Graduation Rate Policy Presentation

Michael K. Blanchard

EDU 806 Policy Analysis

University of New England

HISTORY

The Beginning

• The college and university graduation rate is the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program.

• The problem with the graduation rates published by the department go beyond the fact that there are multiple rates.

• The government only tracks graduation rates for first-time, full-time students who complete degrees where they began, excluding those who transfer from one school to another.

• That means the graduation rate only captures students who earned an associate’s degree, not the majority of students, who tend to leave the school to finish up at a four-year institution

• This Department of Education graduation rate policy negatively impacts community colleges because the same method for calculating graduation rates for four year schools are applied to community colleges

HISTORY (CONTINUED)

Today

• It is calculated as full time first time college students which for community colleges discounts 50 percent of potential graduates because community colleges typically have 50 percent or more students who are part-time or are transfer students.

• This policy does not allow for an accurate or true graduation rate to be calculated and adds to the perception that community colleges are not effectively educating their students.

• Graduation rate-based outcome measures can be criticized for four broad reasons. First, many of the economic, social, and academic problems that confront community college students and thwart their retention and graduation are beyond the control of the colleges.

• Second, the specific institutional graduation rate, referred to as the Student Right-to-Know (SRK) rate, which colleges are required to report to the Department of Education, is said to present a biased picture of college performance.

• Third, the fact that short-term occupational certificates and baccalaureate transfers are important components of community college completion complicate efforts to measure community college “graduation” rates (Bailey, Leinbach & Jenkins, 2005).

ANALYSIS OF PROBLEM

A report filed by the Chronicle of Higher Education, community college leaders, are not yet able to form a consensus on what it means for students to be “college ready,” which impacts the quality of education provided (Colleges, 2012).

The graduation rate policy and the open-door admissions policies of community

colleges and the national college completion “agenda” are contributing to

an influx of unprepared students who have little chance of earning a degree, and

who are likely to rack up crippling debt along the way (Fain, 2014).

ANALYSIS (CONTINUED)

• Institutions such as Ivy Tech Community College are devoting too many resources to remedial education, while graduation rates continue to be far below what the country needs, even when measured after six years rather than the traditional four; and too many students are leaving our institutions without degrees but with significant debt (Indiana Commission for Higher Education, 2012).

• So the significance of the graduation rate policy means leaders must improve graduation rates at community colleges by managing organizational change, innovation, and the implementation of new educational strategies.

ANALYSIS (CONTINUED)

• The current graduation rate policy must change because students whom are not college ready forces Ivy Tech Community College and other community colleges to manage minimum resources because so much of their resources are used for remedial education of these students. Reasonable entrance standards, coupled with a more compassionate approach to advising and enrolling community college students, will accomplish more genuine postsecondary student success and equity gains than any other combined set of policies and, importantly, it will do so without enervating academic standards (Fain, 2014).

ANALYSIS continued

We must change the graduation rate policy to get an accurate calculation of graduation rates for community colleges so that we may address the other obvious issue of college readiness and its impact. According to our analysis and a report filed by the Chronicle of Higher Education (Colleges, 2012), community college leaders, and thus, Ivy Tech's leaders, are not yet able to form a consensus on what it means for students to be “college ready,” which impacts the quality of education provided and is further exacerbated by the inaccurate graduation rate policy.

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• According to Bardach (2012), the first step for process which led to the Department of Education graduation policy was to define the problem because by defining the problem you create the purpose for researching possible solutions. Initially the fact finding began with looking at deciding how to calculate the graduation rate of four year institution without regard for community colleges. Studies and data needed to be gathered to determine if a real problem existed and to what extent the graduation rate policy negatively impacts community colleges and their students. Therefore, it is suggested to keep the problem definition stripped down to a mere description, and leave it open where you will look for solutions (Bardach, 2012).

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step two for developing the graduation rate policy was to assemble some evidence which involves reading documents, hunting libraries, poring over studies and statistics, interviewing people, traveling to interviews, waiting for appointments, and so on (Bardach, 2012).

