Seeking Excellence and Promoting Success in the First Year of College and Beyond

Andrew K. Koch

Director of Student Access, Transition and Success Programs

Purdue University

Adapted with permission from presentations by John Gardner and Betsy Barefoot. Policy Center on the First Year of College

Objective

This presentation furnishes information on student success in the first year of college.

It is provided with the intent that you utilize this information to think about how you can contribute from your perspective to an attack on the core problem of student success for the greater good of your institution and your students.

Presentation Content

Concerns about Retention ContextualizedWho Leaves and Why?Things to ConsiderPutting Theory into Practice Conclusions and Recommendations

Student Success and Retention in Context

Concerns about Success and Retention

The major focus for vast numbers of American colleges and universities

Resulting in major expenditures of institutional resources on a variety of “magic bullets”

BUT . . .

The first year of college in context

Unacceptable levels of student failure and attrition

Related expenses of remediation, repeating courses, and recruiting new students

Negative consequences of attrition-related behaviors

Some Things are Hard to Change

Student attrition is theEnergizer Bunny issue.

It keeps going and going and going!

What types of students leave and why do they do so?

Answer #1Characteristics of entering students

Students are more likely to drop out if they Are male Are poor Are the first in their families to go to college Have “non-traditional” characteristics

Financially independent Have dependents

Delayed entry to college Single parents

Part-time attendance Earned a GED

Full-time employment

Answer #2Behaviors of Entering Students

Students are more likely to drop out if they Are academically underprepared Work more than 15 (or 20) hours per week off

campus (students who borrow money are more likely to be retained)

Attend their 2nd or 3rd choice institution Do not live on campus Do not become involved in campus life Do not participate in a learning community or first-

year seminar

Answer #3Our Behaviors, Policies, and Practices

Where we need to focus

Things to Consider When Addressing Success and Retention Issues on Your Campus

Nine Student Success and Retention Basics to Ponder

Going Back to the Success and Retention Basics

Expectations Class Attendance Feedback – Early and Often Relevance A Clear Plan for Progress The Good Old Summertime Work Off Campus and the Larger Issue of

Money A Strengths Perspective YOU!

#1: Expectations

What do students expect?

What do you expect?

Is there consistency?

“Help me to do what I want to do!”

#2. Class Attendance

“Time on task”

Does it matter – to what extent does it affect the DFW rates or retention?

If it does, how can you assure that students take attendance seriously?

#3. Feedback – Early and Often

Feedback as a motivator

Feedback as a challenge to “blissful denial”

Is feedback enough?

#4. Relevance

Do students understand the relevance of your course, your activity, to their experience and lives?

The need to articulate, in a meaningful way, the interface between knowledge and personal experience.

#5. A Clear Plan for Progress

Guaranteed, step-by-step plan

Reduce stumbling blocks

Reduce distracting options

#6. The Good Old Summertime

The amazing correlation between summer school attendance and graduation

Is this cause and effect?

Bachelor’s degree earners in 2000 by number of credits earned in summer terms (1992 h.s. grads)

Race/

ethnicity

No credits

1 – 4 credits

> 4 credits

All 56.2% 68.1% 79.7%

White 59.8% 74.2% 82.2%

Af.Amer 21.2% 42.5% 78.2%

Latino 48.6% 28.3% 56.4%

Asian 66.8% 70.0% 77.9%

Source: NCES: NELS:88/2000 Postsecondary Transcript Files

#7. Work Off Campus and the Larger Issue of Money

Why students work Because they must, or because they want to support a

lifestyle How should we respond?

Have a conversation about the +’s and –’s of work Promote student on-campus employment Promote relevant off-campus employment Suggest loans

Finances How easy or difficult is it for students to negotiate financial aid

processes? How transparent or obscure are the financial rules and

regulations?

#8. A Strengths Perspective

A reversal of the prevailing “fix it” or “at-risk” models

Helping students identify and build on personal strengths

What can we learn from the best students – especially those who persisted “against the odds”?

#9. YOU!

Don’t underestimate the effect of commitment to quality instruction and interactions in and out of the classroom.Who’s more likely or unlikely to exhibit

commitment to students?

