Top Ten Students: The First Year Kathryn Doherty Office of Assessment June 27, 2006.
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Transcript of Top Ten Students: The First Year Kathryn Doherty Office of Assessment June 27, 2006.
Top Ten Students: The First Year
Kathryn Doherty
Office of Assessment
June 27, 2006
What Is This Study About?
Looks at the experience of 188 students enrolled in the Top Ten program Spring 06
Uses a 47-item questionnaire and 4 focus groups to collect information
Has data from 108 students who completed the survey and 35 students who participated in focus groups
Looks at incoming data for 403 Top Ten candidates
Asks “what happened” and “what can we do better”
Who Were our 05-06 Top Ten Students
Race/Ethnicity: 50% African American, 38% White
53% Baltimore City, 47% Baltimore County
Gender: 24% Male, 76% Female Mean HS GPA: 3.56 Mean TU GPA: 2.40 Mean SAT score: 925
Where Did Our 05-06 Top Ten Students Come From? 47% from Baltimore
City high schools 53% from Baltimore
County high schools 63% commute to
Towson 37% live on campus
Who Were the Top Ten Students Who Responded to the Survey?
63% commute to Towson
45% spend 6 or more hours a week commuting
53% spend 5 hours a week or less studying
What Do Top Ten Students Say About Their Overall Experience?
82% of respondents rate their academic courses at TU as Good or Excellent
Almost 80% of respondents rate their overall experience at TU as Good or Excellent
How Does This Compare With All First Year Students at TU?
Top Ten Students
NSSE First Year
Overall Experience Good or Excellent
80% 87%
What Do Top Ten Students Say About Their Academic Preparation?
63% felt that they were Somewhat or A Little prepared for Towson’s academic programs
40% felt it was Difficult or Very Difficult to earn A’s or B’s in their TU classes
65% felt their academic skill level impacted their first year performance Some or A Lot
How Does This Compare With First Year Students Overall?
Top Ten Students
First Year Students Overall
Difficult to earn A’s and B’s
40% 36%
What Was the Top Ten First Year Like?
Transition to Towson was tough High school did not prepare them well
enough Time management skills were a major
problem
What Did Top Ten Students Feel Like?
Culture shock was really hard Friendliness was an issue. No one talks. No extra curricular activities for
commuters Hard to get used to students who were
so different Stuck with their groups, didn’t want to
step out of the box
Top Ten Students Feel Supported…
86% of respondents said Towson provided the support they needed to succeed academically
76% Said it was not difficult at all or only somewhat difficult to get support for academic work
79% said the quality of academic advising at Towson was Excellent or Good
Yet Not Connected…
57% never met with their Top Ten mentor
58% never met with a tutor
45% never participated in co-curricular activities
36% never studied with students outside class
And Not Engaged at Towson
83% Never participated in intramurals 56% never participated in cultural events 85% never participated in student
government 70% never volunteered on campus or in
the community 45% never participated in clubs or
organizations
How Does This Compare? Top Ten CIRP NSSE
Never participated in co-curricular
45% 20% 41%
Never studied with others outside of class
36% 15% 16%
Never volunteered 70% 22% 29%
Top Ten Students Tried to Adjust…
“I wasn’t used to having different classes and a different schedule. Time management was an issue. So was getting up on time. There was no help here…”
But Had Trouble with Transition…
“I was the valedictorian in my high school. I thought college would be easy when I came here and it wasn’t. Also, the commute was overwhelming…”
And Felt the Loss of Their Communities…
“In high school, I had the grades. I had the community and I had the sports. Here it was too hard to get involved…”
What Impacted Top Ten Success?
25% said work 20% said course load 44% said motivation to succeed 48% said high school preparation
What Did Top Ten Students Find Difficult?
49% Managing time 36% Making new friends 22% Keeping up with course work 35% Finding time to study 29% Paying for college
How Did They Feel About Their Academic Performance?
Average, could have been better Room for improvement Could have done A LOT better Should have done A LOT better Great, very good, have done well Poor, not my best
How Did They Feel About Their Major?
Still deciding Switching Like it a lot Will stick with it
How Did They Feel About Their Classes?
Good but challenging Good but difficult Good but a lot of work Good but not prepared for them Good instructors, learned a lot Good but more work than expected
Have Their Goals Changed?
Still the same: graduate with a degree, be successful
Will have to work harder than expected Determined to participate more Will focus more on school than social life Will go on to graduate school Finding a career I like
How successful were they?
61% achieved a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better
49% of students from Baltimore City high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better
75% of students from Baltimore County high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better
How successful were they?
