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. . Examine the challenges students face in the first year of college Identify factors creating challenges Review research on college student success Consider strategies for preparing students for the college transition Suggest available resources for educators. . . . Why is the Transition to C
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1. Preparing High School Students for College Success June 8, 2009
Successful By Design: 2009 High School Summit / High Schools that Work State Conference
Austin, TX
2. Examine the challenges students face in the first year of collegeIdentify factors creating challengesReview research on college student successConsider strategies for preparing students for the college transitionSuggest available resources for educators
3. Why is the Transition to College So Difficult? Myths or reality??
We made it, they should be able to as well
Smart high school will do well in college
Only at-risk students need help in college
All ability levels are challenged
4. Cultural Transitions FY is not grade 13
Cultural differences between high school and college exist
Osmosis is not effective!
5. Predictable Phases in the First-Year Student Experience Pre-enrollment Phase
Euphoria and excitement
Anticipation
Expectations formed and plans constructed
6. Transition Phase
Arrival / beginning of classes
New freedoms
Learning routines and setting behavior patterns
Facing academic challenges
7. Establishment Phase
Newness wears off
Academic realities learned
Help-seeking decisions are considered
Balancing of freedom and responsibility
8. New Beginnings Phase
Return for the second term
Academic realities learned
Heightened interest in study skills and academic majors
9. Making Commitments Phase
Independent decision-making
Time and effort choices
Career/major decision-making
Future planning
10. Success vs Struggles
Think of two students
#1 a high achieving college-bound student
#2 a marginal college-bound student
11. Personal responsibility
Self management
Time management
Commitment
Self control
Stress management
Motivation
Resilience
General mood
Optimism / self-authorship
12. Emotional Intelligence Reuven Bar-Ons EQ-I model Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Adaptability
Stress Management
General Mood
13. Predicting Collegiate Success Academic knowledge and cognitive abilities as criteria for collegiate admissions and scholarship competition
Emotional intelligence / softer skills as persistence and success factors
14. IQ vs EQ IQ - set at birth, changes very little over time
EI developmental, EI skills can be taught / developed
This is good news indeed!
15. High school teachers and counselors may have more influence on students college success than previously imagined.
What can you do to impact student success?
To develop EI skills in students?
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17. Research on First-Year Student Success Institutional Fit (Tinto and others)
Congruence between student and institutional goals and values.
Can students needs be met at their institution?
Can the fit be cultivated?
18. Social and Academic Integration (Tinto, Pascarella and Terenzini, Light, others)
Learning and retention increase when what students learn outside the classroom is incorporated inside the classroom
Relevance and integration
19. Involvement and Community (Astin, Kuh, Sanford, Light)
Time on task
Link between quality and quantity of involvement and student performance and satisfaction
Positive interaction with peers creates sense of belonging and increased satisfaction
20. Engagement (Kuh et al, NSSE)
An extension of the work on involvement and community
Purposeful, intentional, and connected
Links cognitive and affective dimensions
21. Learning (Astin, Kuh, Tinto, others)
Is key to success
Is root of persistence and success
Book learning and life skills learning are both critical
22. Institutional Practices Supporting College Student Success New student orientation
Summer bridge programs
Programs directed at micro-populations
Special welcoming events
Convocations
First-year / summer reading programs
23. Institutional Practices Supporting Student Success First-year seminars
Learning communities
Service-learning initiatives
Early alert programs
Parent programs / initiatives / events / newsletters
24. Potential Practices for Helping High School Students Prepare for the College Transition What can you do structurally and programmaticly??
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26. Potential Practices for Helping High School Students Prepare for the College Transition Establish linkages with colleges and universities where your students continue their education.
Define first-year student success and share with students and families
Communicate high expectations
27. Engage alumni in programs to prepare seniors for college
Educate parents and families on the student experience
Encourage and expect participation in proven institutional programs
Communicate directly to students with developmentally appropriate messages
28. In summary
..Using What We Know Consider student needs, characteristics, and phases
Incorporate existing institutional support structures
Think and plan developmentally (lessons from Maslow)
Continually evaluate, change, and renew efforts
29. Selected Resources Periodicals
Gardner, J.N., Siegel, M.J., and Cutright, M. Focusing on the First Year Student. AGB Priorities, Fall 2001, No. 17.
Hunter, M. S. & Gahagan, J. (2003, September/October). It takes a year. About Campus, 8(4), 31-32.
Peer Review: Successful Transitions to College Through First-Year Programs, AAC&U, Summer 2006, 8(3).
30. Selected Resources Books Kuh, G. D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J. H., & Whitt, E. J. (2005). Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Light, R. J. (2001). Making the most of college: Students speak their minds. Cambridge, Massachusetts, and London, England: Harvard University Press.
Pascarella, E. T. & Terenzini, P.T. (2005) How college affects students: A Third Decade of Research, Volume 2. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Upcraft, M. L., Gardner, J. N., & Barefoot, B. O. (Eds.), (2004). Challenging and supporting the first-year student: A handbook for improving the first Year of college. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
31. Selected Resources Electronic Resources www.sc.edu/fye
www.fyfoundations.org/
www.gseis.ucla.edu/heri/
http://www.ed.psu.edu/cshe/
32. Selected Resources for Parents and Families Empowering Parents of First-Year College Students: A Guide for Success
A Guide for Families of Commuter Students: Supporting Your Students Success
A Family Guide to Academic Advising
Available from the National Resource Center for the First Year Experience and Students in Transition
http://www.sc.edu/fye/publications/catalog/ffys/index.html
33. Selected Resources Events
22nd International Conference on the First-Year Experience, July 20-23, 2009, Montreal
29th Annual Conference on The First-Year Experience, February 6-10, 2010, Denver
www.sc.edu/fye
34. Contact Information Mary Stuart Hunter
Assistant vice Provost and Executive Director
National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in in Transition
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
803.777.4761 shunter@sc.edu