Transcript Document

Implementing a Readiness Tool
to Increase Persistence &
Improve Student Success
Rick Brandel, Mary Rostenberg, & Margot Saltonstall
INTRODUCTIONS
Who are we?
And, who are you?
Goals for this Session
• Share how our institution:
– measured new students’ readiness for college
– intervened with select groups in first few weeks of
class
– observed gains in GPA and retention
– gathered more qualitative feedback
• Have a engaging session with lively
discussion to not only increase participants’
knowledge but to increase our own.
Learning Outcomes
• Participants are able to:
– Identify key scales and indices of the instrument
we used,
– Understand the process by which we targeted
student groups for outreach,
– Analyze our experience and integrate it with your
own intervention strategies, and
– Apply our approach (or parts of it) to conducting
outreach to students at your institution in order to
increase student success in terms of GPA and
retention.
Setting New Students
Up for Success
In a group of 3-4, describe and list the
programs, interventions, efforts on your
campus that help set new students up
for success in college:
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Freshman Year Experience
Conditionally admitted student program
Early alert program
Mid-semester grade postings
Required academic advising
Mentor program
Supplemental Instruction
Other programs/strategies
Why do we make all these efforts?
Nationally
• Average dropout
rates from first to
second year of
college = 33%
• Average six-year
graduation rate at
four-year
institutions = 57%
(Habley & McClanahan, 2004) (Horn & Nevill, 2006)
Northern Arizona Univ.
• Average first year
retention rate = 70%
• Average six-year
graduation rate =
50%
Why these efforts? (Continued)
• Higher attrition rates for
– ethnic minority students
– first generation college students
– low income
• Students of all abilities leave—need broad
programmatic safety nets.
• Efforts to increase retention have yielded little
• Increased pressure from constituents
Bottom Line
We could identify some of our “at-risk”
student groups, BUT we needed to
know
– more about which students within those
groups were most needy and
– which services might help which students.
The Approach
In other words, we needed to
learn more about each
individual student.
Strategic Intervention Model
Requirements of a strategic model
– Implemented early in the first semester
– Include groups known to be at risk
– Collaborative and not duplicative
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academic advising and first year programs
Native American Student Services outreach program
Summer bridge program and first year mentoring
Any key groups interfacing with new freshmen
– Systematic
– Whole student
– Grounded in research
ACT’s Student Readiness Inventory
• Reviewed Robbins’ (2004) meta-analysis of
109 studies (N = 152,985) that examined the
effect of predictors on academic performance
and retention
– Considered traditional (e.g., standardized test scores, HS GPA),
demographic (e.g., SES, race/ethnicity, gender), and psychosocial
and study skill factors
• Participated in a pilot study with ACT, Inc. on
their development of the Student Readiness
Inventory
• Crafted a program model
Quick Overview of the SRI
108-item, Self-report Instrument
Two Indices
– Academic Success
– Retention
Ten Scales in Three Area
– Motivation and Skills, such as Commitment to College, Academic
Discipline, Study Skills
– Social Engagement, such as Social Activity, Social Connection
– Self-Management, such as Academic Self-Confidence
Administered at Orientation
Individual Profiles Available Ten Day after Administration
Program Model Summary
• Prioritize Student Groups for Outreach
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Ethnic minority students
First generation college students
Low scores on academic success and/or retention index
• Have one-on-one meeting with students to review profiles,
matching student needs with campus and ACT/SRI resources
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NAU Website
ACT Tool Shop
• Evaluate
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Track outreach efforts/communications
