Top Ten Students: The First Year

Kathryn Doherty

Office of Assessment

June 27, 2006

What Is This Study About?

Looks at the experience of 188 students enrolled in the Top Ten program Spring 06

Uses a 47-item questionnaire and 4 focus groups to collect information

Has data from 108 students who completed the survey and 35 students who participated in focus groups

Looks at incoming data for 403 Top Ten candidates

Asks “what happened” and “what can we do better”

Who Were our 05-06 Top Ten Students

Race/Ethnicity: 50% African American, 38% White

53% Baltimore City, 47% Baltimore County

Gender: 24% Male, 76% Female Mean HS GPA: 3.56 Mean TU GPA: 2.40 Mean SAT score: 925

Where Did Our 05-06 Top Ten Students Come From? 47% from Baltimore

City high schools 53% from Baltimore

County high schools 63% commute to

Towson 37% live on campus

Who Were the Top Ten Students Who Responded to the Survey?

63% commute to Towson

45% spend 6 or more hours a week commuting

53% spend 5 hours a week or less studying

What Do Top Ten Students Say About Their Overall Experience?

82% of respondents rate their academic courses at TU as Good or Excellent

Almost 80% of respondents rate their overall experience at TU as Good or Excellent

How Does This Compare With All First Year Students at TU?

Top Ten Students

NSSE First Year

Overall Experience Good or Excellent

80% 87%

What Do Top Ten Students Say About Their Academic Preparation?

63% felt that they were Somewhat or A Little prepared for Towson’s academic programs

40% felt it was Difficult or Very Difficult to earn A’s or B’s in their TU classes

65% felt their academic skill level impacted their first year performance Some or A Lot

How Does This Compare With First Year Students Overall?

Top Ten Students

First Year Students Overall

Difficult to earn A’s and B’s

40% 36%

What Was the Top Ten First Year Like?

Transition to Towson was tough High school did not prepare them well

enough Time management skills were a major

problem

What Did Top Ten Students Feel Like?

Culture shock was really hard Friendliness was an issue. No one talks. No extra curricular activities for

commuters Hard to get used to students who were

so different Stuck with their groups, didn’t want to

step out of the box

Top Ten Students Feel Supported…

86% of respondents said Towson provided the support they needed to succeed academically

76% Said it was not difficult at all or only somewhat difficult to get support for academic work

79% said the quality of academic advising at Towson was Excellent or Good

Yet Not Connected…

57% never met with their Top Ten mentor

58% never met with a tutor

45% never participated in co-curricular activities

36% never studied with students outside class

And Not Engaged at Towson

83% Never participated in intramurals 56% never participated in cultural events 85% never participated in student

government 70% never volunteered on campus or in

the community 45% never participated in clubs or

organizations

How Does This Compare? Top Ten CIRP NSSE

Never participated in co-curricular

45% 20% 41%

Never studied with others outside of class

36% 15% 16%

Never volunteered 70% 22% 29%

Top Ten Students Tried to Adjust…

“I wasn’t used to having different classes and a different schedule. Time management was an issue. So was getting up on time. There was no help here…”

But Had Trouble with Transition…

“I was the valedictorian in my high school. I thought college would be easy when I came here and it wasn’t. Also, the commute was overwhelming…”

And Felt the Loss of Their Communities…

“In high school, I had the grades. I had the community and I had the sports. Here it was too hard to get involved…”

What Impacted Top Ten Success?

25% said work 20% said course load 44% said motivation to succeed 48% said high school preparation

What Did Top Ten Students Find Difficult?

49% Managing time 36% Making new friends 22% Keeping up with course work 35% Finding time to study 29% Paying for college

How Did They Feel About Their Academic Performance?

Average, could have been better Room for improvement Could have done A LOT better Should have done A LOT better Great, very good, have done well Poor, not my best

How Did They Feel About Their Major?

Still deciding Switching Like it a lot Will stick with it

How Did They Feel About Their Classes?

Good but challenging Good but difficult Good but a lot of work Good but not prepared for them Good instructors, learned a lot Good but more work than expected

Have Their Goals Changed?

Still the same: graduate with a degree, be successful

Will have to work harder than expected Determined to participate more Will focus more on school than social life Will go on to graduate school Finding a career I like

How successful were they?

61% achieved a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better

49% of students from Baltimore City high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better

75% of students from Baltimore County high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better

How successful were they?

