Issues with Student Withdrawals
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Transcript Issues with Student Withdrawals
Using Benchmarking Data to
Improvement Student Retention:
What One College Did With The
National Community College
Benchmarking Project Data
Terri M. Manning, Ed.D.
Brad Bostian
Central Piedmont Community College
Charlotte, NC
Withdrawals Have Been a Problem
For years the College has believed that when it
came to withdrawals, we weren’t that different
from the national average”… but – there was no
national average. When other colleges were
contacted, withdrawals were not measured
consistently which made it impossible to
compare.
When we were invited to join the pilot group for
the Benchmarking study, I was a strong
supporter for comparing withdrawal rates.
Different Definitions
Withdrawal rates based on registration would look at the
total number withdraws based on the total number of grades
given (A,B,C,D,F,I,W). If one student takes four courses
and withdraws from one course she was retained in 75% of
her courses.
Withdrawal rates based on headcount would look at the
number of students who withdraw from all their courses and
completely exit the college. If a college has 25,000 students
and 2,500 withdraw from all their courses and exit the
college, they have an 90% retention rate.
Many colleges are studying this 2nd group to determine what
their “trigger” courses are… what courses were these
students taking that term when they dropped all their
courses and left the college… especially those who never
come back.
CPCC Students Who Withdraw from All
Their Classes and Exited the College
Total Headcount
25,000
Total Withdrawing All Together
(all classes)
20,000
16,933
15,848
17,052
16,215
15,000
10,000
(14.6%)
5,000
2,306
(14.4%)
2,446
(14.6%)
2,368
(14.2%)
2,415
0
Spring 2003
Fall 2003
* Based on Unduplicated Headcount
Spring 2004
Fall 2004
CPCC Registrations and Withdrawals
Based on Grades for Courses
Total Registrations
Total Ws
55,000
45,710
45,000
47,062
43,084
41,675
35,000
25,000
(22.1%)
15,000
9,214
(21.9%)
10,028
(22.4%)
9,631
(22%)
10,374
5,000
-5,000
Spring 2003
Fall 2003
* Based on Total Registrations (seats)
Spring 2004
Fall 2004
Issues with Student Withdrawals
Community College’s Withdrawal Policies
Usually more liberal than the university and can impact
transfer success
Facilitates an A,B,C, I, W culture (we had this grading
scale until Fall 1990 – no Ds or Fs)
Students don’t commit early – a “wait and see”
philosophy
Impacts retention rates, graduation rates and impacted
by “cheap” tuition
Impacted by systemic change (quarters to semesters,
etc.)
Is impacted by the culture (faculty, advisor and student
attitudes and behaviors)
CPCC Transfer Students at UNCC
in 2000 (N=3,446)
Grades
at CPCC
at UNCC
A
3,708 (26.4%)
13,936 (22.8%)
B
2,573 (18.3%)
16,000 (26.2%)
C
1,435 (10.2%)
11,920 (19.5%)
percent A-C
54.9%
68.5%
_______________________________________________
D
340 (2.4%)
4,797 (7.9%)
F
686 (4.9%)
6,722 (11.0%)
Withdraw
4,357 (31%)
6,117 (10%)
Do Withdrawals Really Impact
Transfer Students?
“..if 20% or more of all grades received (by
community college students) were
withdrawals and repeats, the probability of
transfer decreases by 38.7%.”
Sources: Moving Into Town and Moving On: The
Community College in the Lives of Traditional-age
Students, U.S. Department of Education, 2005, p. 85.
Withdrawal Pattern from One Term
Of the 39,946 Class Registrations
12000
10,459
10000
9,019
(26.2%)
8000
6,088
6000
4000
2,974
1,506
2000
1,026
95
0
end of
drop/add
census
point
week 4
week 8
week 12
week 16
final
grades
Withdrawal Rates at the College
by Percent of College Level Courses
50,000
43,569
45,000
37,132
40,000
38,411
45,710 47,062
41,653
37,210
35,000
30,000
33,933
Total Registrations
Total Withdrawals
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
35.4%
12,019
26.1%
9,704
27.5%
10,222
27.2%
10,459
23.4% 22.8%
21.9%
22%
9,726
10,028
10,374
9,919
5,000
0
Fall 97 Fall 98 Fall 99 Fall 00 Fall 01 Fall 02 Fall 03 Fall 04
A look at One Student
Jane Doe (not her real name) entered CPCC in
the Fall 2000.
