1. Student Learning: How Long Should It Take?

2. About SWTJC Large service area HSI – 3,715 FTE
11 Counties (16,769 square miles)
Rural
HSI – 3,715 FTE
70+% FTIC need remediation
Achieving the Dream
Developmental Education
Gateway Courses
Culture of Evidence
Explain who we are, and ATD.

3. Audience Questions How many developmental students do you have?
Where are they in the process?
How are they doing today?
Is your developmental education program working?
What parts of your dev ed program are working, which aren’t?

4. Our Problem: Could Count but not Track
Could count the number of students in dev ed but not track students
Tracking process: manually review their individual degree plans – not feasible with a cohort of students
Hard to get basic info from Datatel

5. Solution: Data Warehouse
Above: data warehouse shows students in the 2004FA cohort and how many are enrolled in remedial math classes over a 3 year period. The data warehouse allows users to slice by demographic variables and course-taking patterns

6. Who is Developmental? Seems easy, but …
Placement ranges hard to remember
i.e. Accuplacer level maps to Level 1
Multiple tests
Accuplacer, state tests, ACT, etc
Not fine-grained / diagnostic
student at low end of scale grouped with students at high end

7. Who is Developmental? Seems easy, but …
Students often don’t take placement tests
Only take it at admissions time
Who is developmental now?
Students take classes out of order

8. Solution: Who is Developmental?
Solution: New calculated score incorporating:
Scores from different tests
Where were they when they started? (i.e. placement scores)
Where are they now? (i.e. grades)

9. Problem: Scores Not Fine-Grained
Aaron Abel
Accuplacer 63 (lower level 2)
Susan Smith
Accuplacer 78 (upper level 2)
Although these students are both in Level 2, they are very different students

10. Solution: More Refined Levels
Old Level
New Level
Aaron Abel
Accuplacer 63
Level 2
Level 200
Susan Smith
Accuplacer 78
Level 288
The new score reflects the fact that, while both were placed in level 2, Susan’s score was almost enough to place her into level 3 while Aaron just barely made it into Level 2

11. Solution: Placement Scores+ Course Completion
Old Level
New Level
Aaron Abel
Accuplacer 63
Passed Level 2 with a D
Level 2
Level 300
Susan Smith
Accuplacer 78
Passed Level 2 with a A
Level 375
Just looking at Accuplacer scores, we would think both students are in Level 2, but since that test they have both completed Level 2. The score reflects their course-taking and illustrates the differences between them (Aaron barely made it out of Level 2 and Susan aced it)

12. Solution: At-a-Glance for Advisors
Get Aaron or Susan here.

13. Dev Ed Pipeline
Above: Shows which level of Math students started in on left (FTIC Math Level) versus where they are now on top (Latest Math Level). The highlighted cell shows that only 8.73% of students who started in Level 0 (in 2005 Fall) and who are still enrolled have made it past the gateway class. 13

14. More Questions
How would you measure how long it takes a student to complete gateway courses?
Why would you want to do that? Is it important?

15. Gateway Analysis
Above: Shows the correlation between suspected gatekeeper classes and graduation. Within 4 terms of completing College Level math (in green) 30% of students have graduated (almost double that of the reading and writing gatekeepers!)

16. College Level Algebra

17. Ideal Curve

18. Where do we go from here?

19. More Questions Where does your data hit the road?
How do you presently use data to affect student learning?

20. Comparing Grades and Assessment Results
Use tracking levels
“Do grades truly reflect student learning?”
Fall 2008: pilot study to look at this question
Pre- and post-assessment for College Algebra (MATH 1314)
300+ students took the assessment

21. Comparing Grades and Assessment Results

22. Using Data to Improve Student Learning
Move the assessment results.
Raise high end slightly.

23. Technical Information (aka: More than you want to know)

24. Initial Tracking Levels
Based on Prorated Accuplacer Score
Math Accuplacer Score
Tracking Level
0-29
30-62
63-80
81-120
Example: Student scores 46 on Accuplacer.

25. Subsequent Tracking Levels
Based on Prorated Accuplacer Score
Math Course Grade
Tracking Level By Grade Quartile D
Base + 0 points C
Base + 25 points B
Base + 50 points A
Base + 75 points
Example: Student receives “B” in MATH 0302.

26. Using Tracking Levels for Course Placement
Student Takes
Gateway Status
-1 (No Data)
MATH 0301
Pre-Gateway
MATH 0302
MATH 0303
MATH 1314
Gateway (College Ready)
MATH 2xxx
Post-Gateway
Show example from Estudias Student Navigator.

27. Contact Information
Blaine Bennett
(830)
Dick Whipple
(830)
Michael Nguyen
(214) x803
Michael Taft
(214) x801