculum committee, classified tech, researcher, CIO – a group project  What - sequential basic skills courses in math, ESL, English and reading  When – Oct and Nov 2009 – Nov 30 deadline Will correct everything into the past! Updating all historical data. 32

Resources 8/16/ Data Element Dictionary ResearchInfo/MIS/DED/tabid/266/Default.aspx\ ResearchInfo/MIS/DED/tabid/266/Default.aspx\ TOPs code manual - AcademicAffairs/CreditProgramandCourseApproval /ReferenceMaterials/tabid/412/Default.aspx AcademicAffairs/CreditProgramandCourseApproval /ReferenceMaterials/tabid/412/Default.aspx CB 21 coding - informationhttp:// information