Michigan Community College Student Services Association Your Role in Student Success: Doing More of What Works.

Michigan Community College Student Services Association

Your Role in Student Success: Doing More of What Works

Eastfield College

GETTING STARTED

Center for Community College Student Engagement

Welcome to College!

On the Other Hand…

Community College Survey of Student Engagement

Measuring Student Engagement

…the amount of time and energy students invest in meaningful educational practices

CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort of participating colleges.

The 2010 CCSSE Cohort includes more than 400,000 community college students from 658 institutions in 47 states, British Columbia, the Marshall Islands, Nova Scotia, and Ontario.

18 Michigan colleges (some new 2011, most multi-year)

CCSSE: A Tool for Community Colleges

7


What We Know for Sure:

Helping students succeed through the equivalent of the first semester (12–15 credit hours) can dramatically improve

subsequent success rates.

SENSE & Starting Right: Listening to Entering Students232 colleges

Represents 1.6 million students

37 states, District of Columbia, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands

8 Michigan colleges

Focus groups

Another Thing We Know for Sure…About Student Engagement:

It’s unlikely to happen by accident. It has to happen

by design.

Eastfield College

COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENTS


STAND UP…

• If you ever attended a community/technical college.

• If you graduated from a community/technical college

• If you earned a degree while attending college as a part-time student; while working 20+ hours/wk

• If you ever, for any reason, stopped/dropped out of college

• If you were the first in your family to attend college


STAND UP…

• If you ever had to choose between buying groceries and buying books for your college classes

• If English is your second language

• If in the course of your daily college life, you found yourself in the minority (race/ethnicity/gender) in most situations

• If you can name an individual who made a significant difference in your development and success in college.

Eastfield College

WHAT MATTERS MOST:Emphasis on Student and AcademicSupport Services

Eastfield College

WHAT MATTERS MOST:HIGH EXPECTATIONS AND ASPIRATIONS

High Expectations and AspirationsPercent of entering students who strongly or somewhat agree that they have the motivation to do what it takes to succeed in college:

90%

Percent of entering students who strongly or somewhat agree that they are prepared academically to succeed in college:

84%

Entering Aspirations

28%

19%

41%

22%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Skipped class

Came to class unprepared

Did not turn in one or moreassignments

Turned in an assignment late

Percentage of students who, at least once during their first three weeks of college:

High Expectations and Aspirations

Entering students are highly motivated, are committed to achieving their academic goals, and sincerely believe they will.

Yet…



…of our students leave before the start of their second year.

50%

WHAT MATTERS MOST

In focus groups with students, what do they typically report as the most important factor in keeping them in school, persisting toward their goals?

Relationships matter

Eastfield College

WHAT MATTERS MOST:PERSONAL CONNECTIONS

Student Focus Groups

If students ran the college….?

Personal Connections

Personal ConnectionsEntering Students’ First Impressions of Their Colleges


The very first time I came to this college, I felt welcome.

17.2

42.7

34.6

2

0.9 Strongly Agree

Agree

No Opinion

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Eastfield College

WHAT MATTERS MOST:COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE

What Students Say…

…about Getting Started


Getting Started

Orientation

5.6

25.2

1.4

38.3

30.4

6.9

25.6

2.4

38.6

27.6

05

1015202530354045

Online On-Campus Orientation Course (part

of course schedule)

Unable to participate (scheduling

issues)

Not aware of orientation

Part-Time



Getting Started


1. Is it mandatory? For whom?

2. What does your college data show about the impact of orientation on student persistence and first term academic success?

3. What are you doing to bring it to scale?

Discussion Questions - Orientation


I thought I was ready…

Students don’t know what they don’t know…

but we think they should!


What entering students are telling us:During their first 3 weeks…

• Fewer than one-quarter enrolled in a class designed to teach them the skills needed to succeed in college.

Student Success Courses Lead to… Student Success!