She had the following Accu-placer College
Placement Test Scores:
Test
Score
Placed
Sentence Skills (Eng)
92
ENG 111
Reading (comprehension and vocabulary)
90
None (cut 79)
Math Arithmetic
59
Algebra
50
MAT 060
HISTORY FILE DISPLAY S.S.NUM 000000000 TERM/YR
JANE ANN DOE (this is a real student record)
TRM COURSE TITLE
FAL 00 RED090 IMPROVED COLL READ
FAL 00 GEL120 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
FAL 00 HIS111 WORLD CIVIL I
FAL 00 MAT070 INTRO ALGEBRA
FAL 00 PSY150 GENERAL PSYC
FALL 2000 TERM GPA:
1.27
HRS GRADE
4.0
C
4.0
F
3.0
C
4.0
W
3.0
W
DATE PROGCODE
12/18/00 T90990
12/18/00 T90990
12/18/00 T90990
12/18/00 T90990
12/18/00 T90990
TRM COURSE TITLE
SPR 01 MAT070 INTRO ALGEBRA
SPR 01 MAT080 INTERMED ALGEBRA
SPR 01 MAT080 INTERMED ALGEBRA
SPR 01 SPA181 SPANISH LAB 1
SPR 01 ENG111 EXPOSITORY WRITING
SPR 01 HIS112 WORLD CIVIL II
SPR 01 SPA111 ELEM SPANISH I
SPR 01 SOC210 INTRO TO SOCIOLOGY
SPRING 2001 TERM GPA:
2.54
HRS GRADE
4.0
B
4.0
DRP
4.0
DRP
1.0
W
3.0
B
3.0
C
3.0
W
3.0
C
DATE PROGCODE
03/13/01 T90990
01/03/01 T90990
03/07/01 T90990
05/08/01 T90990
05/08/01 T90990
05/08/01 T90990
05/08/01 T90990
05/08/01 T90990
TRM COURSE TITLE
HRS GRADE
SUM 01 MAT080 INTERMED ALGEBRA
4.0
B
SUM 01 ENG113 LIT-BASED RESEARCH 3.0
C
SUM 2001 TERM GPA:
2.57
DATE PROGCODE
07/03/01 T90990
07/31/01 T90990
TRM COURSE TITLE
FAL 01 MAT161 COLL. ALG.
FAL 01 REL211 INTRO TO OLD TEST
FAL 01 SPA111 ELEM SPANISH I
FAL 01 SPA181 SPANISH LAB 1
FAL 01 MUS110 MUSIC APPREC
FAL 01 GEL120 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
FAL2001 TERM GPA:
2.40
HRS GRADE
3.0
W
3.0
C
3.0
B
1.0
B
3.0
C
4.0
W
DATE PROGCODE
12/18/01 T90990
12/18/01 T90990
12/18/01 T90990
12/18/01 T90990
12/18/01 T90990
12/18/01 T90990
TRM
COURSE TITLE
SPR 02 ENG231 AMERICAN LIT I
SPR 02 PSY150 GENERAL PSYC
SPR 02 SPA182 SPANISH LAB 2
SPR 02 SPA112 ELEM SPANISH II
SPR 02 COM231 PUBLIC SPEAKING
SPR 02 MAT161 COLL. ALG.
SPR2002 TERM GPA:
0.90
HRS GRADE
3.0
W
3.0
C
1.0
I/F
3.0
I/F
3.0
D
3.0
W
DATE PROGCODE
05/15/02 T90990
05/15/02 T90990
01/31/03 T90990
01/31/03 T90990
05/15/02 T90990
05/15/02 T90990
TRM
COURSE TITLE
SUM 02 BIO110 PRINC OF BIOLOGY
SUM 02 MAT161 COLL. ALG.
