Increasing Student Success for
At-risk College Students
Tulsa Community Colleges Achieving the Dream
Presented 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
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 preparation
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
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 Process
What’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
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