• Houston Community College System

• Florida Community Colleges


Creating an On-Ramp to College



2. What does your college data show about the impact of student success courses on student persistence and first term academic success?


Discussion Questions:Student Success Courses


What do students say is the most important college service?

Academic Advising & Planning

Eastfield College

WHAT MATTERS MOST:A PLAN AND A PATHWAY

WHAT MATTERS MOST:A Plan and a Pathway

A Plan and a PathwayAn advisor helped identify the courses I needed to take during my first semester/quarter (69% Agree or Strongly Agree)

23.00%

46.00%

16.00%11.0%

5.00%

0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%50% Strongly

AgreeAgree

No OpinionDisagree

Strongly Disagree



A Plan, Please!

A Plan and a PathwayAn advisor helped me to set academic goals and to create a plan for achieving them (31% Agree or Strongly Agree)

9.00%

22.00%

29.00% 28.0%

11.00%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35% Strongly AgreeAgree

No Opinion

Disagree

Strongly Disagree


A Plan and A Pathway


A Plan and a PathwayA college staff member talked with me about my commitments outside of school to help me figure out the number of courses to take (22% Agree or Strongly Agree – 58% Disagree or Strongly Disagree)

6%

16%20%

40%

18%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45% Strongly AgreeAgree

No OpinionDisagree

Strongly Disagree




2. What does your college data show about the impact of academic planning on student persistence and first term academic success?


Discussion Questions:Academic Planning

SENSE BENCHMARKS:• Early Connections

• High Expectations and Aspirations

• Clear Academic Plan and Pathway

• Effective Track to College Readiness

• Engaged Learning

• Academic and Social Support Network


Eastfield College

WHAT MATTERS MOST:AN INTEGRATED NETWORK OF ACADEMIC & SOCIAL SUPPORT


WHAT MATTERS MOST

• Intensive student engagement

• High expectations

• Focus on the front door

• More structure, fewer options


WHAT MATTERS MOSTFocused, sustained efforts, brought to scale, can produce real improvements in student engagement, learning, persistence, and academic attainment.

“The compensatory effect”

i.e., where there are differences in engagement between “high-risk” groups and their comparison groups (academically under-prepared students, students of color, first generation students, nontraditional college age students) --- the high-risk students are more engaged.


WHAT MATTERS MOSTStudent Engagement By Design

• Richland College/San Antonio College

• Kingsborough/Skagit

• Valencia

“The compensatory effect”

i.e., where there are differences in engagement between “high-risk” groups and their comparison groups (academically under-prepared students, students of color, first generation students, nontraditional college age students) --- the high-risk students are more engaged.

Encouraging Student Success StrategiesMandatory

Assessment and placement

Orientation

Success course for students in dev ed

Participation in learning lab, tutoring and/or supplemental instruction

Stop late registration/ create late-start classes

Early advising / development of academic plan

Early alert systems“Students don’t do optional.”


Encouraging Student Success Strategies

Supplemental instruction

Case management / success coaches

Summer bridge or “boot camp” programs; short/ intensive skill refreshers

Contextualized dev ed

Cooperative/collaborative learning – at scale

Linked courses/ learning communities…

Learning communities required for FTIC

Learning communities linking student success course and dev ed

Counselors and advisors in learning communities



1. Mandatory Orientation?

1. Mandatory Student Success Courses?

2. Mandatory Academic Planning?

Next Steps


The Road to College Completion!


A REMINDER


Eastfield College

Kay McClenney, Ph. D.Director, Center for Community College Student Engagement

Senior Associate, Achieving the Dream

The University of Texas at Austin

[email protected]

www.ccsse.org

www.enteringstudent.orgVideo clips © Center for Community College Student Engagement

Michigan Community College Student Services Association Your Role in Student Success: Doing More of What Works.

Documents

college slide

communitytechnical college

college classes

weeks of college

started slide

daily college life

student success

community colleges