success is what counts. 1 state of atd: march 2011 carol lincoln senior vice president, atd
TRANSCRIPT
Success is what counts. 1
State of ATD: March 2011Carol Lincoln
Senior Vice President, ATD
Success is what counts. 2
Today’s Comments
Where ATD is, Where it is going
MDRC Interim report on experience at Round One Colleges
You are part of a “movement” and you are the change we hope to see in our institutions and in the lives of our students.
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ATD is a Growing, Vibrant Network of Innovators and Reformers
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ATD’s Brand is Strong, Potential is Significant
Well known for data driven change, culture of evidence, student success and completion mission
ATD institutions serve over 2 million students
ATD is aligned with national goals for community colleges and with goals of major foundations:
Obama: 5 million additional awards by 2020 ATD colleges could provide 20% of those awards
Lumina: 60% adults with PS credentials by 2025
Gates: double the number of 16-24 year olds with PS credentials with value in the work place
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ATD’s Post-Demonstration “Look”
ATD Inc – single-purpose organization: community college student success and completion
National location and national voice
Refine and improve services, reduce costs, steer planning teams to high impact strategies, utilize technology, re-grants to colleges
Grow ATD in high need regions and states
Explore statewide models for entry into ATD
Double down on challenges raised by MDRC/CCRC evaluation: faculty engagement, IR/IT capacity, scale, and teaching and learning – see Public Agenda series
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Leader Colleges as National Exemplars
Follow ATD’s institutional improvement model
3 years of upward trend data on one or more ATD outcome measures – see “Project Goldmine”
Applications each spring
No fee associated with Leader College Status
Benefits, privileges, responsibilities, continued improvement
3 year “requalification” requirement
50 Leader Colleges by 2013
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Platform for Testing and Spreading Innovation
15 colleges, 6 states in Developmental Education Initiative to scale effective dev ed practices/policies
13 colleges in Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Statway/Quantway Initiative
7 colleges in Casey Foundation Center for Working Families expansion
Completion by Design
Strategy Institute is a key forum
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Exciting and Important Future
3-5 target states as proof points
135 colleges at steady state
50 leader colleges by 2013
More subsets of colleges innovating particular strategies
Grants to colleges for peer coaching/learning, scale
New strategic partnerships – e.g., Bank of America
Continuing involvement of founding partners
Stronger role for chancellors and presidents
Increased services – e.g., Trustee Institutes
Turning the Tide: Five Years of Achieving the Dream
in Community Colleges
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States and Colleges in this Evaluation
TX
PA
NM
TX
FL
VA
NC
TX
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How MDRC Measured Progress in Building a Culture of Evidence
Field visits to all 26 colleges near the beginning of their implementation grants (2006) and at the end (2009)
Review colleges’ annual progress reports
Review coach and data coach reports
Survey of college administrators and faculty
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How MDRC Examined Student Outcomes
Used colleges’ cohort data from 2002-2009
Compared trends before and after the initiative began to determine whether there was significant change
Examined major indicators of student success, such as pass rates out of developmental education and persistence
Examined all 26 colleges together – not individual institutions
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Achieving the Dream’s Five-Step Process for Institutional Change
(1) Commit
Leadership
(2) Use Data to
Prioritize Actions
(3) Engage
Stakeholders
(4) Implement and
Evaluate
(5)Establish a Culture of
Continuous Improvement
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The Bottom Line:
Most colleges made meaningful progress in building a culture of evidence
Colleges implemented many strategies to improve student success – but they were torn between “breadth” and “depth”
To date, not much movement on institution-wide measures of student success
Exceptions: Modest improvements in completion of Gateway English courses and percent of attempted courses completed
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The Colleges Implemented Nearly 200 Strategies to Improve Student Success
Student support services (e.g., advising, student success courses)
Instructional supports (e.g, tu-toring and supplemental in-struction)
Changes in classroom instruc-tion (e.g., learning communi-ties, curricular reforms)
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Colleges Reported a Tradeoff between Intensity and Scale of Interventions
High Intensity Strategies
Reached Over 10 %Reached Under 10 %
Low Intensity Strategies
Reached Over 10 %Reached Under 10 %
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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Entering Fall Cohort
Per
cen
tag
e o
f S
tud
ents
Post-ATD trend
Trend in Developmental English Completion – within 2 years
Pre-ATD trend
Initiative Launch
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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Entering Fall Cohort
Per
cen
tag
e o
f S
tud
ents
Post-ATD trend
Trend in Fall-to-Fall Persistence
Pre-ATD trend
Predicted trend absent ATD
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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 20070
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Entering Fall Cohort
Per
cen
tag
e o
f S
tud
ents
Post-ATD trend
Trend in Gateway English Completion
Pre-ATD trend
Predicted trend absent ATD
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Achieving the Dream Set a High Bar for Judging Effectiveness
Institutional change is a gradual process
More students need to be touched by interventions to “move the needle” on institutional measures
Story is not fully written:
Two more years of follow-up at Round 1 colleges
Evaluation of Round 3 colleges in Washington State in progress
Evaluation of ATD’s 2 year and 3 year model in progress
Greatest lessons may emerge from further analysis of college variances from the average and of the experience of more recent cohorts
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Implications of the Evaluation
Achieving the Dream has served as a catalyst for institutional change – but the work is ongoing.
Bringing effective interventions to scale is the next major challenge.
Will require continuing/increased faculty and staff involvement.
Need to tackle what happens in the classroom – especially in developmental education.
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Math In-Order Course Completion and Enrollment
3+ levels below
2 levels below
1 level below
GKAlgebra
Referred to Level
3+96,653
TOTAL: 10%
Not completed 24%
Not completed 11%
Not completed 5%
Not enrolled21%
Not enrolled15%
Not enrolled7%
Not enrolled5%
• Sample: 2001-2005 cohorts, tracked for three years
Passed55%
Enrolled79%
Enrolled40%
Passed29%
Enrolled22%
Passed17%
Enrolled12%
Not completed 2%
Turning the Tide:Five Years of Achieving the Dream in
Community Colleges
Is available for download at www.mdrc.org and at www.achievingthedream.org
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