Focus on Diagnosis: Persistence at TCC

1. Focus on Diagnosis:Persistence at TCC TULSA COMMUNITY COLLEGE Julie Woodruff, Associate Professor of English Mary Millikin, Director of Institutional Research representing the AtD Data Team February 3, 2010 © 2010 Tulsa Community College Data Team

2. 19,198 students • Four campuses city-wide • 62% female and 38% male • 26% minority students • 3,531 first-time freshmen • 44% of students under age 21 • 74% university parallel TCC Fall 2009 Profile

3. 4 – Component Process

4. 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

5. 1972 1485 989 968 781 717 Persist or Graduate

6. Graduation Rate by Reading Placement 1404 263 305

7. Graduation Rate By Math Placement 648 48 143 1133

8. YEAR PRIORITY • 2008-09 • 2009-10 • 2010-11 • First-time Freshmen Persistence • Developmental Reading • Developmental Mathematics • African-American Male Student Persistence Achieving the Dream Calendar

9. 4 – Component Process

10. Component 2: Why? Student focus groups Faculty and staff focus groups Literature review

11. Planning • Recruiting students • Ordering supplies Focus Group Preparation

12. 12 student focus groups • 3 focus groups at each of 4 campuses • 101 students • Student participants in focus groups matched demographics of students in first-time freshmen cohort Student Focus Group Participants

13. Research Question:“What barriers or challenges did you experience in persisting to your second semester?”

14. Student Results

15. Adjusting to college • Balancing school, employment, and life • Difficulty choosing courses • Communication issues with instructors • Textbook issues Most Frequent Barriers

16. Persistence Findings Service Barriers Academic Barriers Adjustment Barriers 82% of all barriers fell into one of 3 major types or clusters.

17. Faculty and Staff Results

18. Faculty/Staff Research Question:“What barriers or challenges do you experience in helping students persist to their second semester?”

19. 2 focus groups offered per campus* • 7 total groups conducted • 64 total participants; 25 faculty and 39 staff • First 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. Faculty and Staff Focus Groups *One campus filled one focus group; the second group on that campus was not attended.

20. Student attitudes/motivation • Students not academically prepared • Textbooks • Part-time instruction issues • Online courses • Advisement-related issues • Financial Aid Most Frequent Faculty/Staff Obstacles

21. Persistence Findings: Clusters Policies & Administrative Practices Instruction Student Attitudes & Motivation 76% of all barriers fell into one of 3 major types or clusters.

22. 4 – Component Process

23. Component 3: Intervention From student and faculty barriers: Strategies for Academic Success course

24. Strategies for Academic Success Intervention:Design Hiring Criteria Assessments Enrollment Limits Training Course Objectives Textbook

25. Faculty Support Website on Blackboard • Campus Lead Instructors • Textbook Author Presentation to TCC Faculty Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Support

26. 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

27. Campus Lead Instructors • Responsibilities • Faculty (full-time employees of the college preferred) • Responsibilities • Compensation Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Organization and Structure cont’d

28. Time required to update faculty support site • Getting faculty to read and use available online support resources in Blackboard • Number of faculty to mentor • Dependence of some faculty on lead faculty for many lesson plans and activities Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Focus Groups Reveal Most Frequent Challenges for Lead Faculty

29. Course Planning, Preparation, Delivery • Academically Unprepared Students • Scheduling Student Support Services • Instructor Collaboration Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Focus Groups Reveal Most Frequent Challenges for Faculty

30. Training Survey: Content, Needs, Timing, Satisfaction • Results to Intervention Team Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Formative Assessment of Training

31. 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: Changes

32. Common Cognitive Assessment • Complete pilot • Implement Fall 2010 • Based on Training Survey, review training and modify, if needed Strategies for Academic Success Intervention: Next Steps

33. Component 4: Assessment and Modification Evaluate Strategies for Academic Success course Student results Faculty feedback Lead faculty feedback

34. Student Results

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

36. Fall-to-Spring Persistence Strategies Survival Neither *Significant at alpha < .01

37. Fall-to-Spring Persistencefor Highest At-risk Students Reading I Non-Survival Survival *Significant at alpha < .01

38. Fall-to-Fall Persistence Strategies Survival Neither *Significant at alpha < .01

39. Fall-to-Fall Retention for the MostAt-risk Students Reading I Non-Survival Survival *Not significant at alpha < .01

40. Basic Math • Writing II (Developmental Writing) • College Algebra • Biology for Majors • US History 1492 to Civil War Era • Introduction to Psychology Significant Differences in Course Grades Between Strategies and Non-Strategies Students in *Significant at alpha < .01

41. Persistence InterventionAfrican-American Male Student Intervention

42. 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 1 -- What’s Wrong?

43. 7 student focus groups • Facilitators and scribes: African-American male TCC employees • Challenges with recruiting participants • Data analysis in process African-American Male Student:Component 2 -- Why?

44. 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: Focus Group Preliminary Themes

45. 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 in Component 2--Why?

46. 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 Next Steps cont’d:

47. Component 4-- Assessment and Modification • Assess intervention formatively and summatively • Based on assessment data, modify intervention to increase effectiveness African-American Male Student Intervention: Next Steps cont’d

48. Thank you