The full-time/part-time question

Rethinking Our View of Retention

“To retain” is what institutions do.“To persist” is what students do.

Whether with us or in a different settingStudent persistence rates far outstrip

institutional retention rates.What is “retention quality”? It’s far more

than just barely hanging on – students are making progress.

“Retention” in the Future

As higher education becomes more complex – what will retention mean?

Everything of value won’t necessarily correlate with retention in the short run. (the “engagement” conundrum)

But – a continuous commitment to quality will increase both the number of students who are retained and who persist – somewhere – in higher education.

Putting Student Success Theory in Practice in the First College Year

Some Programmatic Contexts Through Which You Can Consider Connecting Your Concepts

Basic Theoretical Perspectives

Institutional fit (Tinto) Can the student’s needs be met at the institution? Can institutional fit be developed?

Social and academic integration (Tinto with replication) Differences in preference by age and life stage

Campus involvement (Astin with replication) How important for adults or commuters?

Basic Theoretical Perspectives

Engagement in learning (Kuh and others) Links affective and cognitive dimensions of learning Is both a means to learning outcomes and an end

in itself

Commitment and motivation (Tinto and others) To the institution To completion of a degree To a career or life goal

Which are most important?

Koch’s opinion (supported by the work of Barefoot, Gardner, Swing, etc.): Commitment and motivation. These factors will often mitigate inadequate academic preparation, family problems, money difficulties, etc. A committed, motivated student is hard to stop!

How then do we instill commitment and motivation in today’s students?

Research on First-Year Programs

First-Year Seminars Do credit hours matter? Is there a difference between required

vs. elective courses? Do peer leaders have an impact? Is it a good idea to link seminars into a

block or “learning community”? Does the type of content matter?

Research on First-Year Programs

First-year seminars, cont’d. Does section size influence effectiveness?Does the “type” of instructor make a

difference?Does impact relate to a particular textbook?What’s the bottom line on first-year seminar

impact on learning, academic achievement, and retention?

Research on First-Year Programs

Learning communities – Lots of general research findings. A lack of specific findings Impact on retention Impact on academic achievement Impact on student satisfaction Insufficient evidence about impact on

student learning Insufficient evidence about impact on faculty

and student leaders

Research on First-Year Programs

Academic advisingStrong anecdotal evidence about the

influence of advising, especially intensive/intrusive advising

Weak statistical evidenceLack of clarity about goals for advising –

Retention? Speed of declaring major? Satisfaction? Time to graduation?

Issues of student expectations of advisors and experiences

Research on First-Year Programs

Supplemental InstructionStrong evidence to support link with

retentionStrong evidence to support link with

academic achievement Living in residence

Clear linkage between residence life and learning, academic achievement, involvement, and retention

Research on First-Year Programs

Orientation – a means of early socialization Strong evidence linking orientation with retention Evidence is stronger for longer orientation

programsService learning

Strong impact on expected involvement in civic affairs

Strong impact on improved life skills No direct impact on retention

Research on First-Year Programs

Developmental EducationA necessary, but problematic, service on a

number of levels Impact is mixed on student outcomes

Do developmental courses prepare students for success in regular courses?

How is developmental work best delivered – by a segregated or integrated approach

Conclusions and Recommendations

Answer to the Compound Question, “What do I do now and how do I do it?”

Conclusions and Recommendations

Find out what types of students leave and why do they do so?

Work with faculty and staff across your campuses to draw attention to and create plans based on your findings.

REMEMBER – Who delivers the message and how it is delivered are both vitally important.

Conclusions and Recommendations (Continued)

Base these plans on theory, BUT . . .The basic theoretical models are sound

but developed primarily for white, male students

Questions: How well do these models apply to the students on your campus?

Are other factors at play?

Conclusions and Recommendations (Continued)

Use the student success and retention basics highlighted in this presentation to help operationalize the student success and retention enhancement plans – but remember to place concepts in context.

Assess and evaluate!

Presenter Contact Information

Andrew K. Koch (Drew)

Director of Student Access, Transition and Success Programs

Purdue University

akkoch@purdue.edu

765-496-3618

Questions and Discussion

Q & A