• Data is said to be facts or representation of facts about the real world. Evidence is said to be information that affects the existing beliefs of people about significant features of the problem you are studying and how it might be solved or mitigated. While information consists of data that may have “meaning” in the sense that they can help you sort the world into different logical or empirical categories (Bardach, 2012). As policy analysts we must be able to evaluate the facts/evidence without automatically accepting the philosophy associated with them. Academia research is not the end game, it is only one mechanism used to help us understand and prepare

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step three for the graduation rate was the construct of alternatives, meaning policy options or alternative courses of action or alternative strategies of intervention to solve or mitigate the problem (Bardach, 2012).

• During this process the stakeholders had to determine various courses of action for the solution of calculating the graduation rates for institutions of high learning. During this process of developing this policy the negative consequences impacting community colleges were either an unintended consequence or it was totally missed. All policies have them, for lawmakers cannot imagine or project all possible consequences of their policies as they come to life in the real world (Jimenez, 2010). Do we focus on adjusting the graduation rate policy or college readiness? Or is it necessary to develop strategies to address both?

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step four for the graduation rate policy development was selecting the criteria which involved the framing of evaluating the policy with the two competing interests of employers and employees. One of the most important criterion is efficiency which involves the evaluation of cost-effectiveness and benefit-cost studies.

• One of the most powerful tools of policy analysis is the ability to foresee or measure unintended consequences. All policies have them, for lawmakers cannot imagine or project all possible consequences of their policies as they come to life in the real world (Jimenez, 2010). One of the unintended outcomes from the graduation rate policy has been an inaccurate rate which negatively impacts community colleges and their students.

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step five for the graduation rate policy development involved projection of the outcomes from the input of all stakeholders within the process.

• This is a very difficult stage of the process because “policy” is about the future, not about the past or present, so we can never be certain about how the future will occur, even if we prepare for it with the best of intentions and the most critical of policy designs (Bardach, 2012).

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Policy analysis is a social and political activity. True, analysts take moral and intellectual responsibility for the quality of their policy-analytic work. But policy analysis goes beyond personal decision making.

• First, the subject matter concerns the lives and well-being of large numbers of their fellow citizens.

• Second, the process and results of policy analysis usually involve other professionals and interested parties: it is often done in teams or office wide settings; the immediate consumer is a “client” of some sort, such as a hierarchical superior; and the ultimate audience will include diverse subgroups of politically attuned supporters and opponents of the analysts’ work. All of these facts condition the nature of policy analysis and have a bearing on the nature of what is meant by “quality work” (Bardach, 2012). Community colleges currently continues to lobby and meet with the Department of Education to change the current graduation policy.

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step six for developing the graduation rate policy was to confront the trade-offs which occur when one of the policy alternatives under consideration is believed to produce a better outcome than any other of the alternatives with regard to every single alternative criterion. One of the most common trade-offs in this step happens to be between money and good or service received by some proportion of the public (Bardach, 2012).

• One of the most powerful tools of policy analysis is the ability to foresee or measure unintended consequences. All policies have them, for lawmakers cannot imagine or project all possible consequences of their policies as they come to life in the real world (Jimenez, 2010). When the Department of Education developed the graduation policy they may not have foreseen the impact it may have on community colleges.

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step seven for developing the graduation rate policy involved policy analysts to stop, focus, narrow, deepen and to decide (Bardach, 2012). This need to focus, narrow, and deepen analysis means analysts must think very serious about the politics of getting this alternative legitimated and adopted, and the design of the ongoing institutional features that will have the ability and resources to implement the policy or program in the future (Bardach, 2012). Serious policy changes are required to support the community colleges' efforts to remediate basic skills deficiencies and increase the goal of the nation's future college graduation goals (American Council on Education, 2011).

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• Step eight for developing the graduation rate policy involved telling your story which means redefining your problem, conceptualizing your alternatives, reconsidering your criteria, reassessing your projections, reevaluating your trade-offs for preparation to address your audience (Bardach, 2012).

• For community colleges and public universities, state governments decide education policies and allocate funding to schools. Thus, they control and shape many policies of educational institutions and have an impact on decision-making. The legal system also acts as an important external factor for the education system and Ivy Tech Community College. For example, the courts have removed the consideration of race in university admissions, promotions, and other award-related activities, and faculty hiring (Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, 2014).

