1. Center for Student Success

2. AATYC and Student Success Higher ed imperative used to be about access; now it’s about student success. Two-year colleges recognize the challenge, and have been proactively undertaking initiatives: Career Pathways, Achieving the Dream, Center for Community College Student Engagement (CCCSE), Foundations of Excellence.

3. Data Driven Decision Making Part-time and Full-time students. Achieving the Dream. WA and MD momentum point studies.

4. AATYC Center for Student Success Intended to build upon and better coordinate this collection work. 3 Year Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation Grant. Additional investment by Southern Bancorp.

5. Center’s Primary Objectives Promote activities and raise funding to: Build upon and take to scale best practices for student success currently underway. Pilot new practices, particularly in critical areas such as developmental education. End goal: Build collection of proven practices from which colleges can choose. Develop and promote supportive policy change.

6. Gathering Information on Best Practices Established faculty/administrator Advisory Committee to help identify what works and guide Center. Visited colleges in state and out (OH). Worked with UCA Mashburn Center to help identify best practices (report forthcoming). Reviewing research (Community College Research Center, MDRC, NCPR, etc.)

7. Information Gathering cont…. Attended strategic meetings, conferences – Gates Foundation I-BEST convening – Achieving the Dream/DEI policy meeting – National Center for Postsecondary Research conference at Columbia University titled Developmental Education: What Policies and Practices Work for Students. – Grantmakers for Education conferences to connect with potential funders.

8. What Have We Learned? Foremost: No Silver Bullet! Certain practices are showing promise: mandatory student orientation and advising, eliminate late enrollment, college success courses, early alert systems, student mentoring, support services (Career Pathways). Developmental education is a particularly critical barrier to student success; some promising reforms BUT more experimentation is needed.

9. “Developmental Education is a Moral Imperative” – Kay McClenney UT Austin It will always be critical to access for certain students: – Certain students, particularly disadvantaged students, will always need it, even with improved K-12 learning. – Non-traditional students will always need it; almost 50% of all students in remedial courses are over 25. – Not all developmental ed students are the same! However, it’s equally critical that it be done better.

10. What Do We Know About Doing it Better? Promising reforms fall into 4 categories: prevention, acceleration, contextualization, supplemental supports. Source: Zachry, Elizabeth, and Emily Schneider. 2010. Building Foundations for Student Readiness: A Review of Rigorous Research and Promising Trends in Developmental Education. New York: MDRC.

11. Bottom Line: More Experimentation and Rigorous Evaluation Needed Developmental Education Redesign Demonstration Project. Test promising practices and other innovative approaches in AR, and rigorously evaluate. – Also look at alternative assessment, classroom instructional practices, and professional development practices.

12. Dev Ed Redesign Demo Project Workgroup established with developmental ed faculty from all 22 colleges and ADHE. Working with colleges to design their pilots, develop budgets, seek funding as needed. Working to establish data metrics for evaluation, and needed evaluation support for colleges. End Goal: Identify practices that improve student completion and can be taken to scale, and identify needed supportive institutional and state policy change.

13. Dev Ed Just Piece of Larger Student Success Puzzle Also working to identify other best practices (CCCSE, etc.), and build institutional research capacity. End Goal for Center: Identification of a collection (or menu) of student success practices that work at critical points in education continuum that colleges can select from and implement to suit their particular needs. Each college will be encouraged and supported to develop their particular collection of practices.

14. Pre-college: Getting Ready to Enroll Understanding of college enrollment, application and financial aid requirements (Career Coaches Initiative). Early academic assessments and interventions for underprepared students (Arkadelphia College Prep Academy, summer bridge programs. Dual Enrollment and Early College High Schools. ? (Test other strategies to plug into model.) Eliminate late enrollment. Mandatory orientation and advising, student success course, attendance, course of study. Early alert system and academic supports services (peer tutoring, etc). Incentives for persistence (multiple Pell dispersals). Improved assessment and placement practices (pre-test preparation). Improved developmental education practices. CCCSE and improved student engagement (mentoring, etc). Supplemental support services (childcare, transportation vouchers – Career Pathways). Instructional innovation (collaborative learning, etc.) ? (Test other strategies to plug into model.) First Year (enrollment to completion of gatekeeper courses) Continued Progress to Degree Completion Mandatory advising. Stackable certificates. Persistence scholarships. Supplemental support services. ? (Test other strategies to plug into model.) Transfer and/or Employment Mandatory advising. Job search and placement assistance. Internships. ? (Test other strategies to plug into model