Focus on Diagnosis:Persistence at TCC

TULSA COMMUNITY COLLEGEJulie Woodruff, Associate Professor of English

Mary Millikin, Director of Institutional Researchrepresenting the AtD Data Team

February 3, 2010

© 2010 Tulsa Community College Data Team

TCC Fall 2009 Profile

19,198 studentsFour campuses city-wide62% female and 38% male26% minority students 3,531 first-time freshmen44% of students under age 2174% university parallel

4 – Component Process

What’s Wrong?

Why?

Intervention

Assessment and Modification

Component 1: What’s Wrong?

•Institutional Research conducted a comprehensive analysis of student success disaggregated by demographics

•Core Team selected three priorities for further analysis over next four years

Persist or Graduate

0

20

40

60

80

100100%

75%

50% 49%40% 36%

Per

sist

ence

Rat

e

1972 1485 989 968 781 717

Graduation Rateby Reading Placement

1404 263 305

Graduation RateBy Math Placement

648 48 143 1133

Achieving the Dream Calendar

YEAR PRIORITY

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

First-time Freshmen Persistence

Developmental Reading

Developmental Mathematics African-American Male

Student Persistence

4 – Component Process

• 75% of students do not persist from fall to spring semester

• 50% of students do not persist from fall to fall semester

What’s wrong?

Why?

Intervention

Assessment and Modification

Component 2: Why?

•Student focus groups

•Faculty and staff focus groups

•Literature review

Focus Group Preparation

Planning Recruiting studentsOrdering supplies

Student Focus Group Participants

12 student focus groups3 focus groups at each of 4 campuses

101 students Student participants in focus groups matched demographics of students in first-time freshmen cohort

Research Question:

“What barriers or challenges did you experience in persisting

to your second semester?”

Student Results

Most Frequent Barriers

Adjusting to college

Balancing school, employment, and life

Difficulty choosing courses

Communication issues with instructors

Textbook issues

Persistence Findings

Adjustment Barriers

Service Barriers

Academic Barriers

82% of all barriers fell into one of 3 major types or clusters.

Faculty and Staff Results

Faculty/Staff Research Question:

“What barriers or challenges do you experience in helping

students persist to their second semester?”

Faculty and Staff Focus Groups 2 focus groups offered per campus*7 total groups conducted 64 total participants; 25 faculty and 39 staffFirst groups on each campus were mixed

groups of faculty and staff volunteers. The second focus groups on each campus contained only faculty.

Asked faculty and staff what challenges they experience in helping students persist to their 2nd semester.

*One campus filled one focus group; the second group on that campus was not attended.

Most Frequent Faculty/Staff Obstacles

Student attitudes/motivation Students not academically prepared Textbooks Part-time instruction issues Online courses Advisement-related issues Financial Aid

Persistence Findings: Clusters

Student Attitudes & Motivation

Policies & Administrative

Practices

Instruction

76% of all barriers fell into one of 3 major types or clusters.

4 – Component Process

What’s Wrong?

• Students: Adjusting to college; Balancing school, employment and life, and others

• Faculty: Student under-preparation and motivation; college policies, and others

Why?

Intervention

Assessment and Modification

Component 3: Intervention

From student and faculty barriers: Strategies for Academic Success course

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention:Design

Hiring Criteria Assessments

Enrollment Limits Training

Course Objectives Textbook

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Support

Faculty Support Website on Blackboard

Campus Lead Instructors

Textbook Author Presentation to TCC Faculty

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Organization and Structure

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention Team Leader ◦Responsibilities◦Compensation

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention Team◦Responsibilities◦Membership and Structure

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Organization and Structure cont’d

Campus Lead Instructors◦Responsibilities

Faculty (full-time employees of the college preferred)◦Responsibilities◦Compensation

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Focus Groups Reveal Most Frequent Challenges for Lead Faculty

Time required to update faculty support siteGetting faculty to read and use available

online support resources in BlackboardNumber of faculty to mentorDependence of some faculty on lead faculty

for many lesson plans and activities

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Focus Groups Reveal Most Frequent Challenges for Faculty

Course Planning, Preparation, Delivery

Academically Unprepared Students

Scheduling Student Support Services

Instructor Collaboration

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Formative Assessment of Training

Training Survey: Content, Needs, Timing, Satisfaction

Results to Intervention Team

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Changes

Improved instructor directions for administering LASSI (Learning and Study Strategies Inventory)

Improved in-house online collection tools for instructors’ assessment data

Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Next Steps

Common Cognitive Assessment◦Complete pilot◦Implement Fall 2010

Based on Training Survey, review training and modify, if needed

Component 4: Assessment and Modification

Evaluate Strategies for Academic Success course •Student results•Faculty feedback•Lead faculty feedback

Student Results

Strategies for Academic Success (ENGL 1003) and College Survival (ENGL 0903)

Year 1: 2008-2009◦ 61 sections fall 2008◦ 42 sections spring 2009◦ 14 sections summer 2009

Groups for comparison from Fall 2008 first-time freshman cohort◦ Enrolled in Strategies (1,712)◦ Enrolled in College Survival (92)◦ Enrolled in neither course (1,851)

Fall-to-Spring Persistence

Series10%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

85%

66%59%

Strategies Survival Neither

*Significant at alpha < .01

Fall-to-Spring Persistencefor Highest At-risk Students

Series10%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

66%55%

SurvivalReading I Non-Survival

*Significant at alpha < .01

Fall-to-Fall Persistence

Series10%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

61%

39% 41%

Strategies Survival Neither

*Significant at alpha < .01

Fall-to-Fall Retention for the MostAt-risk Students

Series10%

10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

39% 37%

SurvivalReading I Non-Survival

*Not significant at alpha < .01

Significant Differences in Course Grades Between Strategies and Non-Strategies Students in

Basic MathWriting II (Developmental Writing)College AlgebraBiology for MajorsUS History 1492 to Civil War EraIntroduction to Psychology

*Significant at alpha < .01

Persistence Intervention

African-American Male Student Intervention

African-American Male Student:Component 1 -- What’s Wrong?

Fall-to-Spring Persistence = 60% 75% overall first-time freshmen

Fall-to-Fall Persistence = 36% 50% overall first-time freshmen

Persistence after three years, including graduation = 16%36% overall first-time freshmen persistence after three years (graduation or retention)

African-American Male Student:Component 2 -- Why?

7 student focus groups

Facilitators and scribes: African-American male TCC employees

Challenges with recruiting participants

Data analysis in process

African-American Male Student: Focus Group Preliminary Themes

◦Difficulty balancing school, employment, and life◦Needing academic and career goals◦Experiencing self-defeating attitudes and low

motivation◦Having insufficient academic preparation◦Experiencing stereotyping◦Wanting to see more AA male mentors, AA role

models, AA male students on campus

African-American Male Student:Next Steps in Component 2--Why?

Additional focus groups to be conducted with general faculty and general staff on all campuses

Research Question: “What are your challenges/obstacles in assisting African-American male students to persist at TCC?”

African-American Male Student Next Steps cont’d: Component 3--Intervention

◦Receive student focus group data◦Digest focus group data, literature reviews,

interviews◦Design intervention and assessment March-

July◦Implement intervention Fall 2010

African-American Male Student Intervention: Next Steps cont’d

Component 4-- Assessment and Modification

◦Assess intervention formatively and summatively

◦Based on assessment data, modify intervention to increase effectiveness

Thank you