Strategies to Increase College and Career Success for Community College Students Davis Jenkins

Community College Research Center Illinois Board of Higher Education August 10, 2010 Chicago, IL

CCs Key to Meeting National Goals

• Increasing individual and societal returns to postsecondary education and credentials • Calls from Obama Administration, state policy makers, major foundations to dramatically increase college attainment • As 4-years become more selective, burden for increasing attainment falls on community colleges • From 1997-2007, cc awards increased 25% • To meet goals for increased completion (with fewer $s per student) ccs must improve productivity

CC Student Achievement Gaps

6-Year Highest Educational Attainment of Students who Started at a Community College by Household Income

50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 4% 12% 14% 13% 10% 9% 23% 12% 18% 8% 31% 47% Certificate Associate Degree Still Enrolled (No Degree) Transfer (No Degree) Bachelor's Degree Not Enrolled (No Degree) Source: BPS (96/01).

Highest quartile Lowest quartile

CC Student Achievement Gaps

6-Year Highest Educational Attainment of Students who Started at a Community College by Age at First Enrollment

70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 8% 17% 17% 11% 9% 6% 14% 4% 13% 2% 39% 60% Certificate Associate Degree Still Enrolled (No Degree) Transfer (No Degree) Bachelor's Degree Not Enrolled (No Degree) Source: BPS (96/01).

17-24 25-64

Disconnected Pathways to College and Career Success

Graduate / Professional Education B.A. B.S.

Community College Programs

A.A.S

A.A. A.S.

Advanced Certificate College Remedial / Developmental

Key

ABE, GED, ESL

= strong job connection to jobs = Weak connection between education levels = Strong connection between education levels

High School Academic Programs H.S./Adult Voc Skills Training

Managers/ Technical Professionals Skilled Technicians

Career-long Learning / Professional Development

Entry-Level Technicians Entry-Level Skilled Jobs Semi-Skilled Jobs

Workplace Literacy Training

Unskilled Laborer Jobs

Questions for Local Stakeholders

1) What occupations in our region offer family supporting jobs?

2) What is the demand for these jobs and how do workers get into and advance in them?

3) How effective are our education and workforce systems in preparing individuals to enter and advance in these fields?

4) What changes are needed to strengthen pathways to careers for individuals and the supply of qualified workers for employers?

Local Improvement Process

Work with employers to identify requirements for family-supporting jobs Local leadership for improved outcomes Assess effectiveness of existing programs; identify “leakage points”, achievement gaps Convene faculty and staff across “silos” to diagnose leaks, design systemic solutions Feedback loop – continuous monitoring Implement solutions, evaluate effectiveness and improve further IMPROVED EDUCATION/WORKFORCE OUTCOMES

Demand-Supply Gap Analysis

SOC Code

43 3031 43 4051 43 5071 29 2012 29 2034 29 2041 29 2061

Description

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks Customer service representatives Shipping, receiving, and traffic clerks Medical and clinical laboratory technicians Radiologic technologists and technicians Emergency medical technicians and paramedics Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

2009 2014 Avg Annual Opening 2009 Median Hourly Earnings 2007 Completers Community College 2007 Completers - Region

317 553 113 19 39 52 119 $14.49 $13.28 $12.68 $19.47 $27.29 $14.43 $21.38 0 0 12 5 34 0 62 Source: EMSI, based on IPEDS data from 2007 and state regional employment projections.

11 0 12 13 34 0 133

Community College Student Milestones

• Took and passed college-level courses (for students starting in adult basic skills or remedial) • Earned 12 college credits and still enrolled • Completed college-level math and English • Persisted term to term and year to year • Earned 30 credits and still enrolled • Earned occupational certificate • Earned associate degree • Transferred to a baccalaureate program

Community College Student Milestones

5-Year Gatekeeper Course Attempt and Completion Rates College-Ready Students vs Those Referred to Developmental

80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 45% 30% 37% 24% 60% 67% 52% 55% College-Ready Developmental Attempted "gatekeeper" math course Completed "gatekeeper" math course Attempted "gatekeeper" English Completed "gatekeeper" English course