HRS
4.0
3.0
TRM
COURSE TITLE
FAL 02 SPA112 ELEM SPANISH II
FAL 02 SPA182 SPANISH LAB 2
FAL 02 ENG241 BRITISH LIT I
FAL 02 PSY281 ABNORMAL PSYC
FAL 02 HUM211 HUM I
FAL 02 MAT140 SURVEY OF MATH
FAL 02 CIS110 INTRO TO COMPUTERS
FAL 02 COM231 PUBLIC SPEAKING
FALL 02 ACADEMIC INTERVENTION
HRS
GRADE DATE PROGCODE
3.0
W
11/18/02 A10100
1.0
W
11/18/02 A10100
3.0
W
12/18/02 A10100
3.0
W
12/18/02 A10100
3.0
W
12/18/02 A10100
3.0
F
12/18/02 A10100
3.0
W
12/18/02 A10100
3.0
W
12/18/02 A10100
FALL 02 TERM GPA:
0.00
TRM
COURSE TITLE
HRS
SPR 03 MAT140 SURVEY OF MATH
3.0
SPR 03 PED122 YOGA I
1.0
SPR 03 COM231 PUBLIC SPEAKING
3.0
SPR 03 SPA182 SPANISH LAB 2
1.0
SPR 03 SPA112 ELEM SPANISH II
3.0
SPR 03 PSY281 ABNORMAL PSYC
3.0
SPRING 2003 ACADEMIC INTERVENTION
GRADE DATE PROGCODE
W
07/29/02 A10100
W
07/29/02 A10100
GRADE
W
W
W
W
W
W
DATE PROGCODE
05/19/03 A10100
05/19/03 A10100
05/19/03 A10100
05/19/03 A10100
05/19/03 A10100
05/19/03 A10100
TRM
COURSE TITLE
FAL 03 BIO110 PRINCIPLES OF BIOL
FAL 03 COM110 INTRO TO COMMUN
FAL 03 SOC213 SOC OF THE FAMILY
FAL 03 ENG242 BRITISH LIT II
FAL 03 CJC112 CRIMINOLOGY
FALL 03 ACADEMIC SUSPENSION
HRS
GRADE DATE PROGCODE
4.0
W
11/16/03 A10100
3.0
W
11/16/03 A10100
3.0
W
11/16/03 A10100
3.0
B
12/15/03 A10100
3.0
DRP
07/31/03 A10100
FALL 2003 TERM GPA:
3.00
TRM
COURSE TITLE
SPR 04 CHM121 FOUND. OF CHEM
SPR 04 CIS110 INTRO TO COMPUT
SPR 04 CHM121A CHEM LAB
SPR 04 MAT140 SURVEY OF MATH
SPR 04 COM120 INTERPERS COMMUN
SPRING 2004 ACADEMIC INTERVENTION
HRS
3.0
3.0
1.0
3.0
3.0
GRADE
W
W
W
W
W
TRM
COURSE TITLE
SUM 04 BIO110 PRINCIPLES OF BIOL
SUMMER 2004 TERM GPA:
3.00
HRS
4.0
GRADE DATE PROGCODE
B
07/20/04 A10100
DATE PROGCODE
02/19/04 A10100
04/01/04 A10100
02/19/04 A10100
04/12/04 A10100
04/12/04 A10100
TRM
COURSE TITLE
FAL 04 PSY241 DEVEL PSYCHOLOGY
FAL 04 GEL120 PHYSICAL GEOLOGY
FAL 04 SOC213 SOC OF THE FAMILY
FAL 04 PSY281 ABNOR PSYCHOLOGY
FALL 2004 TERM GPA:
2.92
HRS
3.0
4.0
3.0
3.0
GRADE
B
C
A
B
DATE PROGCODE
12/09/04 A10100
12/10/04 A10100
12/13/04 A10100
12/12/04 A10100
•This Student Enrolled in 58 courses in approximately four years.
•She completed 20 (35.5%) of them with grades of A-D.
•She flunked or withdrew from 38 (64.5%) courses.
•She was allowed to change majors from undecided to the
college transfer program code of Associate in Arts in the summer
of 2002.
•She was placed on academic probation/intervention four times
and immediately allowed to reenroll the next term in a full load of
classes.
Then Along Came the NCCBP
We decided to look at withdrawal rates as a
percentage of:
The grades in all college-level courses
The grades in remedial courses
The grades in certain college level courses (English
Comp I & II, Speech and College Algebra)
We all submitted our data and guess where
CPCC was in the mix???
Data from the NCCBP Pilot Year –Grade
Distribution for College Level Courses
A
B
C
D
F
Min.
26%
18%
6%
1%
2%
Med.
33.4%
23.3%
13.9%
4%
4.9%
Max.
45%
27%
17%
8%
15%
CPCC
26.1%
21.1%
12.7%
3.5%
6.7%
W
1%
16.2%
29.9%
29.9%
Definitions were slightly changed the next year.
Response of the College
We were appalled
We decided to study the subject and
Do a pilot intervention project
The English, Reading and Humanities
Division volunteered to facilitate the project
within their courses with their fulltime
instructors
Brad Bostian volunteered to lead the
initiative The group began meeting in Fall 2004
The Intervention
In the Spring of 2005
11 courses were selected by faculty
participating in the study
11 control sections were carefully matched
based on time of day, location and course
title
Faculty volunteers discussed elements of
the intervention and agreed upon the
following standards
The Intervention
Students must sign a release form
Students in the selected sections would have
“holds” put on their records - not allowing them
to withdraw from pilot courses during Spring 05
without instructor permission
If a student wanted to withdraw, the faculty
attempted to work with them to keep them in the
class as long as possible (offering assistance
and additional help)
Faculty agreed to do the following as part of
regular classroom activities:
The Intervention
First Day Strategies:
Provide a class orientation on the first day of class
Student Info Sheets
Documents, resources to assist with their success (writing
center, tutors, librarians, etc.)
