Student cohort tracking clinic

Presenter: Rick Voorhees

Goals for Today’s Work Together

• You’ll be able to– Define cohort tracking– Describe the components of cohort tracking– Make connections between cohort tracking and

student success work– Learn how disaggregating cohort data can help

colleges identify groups of students who are succeeding or not succeeding along pathways to earning degrees, certificates, or transfer

Four Components of a Culture of Inquiry

Component One“What’s Wrong”Use disaggregated longitudinal cohort data to determine:1)Which student groups are less successful than others (i.e. identify gaps in student success2)Which high enrollment courses have the lowest success rates

Component Two“Why”Collect, analyze, and use data from other sources (focus groups, surveys, literature reviews) to identify the underlying factors (barriers or challenges) impeding student success.

Component Three“Intervention”Use data from Component Two to design new interventions, or revise current ones, to effectively address the underlying factors impeding student success.Review and consider changes to existing practices and policies that impact those factors

Component Four“Evaluation and Modification”Collect, analyze, and use evaluation data to answer1)To what extent did the intervention (including policy changes) effectively address underlying factors? 2)What extend did the interventions increase student success

Source: K.P. Gonzalez. Using Data to Increase Student Success: A Focus on Diagnosis. Retrieved March 12, 2013 at http://www.achievingthedream.org/sites/default/files/resources/ATD_Focus_Diagnosis.pdf

The Context

Source: Bailey, T., Jeong, D.W., & Cho, S.W (2009, November) Referral, enrollment, and completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colleges. Community College Research Center: New York, New York

For Every 100 Students Entering the Nation’s Community Colleges

Upwards of 80 Percent Will Be Referred to Developmental

Education

Of These 80 Students, 50% Will Complete Developmental

Education

Of These 40 Students, 50% Will Complete Gatekeeper Classes

Less Than 10 Will Graduate or Transfer

Are We Happy With That?

What Happens to Those Who Don’t Succeed?

??

What is a Cohort?

• A cohort is a group of students who enter a college or a program at the same time.

• One common cohort consists of first-time college students. As a first step, describing this cohort’s entering characteristics should be illuminating to decision-making.– What % are full-time? Part-time?– What % are referred to developmental education– What are their demographics: age, gender, income,

race/ethnicity

What’s An Analogy?

Or Maybe This?

Creative Commons Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/1970_AMC_Rebel_The_Machine_egl-Cecil'10.jpg/1024px-1970_AMC_Rebel_The_Machine_egl-Cecil'10.jpg

What Is A Cohort Not?

• Pass rates in courses over time• Changes in persistence rates from year to year• Calculating the number of students who enter

compared to the number who graduate (not necessarily the same group of entering students)

• These approaches are often described as Cross Panel Comparisons. But they’re not the same students!

Tracking Cohorts

• Tracking entering cohorts beyond the first term allows the college to– Examine student progress: credits attempted v.

credits completed, grades, success in gatekeeper courses

– Identify when students change their enrollment status, achieve milestones, graduate, and/or transfer

Tracking Cohorts Over Time

Starting fresh cohorts each year allows the college to know if success rates are improving

Components of Cohort Analysis

Components of Cohort Analysis

Student Characteristics

•Name•Identifier•Date of Birth•Race/Ethnicity•Address•English, reading, and math placement scores•ESL status•Last school/college attended•Highest level of schooling•Goal•Pell Grant•Major field of study

Term 1 Progress Data

•Identifier•Updated information: name, address, degree goal, declared major•Number of college-level credits attempted and completed•Number of cumulative credits earned•Term Grade point Cumulative GPA•Number of remedial credits attempted and earned

Term 2, 3 ,4 ,5… Progress Data

•Identifier•Updated information: name, address, degree goal, declared major•Number of college-level credits attempted and completed•Number of cumulative credits earned•Grade point average•Cumulative GPA•Number of remedial credits attempted and earned

Outcome Data

•Identifier•Attainment of educational goal•Employment status•Relationship of current job to major•Salary•Hours per week employed•Current institution•New major (if applicable)•GPA at new institution

Marco Level Cohort

Micro Level Cohort Micro Level Cohort

SSBTN Template

Intervention Level Intervention Level

Tracking the Success of Developmental

Students

Completion Rates Developmental Math Students

Over Four Years

Source: Voorhees & Lee. (n.d.) Basics of Longitudinal Cohort Analysis. Retrieved April 15, 2012 at http://achievingthedream.org/sites/default/files/resources/ATD_Longitudinal-Cohort-Analysis.pdf

Disaggregating Data by Race/Ethnicity

Progression by Race/Ethnicity

Source: Achieving the Dream Data Notes. January/February 2008

Evaluating an Intervention

Percentage of Students Persisting By Enrollment in a

Student Success Class

Source: Voorhees & Lee. (n.d.) Basics of Longitudinal Cohort Analysis. Retrieved April 15, 2012 at http://achievingthedream.org/sites/default/files/resources/ATD_Longitudinal-Cohort-Analysis.pdf

Discussion