“Momentum Indicators”

• Took a college-success course • Passed 80% or more of attempted hours in year 1 • Passed college math within 2 years • Passed college English within 2 years • Earned 12 college credits in year 1 (for part-time students); earned 24 credits in yr. 1 (for full-timers) • Enrolled full-time • Enrolled continuously • Entered coherent program of study

“Momentum Indicators”

5-Year Success Rates for College-Ready Students

90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 69% 19% 78% 29% 68% 27% Earned 12 or more credits in year 1 (p-t students) Passed college math within 2 years Passed college English within 2 years Yes No

“Momentum Indicators”

5-Year Success Rates for Students Referred to Remediation

80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 59% 17% 72% 18% 56% 12% Earned 12 or more credits in year 1 (p-t students) Passed college math within 2 years Passed college English within 2 years Yes No

Promising Practices

• College readiness protocols (El Paso CC) • Bridge programs to connect adult basic skills students to college (WA I-BEST) • Required college success courses (VA ccs) • Risk factor early alert systems (Purdue Signals, Queensborough CC CUNY) • Accelerated dev ed (Baltimore County, Denver) • Accelerated programs (CUNY – Accelerated Study in Associate Programs) • Aligned learning outcomes (Hillsborough CC, FL) • University centers (Macomb CC, MI) and applied baccalaureates (WA ctcs)

Questions for State Policy Makers

1) What is the demand for family-supporting jobs by occupation, level of education and region?

2) How many credentials are awarded annually in demand fields by institution, credential type? Are these sufficient to meet the demand?

3) How many students are enrolled in programs that lead to demand jobs by institution, what are their demographics, where do they come from, and what is their likelihood of completion?

4) How can access to and completion of programs leading to career-path jobs be improved?

State Process for Promoting Continuous Improvement

Analyze gap between job demand and credential production by region State-level leadership for improved outcomes Track progression within/across education institutions and into the labor market Engage practitioners to diagnose “leaks”, implement and evaluate systemic solutions Feedback loop – continuous monitoring Set system performance measures and create policy incentives for innovation IMPROVED EDUCTION/WORKFORCE OUTCOMES

WA Student Achievement Initiative

• Performance funding for WA 2-year colleges based on student achievement of key points across mission areas: – Remediation (basic skills gains, passing precollege writing or math) – First-year retention (earning 15 then 30 college level credits) – College-level math (passing math courses required for either technical or academic associate degrees) – Program completion (degrees, certificates, apprenticeships) • Initial funding ($1.8M in fall 2009) based on each college’s change in total points from baseline year • Colleges receive quarterly performance data to help decide where to invest resources to accelerate student achievement

New OH Performance Funding Policy

• Performance funding for 2-year colleges based on student achievement of “success points” • Colleges will receive increasing share of base budget funding based on share of total success points (5% in 2011, increasing to 20% by 2015) • Universities receive funding based on course completion, not just enrollment

Suggested Steps for IBHE

• Strengthen longitudinal tracking of students within/ across education sectors and into labor market • Report achievement of intermediate and “completion” milestones as well as “momentum indicators,” disaggregated by level of readiness, age, enrollment status, race/ethnicity and gender • Report rates of progression and success by college • Engage colleges in identifying areas for improvement and developing and evaluating strategies using local data

(More) Suggested Steps

• Provide guidance and TA to colleges on using data to improve programs and services • Partner with ISBE and DCEO agencies to strengthen knowledge worker career pathway/ “supply chain” tracking and improvement • Partner with outside researchers to answer questions critical to the state’s policy agenda • Communicate research findings strategically to practitioner and policy audiences

For more information:

Please visit us on the web at

http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu

, where you can download presentations, reports,

CCRC Briefs

, and sign up for news announcements.

Community College Research Center Institute on Education and the Economy, Teachers College, Columbia University 525 West 120th Street, Box 174, New York, NY 10027 E-mail: [email protected]

Telephone: 212.678.3091

CCRC funders include: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Lumina Foundation for Education, The Ford Foundation, National Science Foundation (NSF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education