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• The last strategy following the eight step process involved the implementation of the policy in the workplace for the purpose of gauging its impact in the workplace, determine any drawbacks to employers or employees, and assess any financial ramifications.

• All social problems in the United States, along with our policy responses to them, are socially constructed; that is, they have been created by human beings in previous generations and continue to be held in place by our consent and our failure to change them (Jimenez, 2010).

• Without making changes to the graduation rate policy and improving the college readiness of students’ community college enrollment, funding, and student loan availability will be negatively impacted.

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• After changing the Department of Education’s graduation rate policy community colleges will still have to implement strategies to improve graduation rates.

• The study of one initiative at the City University of New York shows enormous promise for improving graduation rates at community colleges. The program, Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP), doubled the share of students graduating within three years (to 40 percent from 22 percent). ASAP also increased the share enrolling in a four-year college (to 25 percent from 17 percent), so it may also, in time, increase the share earning a bachelor’s degree (Dynarski, 2015).

Analysis (CONTINUED)

• The ASAP initiative gave students a lot of attention. They frequently met with advisers: 38 times a year, compared with six times a year for non-ASAP students. Unlike typical CUNY advisers, who have a caseload of 600 to 1,500 students, ASAP counselors advised 60 to 80 students. The ASAP students also got more tutoring, attending an average of 34 sessions (compared with seven in the control group).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, graduation rates, analyzed without comment or an explanation of the context, provide an unfairly negative impression of community college performance. The public and policy makers need to understand that the mission of community colleges is to enroll almost all students who present themselves regardless of their projected ability to earn a degree. It is also a fact that community colleges serve many students whom are not seeking a degree; therefore, college completion rates for community college students with concrete degree intentions would be somewhat higher than the overall rates. The public, policy makers, and anyone else analyzing the performance of community colleges should be made aware of these considerations (Bailey, Leinbach & Jenkins, 2005).

REFERENCES

• American Council on Education (2011) http://www.acenet.edu/the-presidency/columns-and-features/Pages/America%E2%80%99s-Community-Colleges-The-Key-to-the-College-Completion-Challenge.aspx

• Bailey,T., Leinbach, D. & Jenkins, D. (2005) IS STUDENT SUCCESS LABELED INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE? STUDENT GOALS AND GRADUATION RATES IN THE ACCOUNTABILITY DEBATE AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES. Community College Research Center Teachers College, Columbia University

• Bardach, E. (2012). A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path to more effective problem solving (4th ed.). Los Angeles: Thousand Oaks: Sage ; CQ Press.

• Bloomberg.com. (201m4, April 14). small-u-s-colleges-battle-death-spiral-as-enrollment- drops.htl. Retrieved from http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-14/small-u-s-colleges-battle-death-spiral-as-enrollment-drops.html

• Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper Perennial.

• Colleges, A. A. (2012). Reclaiming the American Dream: Community Colleges and the Nation’s Future. Chronicle of Higher Education.

REFERENCES

• Dynarski, S. (2015). How to Improve Graduation Rates at Community Colleges. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/12/upshot/how-to-improve-graduation-rates-at-community-colleges.html?_r=1

• Fain, P. (2014) Open Access and Inequity: “Too many unprepared students are enrolling in community college, argues a new book, which takes on both open-access admissions policies and the "completion agenda." Inside Higher Education https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/06/17/new-book-says-community-colleges-should-tighten-their-admissions-policies

• Indiana Commission for Higher Education (2012). The Strategic Plan For IVY TECH COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF INDIANA. Retrieved from: http://www.ivytech.edu/studentsuccess/StrategicPlan2025.pdf

• Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana (2014). Technical Helpdesk. Retrieved from: http://wwwcc.ivytech.edu/helpdesk/

• Ivy Tech Community College website https://www.ivytech.edu/files/1.2-StandardsForAdmission_3-3-15.pdf

• Jimenez, J. (2010). Social policy and social change: Toward the creation of social and economic justice. Thousand Oaks, CA; Sage.