Meeting attendance, receptivity, and seriousness
Referrals to and use of campus resources
Learning (self reported by students)
Prioritizing Student Groups
Distributing Profiles
Waterfall
• Summer Bridge Students (EM, FG, LI)
• Native American Students
• Other Ethnic Minorities
• Other First Generation
• Other Low Scoring
(less than 50th percentile on either index)
Additional Student Groups
Distribution of Profiles
• General review in FYE and Freshman
Seminar
• Remedial skills based course, one-onone review if not met with professional
staff
• Invitation from advising center to meet
All New Freshmen
MSC
11%
7%
5%
7%
Bridge
NASS
3%
LAC
6%
3%
3%
9%
4%
2%
5%
21%
15%
SSS
Res Life
SL
EPS 101
FYE 101
ADV
Low Score
No Contact
Invalid
No SRI
One-on-One Meeting
Systematic outreach
– Look up schedules and set times
– Postcard home with appointment time
– Postcard to campus with appointment time
– Personal e-mail with appointment time
– Appointment time on their web calendar
– Reminder phone call 1-2 days before appt
– If miss scheduled meeting, protocol for
rescheduling at least twice more
One-on-One meeting
Meeting Content/Purpose
• Connect with student
• Match student need to campus resources
– Website: home.nau.edu/emsa/sri.asp
– Tool Shop: act.org/sri/studentguide/toolshop.html
• Gather some data on SRI experience
Evaluation: Meeting Attendance
Student Affairs Group
Summer Bridge
Met
Not
Met
Group
Total
149
9
158
Student Support Services
93
31
124
Student Life
35
14
49
Native American St Services
61
27
88
Residence Life
80
42
122
Learning Assistance Centers
106
75
181
Multicultural Student Centers
139
98
237
All Student Affairs
663
296
959
Evaluation: Academic Performance
F07 Avg 1st Sem GPA by Distribution Group
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00
Grp 1
Grp 2
Grp 3
Grp 4
Grp 5
Grp 6
Grp 7
ALL
Student
Affairs
Met
3.02
2.77
2.64
2.48
2.45
2.36
2.15
2.55
Not Met
2.83
2.28
2.41
2.19
2.06
1.97
1.91
2.23
All students who met to receive SRI results fared
better than those who did not meet with SA staff.
Evaluation: Academic Performance
F07 Percent on Probation by Distribution Group
50%
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Grp 1
Grp 2
Grp 3
Grp 4
Grp 5
Grp 6
Grp 7
ALL
Student
Affairs
Met
31%
26%
23%
16%
15%
15%
10%
18%
Not Met
41%
42%
21%
11%
28%
24%
14%
26%
Students who did NOT meet in regard to SRIs were
more likely to end up on academic probation.
Evaluation: Retention
F07 One Sem Retention by Met/ Not Met in Each Unit
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Grp 1
Grp 2
Grp 3
Grp 4
Grp 5
Grp 6
Grp 7
All SA
Met
94%
93%
91%
90%
87%
87%
80%
89%
Not Met
87%
90%
71%
88%
78%
87%
85%
88%
Students who met were more likely to be retained.
Apples to Apples
How do we know it wasn’t just the better students
who came in to receive their SRI results?
Average Scale Scores
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
58
57
54
53
Met
Not Met
Retention Index
Academic Success Index
Apples to Apples
Average ACT/SAT Scores
25
21
21
Met
Not Met
20
15
10
5
0
Other Studies
Associations of Resource and Service Utilization, Risk
Level, and College Outcomes, S. Robbins, J. Allen,
A. Casillas, A. Akamigbo, M. Saltonstall, R. Cole, E.
Mahoney & P. Gore. Research in Higher Education,
In Press
Other Score Uses
• By scale for specific related services
– Advertise academic assistance to lower
scorers on study skills scale
• Combine multiple scores
– High scores in com, soc con, com to
college to recruit RAs, OLs, Leadership
• Spring follow up
– Probationers
Small Group Activity
How would using the SRI and
or our intervention model assist
your efforts?
Your Campus
• Benefits and Natural
Fits
• Challenges and
Limitations
Share Your Ideas
Moving Forward
• At Orientation, build students’
expectation that they will meet one on
one in fall to get results
• Increase students’ understanding of
why one on one meeting might be good
• Fold students with no/invalid SRIs into
model for outreach
Summary Points
•Designate a visible individual to coordinate
•Collaborate and use natural fits with existing
resources
•Conduct systematic analysis
•Use your data/feedback and improve the process
•Maximize utility of the instrument
•Go beyond the limits of the instrument
Questions/Discussion