Increasing Student Success for

At-risk College Students

Tulsa Community Colleges Achieving the DreamPresented at the 2010 OUCEC Conference

October 26, 2010

What is Achieving the Dream?Multi-year, national initiative Increase student successCohort population

First-time, full- or part-time degree-seeking freshmen▪ Low income, minority, first generation

Data-informed processes Institutional and state policies

What are the goals of ATD? Goal 1. Successfully complete courses

Goal 2. Advance from remedial to credit-bearing

Goal 3. Enroll in and successfully complete gateway courses

Goal 4. Enroll from one semester to the next

Goal 5. Earn degrees and/or certificates

Four-component Process

What’s wrong?

Why?

What can we do to help?

How can we assess the impact?

1st Component: What’s wrong?

2nd Component: Why? Student focus groups/faculty &

staff Cohort population: successful first-

time freshmen 12 focus groups; 101 total students Research Question:

What barriers or challenges did you experience in persisting to your second semester?

2nd Component: Research Analysis

of Barriers to Overall Persistence

Adjusting to college Balancing

school, work, and

life

Textbook

issues

Communication with

instructors

Choosing courses

Academic preparati

on

Motivation

3rd Component: Intervention Design

Strategies for Academic SuccessCollege-wide collaboration:

Common course objectives Common formative assessments

▪ Pre- and post-assessment (Learning & Study Skills Inventory)

▪ Written self-reflectionLead teachers/mentorsDedicated, robust website of faculty

resourcesCollege-wide training for faculty

Fall-to-Spring Persistence

Enrolled in SAS Did not enroll in SAS*Significant at alpha < .01

Fall-to-Fall Persistence

Enrolled in SAS Did not enroll in SAS*Significant at alpha < .01

Success in Gateway Courses

Success in Gateway Courses (continued)

4th Component: SAS InterventionAssess, Evaluate, Revise

Plan a college-wide faculty training program

Distribute SAS manualUpdate SAS websiteReplace self-reflection writing

exercise w/ time-management calendar

Discuss educational planning unitPursue alternative delivery format

AA Male Student Success Intervention

Four-component ProcessWhat’s Wrong?

Why?

What can we do to help?

How can we assess the impact?

1st Component: What’s wrong?

1st Semester Persistence

Fall-to-fall persistence

“C” or higher course completion

Full Cohort 75% 50% 61%

All Male Students

71% 46% 57%

African American Male Students

56% 25% 31%

Target Population: African American males Institutional cohort data, fall 2009

2nd Component: Why?Focus Groups

Persistence: “What barriers or challenges did you experience in persisting to your second semester?” All successful first-time freshmen African

American male students eligible 7 focus groups; 109 total students Data analysis released April 2, 2010

2nd Component: Research Analysis of Barriers to

Overall Persistence(24 barriers)

AA Male Experience

(17 barriers)Institutional (69 barriers)

Managing College Life and Goals

2nd Component: African American Male Student Experience

Negative peer, community, and

family influences 50%

Not seeing others of the same race/gender

25%

Stereotyping 25%

3rd Component: How can we help?

AA Male Student Success Intervention

Mentoring Intervention Design Addresses specific student-identified

barriers Anticipates specific target outcomes Builds in assessment to determine if

intervention reduces student barriers

What have we learned?

From ATD A structure to frame the work is

essential: 4-component process ATD “Framing Document” provided 5

specific goals and an analysis of what the primary institutional and state regulating bodies should provide to meet the goals

Powerful national community of change agents

No one answer works

What have we learned?

For the college To effect systemic change, the process

must be transparent and collaborative involve as many of the stakeholders as

possible recognize the importance of human aspect of

collaborative change include mutual respect, the humility to listen

and learn, open conversation, tolerance for new ideas, an ability to focus on working the problem

What have we learned?

For Institutional Research Data-informed decisions require a panoply

of data types and investigations Data gathering and analysis must be

timely to be useful The 4-component process transforms the

function and priorities of IR The IR office needs to be fully staffed to

meet the demands of data-informed decision-making processes

What have we learned?

For intervention teams The collaborative process is time

consuming and messy. Structuring an intervention to target

specific barriers with outcomes that are empirically verifiable requires a steep and ongoing learning process.

Stakeholders are enormously creative, innovative, and committed to student success.

What’s next?

CommunicationCommunity outreachCurriculum Alignment: high schoolsP20, the engine for profound change4-component process to verify,

assess, and revise curriculum alignment and academic standards

Increasing Student Success for

At-risk College Students

Tulsa Community Colleges Achieving the DreamPresented at the 2010 OUCEC Conference

October 26, 2010