Fostering Equity and Self-Determination in Community College Students

1. The Florida State University College of Education Fostering Equity and Inclusion through Self-Determination in Underprepared Community College Students Dr. Rebecca L. Brower Dr. Amanda N. Nix Dr. Tamara Bertrand Jones Dr. Shouping Hu Center for Postsecondary Success Florida State University

2. The Florida State University College of Education Dr. Rebecca Brower, Research Faculty, CPS

3. The Florida State University College of Education Dr. Amanda Nix, Postdoctoral Fellow, CPS

4. The Florida State University College of Education CPS Mission The mission of the Center for Postsecondary Success (CPS) is to provide support for, and foster collaboration among, those who are interested in conducting research on student success in postsecondary education, and to identify and evaluate institutional, state, and federal policies and programs that may serve to improve student success.

5. The Florida State University College of Education Our Funders The research reported here was supported by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A160166 to Florida State University, and in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not represent views of the Institute or the U.S. Department of Education, or the Gates Foundation.

6. The Florida State University College of Education Presentation Overview • Our Study • Self-determination Framework • Three Cases: • Instruction • Advising • Academic Support • Promising Practices • Q & A

7. The Florida State University College of Education Qualitative Data Sources • 37 site visits to 21 FCS institutions from fall 2014 to summer 2018. Data sources included: • Focus group & individual interviews with administrators, faculty, advisors, support staff, & students (over 1,100 total participants) • Institutional documents including syllabi, advising flowcharts, & other documents • Field observations from advising sessions and classroom observations of DE & gateway courses

8. The Florida State University College of Education Promoting Self-Determination for Equity (Ryan & Deci, 2017)

9. The Florida State University College of Education Case 1: Instruction Consider three questions while you listen to the first case: • What is the problem in this case? • How might the faculty member and student see the situation differently? • What solutions can you offer for this issue?

10. The Florida State University College of Education Case 1: Instruction

11. The Florida State University College of Education Case 1: Instruction Three questions: • What was the problem in this case? • How might the faculty member and student have seen the situation differently? • What solutions can you offer for this issue?

12. The Florida State University College of Education Promising Practices - Instruction • Give students autonomy over classroom decisions. • Foster competence by: • Clearly communicating expectations. • Giving frequent feedback. • Praising mastery tasks. • Emphasizing student improvement. • Increase feelings of relatedness with students by providing opportunities for interaction outside of class time.

13. The Florida State University College of Education Case 2: Advising Consider the same three questions: • What is the problem in this case? • How might the advisors and students see the situation differently? • What solutions can you offer for this issue?

14. The Florida State University College of Education Case 2: Advising

15. The Florida State University College of Education Case 2: Advising Three questions: • What was the problem in this case? • How might the advisors and students have seen the situation differently? • What solutions can you offer for this issue?

16. The Florida State University College of Education Promising Practices - Advising • Build autonomy by allowing students to make their own course decisions, while clearly communicating consequences • Help students identify areas of competence & align them with career aspirations. • Brainstorm “parallel pathways,” as appropriate. • Increase feelings of relatedness with students by: • Reducing the stigma of developmental education. • Learning the life circumstances of underprepared students to better advise them holistically. • Using examples and metaphors that resonate with students.

17. The Florida State University College of Education Case 3 (mini-cases): Academic Support Again, the three questions: • What is the problem in these cases? • How might the support staff and students see the situation differently? • What solutions can you offer for this issue?

18. The Florida State University College of Education Case 3 (mini-cases): Academic Support

19. The Florida State University College of Education Case 3 (mini-cases): Academic Support Three questions: • What was the problem in these cases? • How might the support staff and students have seen the situation differently? • What solutions can you offer for this issue?

20. The Florida State University College of Education Promising Practices - Academic Support • Academic support extends beyond tutoring and a writing center. • Include all staff who interact with students in campus planning committees and professional development opportunities for learning to foster student autonomy, competence, & relatedness. • Increase competence & relatedness with students by: • Extending service hours. • Advertising academic support programs. • Supporting acquisition of technology skills.

21. The Florida State University College of Education Promising Practices for Specific Populations - Assess Student Needs • Conduct focus groups with students to identify what’s working and what isn’t (“pain points”) for specific student populations. • From focus group data, develop surveys to assess student needs across campus. • Adult Students • First-Generation College Students • Students of Color • Students with Disabilities • Veterans • English Language Learners • Parents

22. The Florida State University College of Education Promising Practices for Specific Populations - Assess Student Needs 3. Also, consider the needs of “invisible minorities”: • Academically Underprepared Students • Economically Disadvantaged Students • LGBTQ Students • Undocumented Students • Students with Mental Health Challenges • Homeless Students • Formerly Incarcerated Students • Students Struggling with Addiction • Student Who Have Graduated from Foster or Family Care

23. The Florida State University College of Education Promising Practices for Specific Populations – Develop an Institutional Action Plan 4. Assess the barriers that affect the most students & where the needs are greatest. 5. Form working groups/committees across campus (including students) to develop action plans, which might include: • Hiring more diverse staff to role model & mentor students with whom they share identities. (Lived experience as expertise) • Creating professional development workshopsfor campus personnel on meeting the needs of specific student populations. (Complementary expertise) • Developing peer mentoring & tutoring programs for students to gain leadership skills & help students like them navigate college. (Horizontal mentoring)

24. The Florida State University College of Education Group Activity • Please form groups with others from your institution. Choose a leader to facilitate the discussion. • Each group member will share one of your institution’s greatest needs or biggest “pain points” for students. Take a quick vote about which need is the most pressing. • Discuss initial ideas about: a) how to study the most pressing need, b) which staff and students across campus could participate in a working group to develop an action plan, c) possible elements of the action plan. 4. The leader will report to the audience.

25. The Florida State University College of Education Thank You! Questions? Comments? Dr. Rebecca Brower rlb08c@my.fsu.edu Dr. Amanda Nix anix@fsu.edu Center for Postsecondary Success http://centerforpostsecondarysuccess.org/