A realistic discussion of the value of the skills to be
learned in the course
A syllabus with assignments and policies discussed
A positive statement of your teaching philosophy and
you belief in the student’s ultimate success in the
course
The Intervention
Mini-communities
Groups of 3-5 students who trade contact information,
contact each other when someone is absent. Use
these groups for peer-editing and group assignments
and activities.
Conferences
Conference with each student in your office at least
twice per term to discuss needs and progress. In
between - provided continuous feedback about their
progress.
Contacting missing students
Contact those who miss two consecutive class
periods (besides the mini-communities)
The Intervention
Welcome back and reintegrate students who have
been absent
Treat tardies and early departures as absences –
have an attendance policy
Positive teaching
Try to involve every student every week
Structure assignments to ensure continual student
success (quizzes to make them keep up, rewrite until
it is excellent, etc.)
Active Authentic Assignments
Assignments where they learn by doing, work that
reflects the real world
What Happened?
By the 16 week of the term (end of term but
before grades were turned in):
The Control
Group
The
Intervention
Group
Entire Division
Withdrawals for English
Classes
7-W
46 15.0%
21
7.1%
977
13.60%
8 - Blank
209 68.3%
217 73.3%
4804
66.70%
9 - Drop
51 16.7%
58 19.6%
1087
15.10%
Total
306
296
7207
Did it Impact Their Other Classes?
The Control
Group
The
Intervention
Group
Withdrawals from all their
classes
1-A
6
0.40%
5
0.40%
2-B
4
0.30%
13
0.90%
3-C
5
0.30%
7
0.50%
4-D
1
0.10%
1
0.10%
5-F
3
0.20%
6
0.40%
7-W
232
15.40%
154
11.00%
8 - Blank
950
63.00%
947
67.60%
9 - Drop
307
20.40%
268
19.10%
Total
1508
1401
Once Grades Were In…..
English, Classes
Unsuccessful
Completions
Control Group
Intervention Group
A
66
25.9%
58
24.4%
B
73
28.6%
78
32.8%
C
31
12.2%
32
13.4%
D
2
.8%
5
2.1%
F
17
6.7%
31
13.0%
I
3
1.2%
0
0%
W
63
24.7%
34
14.3%
F, I, W
83
32.6%
65
27.3%
There were 5.3% fewer W’s, I’s and F’s in the Intervention Group when
compared to the Control Group
What About “Walk-Aways?”
Students Who Withdrew From All Classes - Spring 2005
Control
Intervention
Total
Total in cohort
300
287
587
# who withdrew
30
21
51
% who withdrew
10.0%
7.3%
8.7%
There were 2.7% fewer “walk-aways” in the intervention group as
compared to the control group.
Lessons Learned
The Intervention strategies worked.
If we could decrease W’s, I’s and F’s by 5.3%
across the College, there would be
approximately 2,450 additional successful
completions per term.
If we could reduce “walk-aways” by 2.7%, there
would be 65 more students complete each term.
We need to study and address “walk-aways.”
Recommendations
Policies
Support
Instruction
Policies
Earlier withdrawal deadlines
Instructor permission required
-orSet two W-methods, one early date for most W’s, with
later withdrawals requiring instructor permission
Recommendations (continued)
Support
Make support more systematic
Advisement for all students, not just those in
programs
Interventions for perpetual W, F’s & Drops
Better training and technology for faculty
advisors
If necessary hire more staff
Recommendations (continued)
Instruction
Change faculty/administrative culture
Understand need for educating all students
See the successes that exist
Use aggregate AND individual instructor and
student data to measure outcomes
Train faculty to teach differently
Keep our instructors learning
Ranges of Drops and Withdrawals – 2002-04
English,
Reading &
Humanities
Best
Worst
Range
W’s By
Instructor
11%
29%
18%
Drops By
Instructor
3%
12%
9%
Success By
Instructor
76%
45%
31%
Success
Rates By
Campus
69%
(Cato)
61%
(West)
Success
Rates By
Course
77%
47%
(REL 212)
(HUM 160)
49%
8%
(Virtual)
30%
20%
One Instructor’s Learning Curve
90%
80%
Successful
Completions
70%
60%
84.0%
65.7%
65.1%
60.3%
56.9%
49.0%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Spring
2002
Fall
2002
Spring
2003
Successful Completions = A-C Grades
Fall
2003
Spring
2004
Fall
2004
Different Instruction
Engage students on the first day
Meaningful, interesting, active work
Use mostly active learning
Let students seek and discover
Force success
Guide them through the steps like a coach
Create a classroom community
Collaborative learning, conferences, positive
communication, involving every student
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http://www.cpcc.edu/planning
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Withdrawal pilot presentation