51% of African American Top Ten students earned a CUM GPA of 2.50 or above

78% of White Top Ten students earned a CUM GPA of 2.50 or above

Comparing Top Ten Success to Overall FTFT Success

Fall 2005 GPA

All FTFT 2.81

All Top Ten 2.50

All FTFT African American 2.52

All Top Ten African American 2.16

All FTFT White 2.87

All Top Ten White 2.91

Differences by Groups

There were no statistically significant differences by male/female

Top Ten White students were statistically more likely to do well in the program

Baltimore County Top Ten Students were statistically more likely to do well in the program

Baltimore County Students More Successful

Baltimore City Baltimore County

HS GPA 3.48 3.68

SAT Verbal 416 509

SAT Math 417 525

Fall 05 2.16 2.88

Spring 06 1.89 2.63

TU CUM 2.05 2.79

Comparing Top Ten Success from First Semester to Second

Fall 2005 Spring 2006

All Top Ten 2.50 2.35

B City 2.15 2.01

B County 2.88 2.72

B City African Am. 2.05 1.92

B City White 2.54 2.48

B County African Am. 2.54 2.47

B County White 2.99 2.82

Fall 06: Who Are Our Top Ten Candidates?

Race/Ethnicity: 38% African American, 38% White

Baltimore City: 82%, Baltimore County: 18%

Gender: 25% Male, 74% Female Mean HS GPA: 3.66 Mean SAT score: 1004

How Does This Compare with Fall 05

Fall 2005

Top Ten

All FTFT

Fall 2006

Top Ten Candidates

HS GPA 3.56 3.41 3.66

SAT Total

925 1057 1004

TU CUM 2.58 2.81 2.24*

*using SAT, HS GPA, district and race/ethnicity as predictors, accounting for 33% of variance in predicted CUM GPA.

Predicted Success for Fall 06 by District

Baltimore City

Top Ten Candidates

Baltimore County

Top Ten Candidates

HS GPA 3.70 3.68

SAT Total 1005 1008

TU CUM* 2.24* 2.56*

*using SAT, HS GPA and ethnicity as predictors.

Predicted Success for Fall 06 By Race/Ethnicity

African American Top Ten

Candidates

White Top Ten

Candidates

HS GPA 3.56 3.84

SAT Total 896 1178

TU CUM* 2.10 2.60

*using SAT, HS GPA and school district as predictors.

This Year, Top Ten Students Were Successful

61% achieved a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better

49% of students from Baltimore City high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better

75% of students from Baltimore County high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better

What About Predictions for Fall 06 Candidates ?

Looking at SAT, HS GPA, district, and ethnicity, 34% may achieve a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better

27% of students from Baltimore City high schools may achieve a CUM of 2.50 or better

51% of students from Baltimore County high schools may achieve a CUM of 2.50 or better

How Accurate Are Our Predictions?

Regression analysis predicted 69% of the variance in TU Spring 06 GPA using SAT, HS GPA, TU Fall 05 GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors

Discriminant analysis correctly predicted TU CUM GPA above/below 2.50 with 70% accuracy using SAT, HS GPA, TU Fall 05 GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors

What Are the Prediction Relationships? Moderate statistically significant relationship

between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM for all Top Ten students

Weak relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at Baltimore City Top Ten

Very weak relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at African American Top Ten students

Very strong relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at white Top Ten students

Is There a Cut-Off Point for Success

05-06 Top Ten Students

06-07 Top Ten Candidates*

Minimum HS GPA

3.40 4.01

Minimum SAT Total

590 990

TU CUM 2.50 2.53

*using SAT, HS GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors, accounting for 33% of variation in TU GPA.

What Do Top Ten Students Say Will Help? More time More help More meetings and gatherings More checking up and following through More study skill training More money More contact with advisors and mentors More opportunities for commuters

Specifically…

Don’t just give them the money and forget about them

Set up regular meeting times with mentors

Help them connect with the rest of the university

For next year, Towson should…

“Provide more opportunities to meet a greater diversity of people…”

“Prepare student more for the challenges of college…”

“Take into account the trauma of the transition…”

Advice for next year’s students…

“Know your resources, find out, do your own planning…”

“Believe people when they tell you college is hard…”

“Don’t depend on others; do it yourself…”

Will They Volunteer to Help Next Year’s Top Ten?

40% Yes 10% No 50% Maybe

In The End, What Matters Most to Top Ten Students?

“It’s an honor to be part of the program so cherish it and work hard to keep it…”

“It forces you to work hard but involvement will only come when you’re ready…”

“Be active. Try everything…”

Recommendations From the Data Develop accurate and

reliable criteria for selection

Identify at-risk students upon acceptance

Implement early and ongoing support systems

Require participation in support activities

Define and continue structured cohort groups