51% of African American Top Ten students earned a CUM GPA of 2.50 or above
78% of White Top Ten students earned a CUM GPA of 2.50 or above
Comparing Top Ten Success to Overall FTFT Success
Fall 2005 GPA
All FTFT 2.81
All Top Ten 2.50
All FTFT African American 2.52
All Top Ten African American 2.16
All FTFT White 2.87
All Top Ten White 2.91
Differences by Groups
There were no statistically significant differences by male/female
Top Ten White students were statistically more likely to do well in the program
Baltimore County Top Ten Students were statistically more likely to do well in the program
Baltimore County Students More Successful
Baltimore City Baltimore County
HS GPA 3.48 3.68
SAT Verbal 416 509
SAT Math 417 525
Fall 05 2.16 2.88
Spring 06 1.89 2.63
TU CUM 2.05 2.79
Comparing Top Ten Success from First Semester to Second
Fall 2005 Spring 2006
All Top Ten 2.50 2.35
B City 2.15 2.01
B County 2.88 2.72
B City African Am. 2.05 1.92
B City White 2.54 2.48
B County African Am. 2.54 2.47
B County White 2.99 2.82
Fall 06: Who Are Our Top Ten Candidates?
Race/Ethnicity: 38% African American, 38% White
Baltimore City: 82%, Baltimore County: 18%
Gender: 25% Male, 74% Female Mean HS GPA: 3.66 Mean SAT score: 1004
How Does This Compare with Fall 05
Fall 2005
Top Ten
All FTFT
Fall 2006
Top Ten Candidates
HS GPA 3.56 3.41 3.66
SAT Total
925 1057 1004
TU CUM 2.58 2.81 2.24*
*using SAT, HS GPA, district and race/ethnicity as predictors, accounting for 33% of variance in predicted CUM GPA.
Predicted Success for Fall 06 by District
Baltimore City
Top Ten Candidates
Baltimore County
Top Ten Candidates
HS GPA 3.70 3.68
SAT Total 1005 1008
TU CUM* 2.24* 2.56*
*using SAT, HS GPA and ethnicity as predictors.
Predicted Success for Fall 06 By Race/Ethnicity
African American Top Ten
Candidates
White Top Ten
Candidates
HS GPA 3.56 3.84
SAT Total 896 1178
TU CUM* 2.10 2.60
*using SAT, HS GPA and school district as predictors.
This Year, Top Ten Students Were Successful
61% achieved a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better
49% of students from Baltimore City high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better
75% of students from Baltimore County high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better
What About Predictions for Fall 06 Candidates ?
Looking at SAT, HS GPA, district, and ethnicity, 34% may achieve a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better
27% of students from Baltimore City high schools may achieve a CUM of 2.50 or better
51% of students from Baltimore County high schools may achieve a CUM of 2.50 or better
How Accurate Are Our Predictions?
Regression analysis predicted 69% of the variance in TU Spring 06 GPA using SAT, HS GPA, TU Fall 05 GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors
Discriminant analysis correctly predicted TU CUM GPA above/below 2.50 with 70% accuracy using SAT, HS GPA, TU Fall 05 GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors
What Are the Prediction Relationships? Moderate statistically significant relationship
between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM for all Top Ten students
Weak relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at Baltimore City Top Ten
Very weak relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at African American Top Ten students
Very strong relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at white Top Ten students
Is There a Cut-Off Point for Success
05-06 Top Ten Students
06-07 Top Ten Candidates*
Minimum HS GPA
3.40 4.01
Minimum SAT Total
590 990
TU CUM 2.50 2.53
*using SAT, HS GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors, accounting for 33% of variation in TU GPA.
What Do Top Ten Students Say Will Help? More time More help More meetings and gatherings More checking up and following through More study skill training More money More contact with advisors and mentors More opportunities for commuters
Specifically…
Don’t just give them the money and forget about them
Set up regular meeting times with mentors
Help them connect with the rest of the university
For next year, Towson should…
“Provide more opportunities to meet a greater diversity of people…”
“Prepare student more for the challenges of college…”
“Take into account the trauma of the transition…”
Advice for next year’s students…
“Know your resources, find out, do your own planning…”
“Believe people when they tell you college is hard…”
“Don’t depend on others; do it yourself…”
Will They Volunteer to Help Next Year’s Top Ten?
40% Yes 10% No 50% Maybe
In The End, What Matters Most to Top Ten Students?
“It’s an honor to be part of the program so cherish it and work hard to keep it…”
“It forces you to work hard but involvement will only come when you’re ready…”
“Be active. Try everything…”
Recommendations From the Data Develop accurate and
reliable criteria for selection
Identify at-risk students upon acceptance
Implement early and ongoing support systems
Require participation in support activities
Define and continue structured cohort groups