Transcript Engaging Community Colleges A First Look

TAIR 2007
Using CCSSE Results for
Improvement
CCSSE Overview
CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement
Student Engagement…
the amount of time and energy students invest in
meaningful educational practices, is the underlying
foundation for CCSSE’s work.
CCSSE’s survey instrument, the Community College
Student Report (CCSR), is designed to capture student
engagement as a measure of institutional quality.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE: A Tool for Community Colleges
The CCSSE survey:
is administered directly to
community college students
during class sessions;
asks questions about institutional
practices and student behaviors
that are highly correlated with
student learning and retention; and
uses a sampling methodology
that is consistent across all
participating colleges.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort
of participating colleges.

The 2006 CCSSE Cohort includes more than
249,000 community college students from 447
community and technical colleges in 46 states.

The 2007 Cohort will include 526 colleges across
48 states.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Emphasis on Student Engagement
20 Years of Research on Undergraduate Student
Learning, Persistence and Success
1 Year of Really Cool Research in the Community
College Field
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
The CCSSE Validation Research
A three pronged project that links responses to the
CCSSE survey with three external student-level
data-sets

the Florida community colleges

the CCSSE Hispanic Student Success Consortium

24 of the 27 initial colleges participating in the
Achieving the Dream initiative
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE in Texas
 53 (76% of) Texas community and technical
colleges have participated in CCSSE (20022007)
 45 of those colleges have participated more
than once
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Community
College Students
Test Your Community College IQ!
What percentage of first time U.S. freshmen in colleges
and universities enroll in community colleges?
1. 24%
2. 33%
3. 45%
4. 61%
Answer: 45%
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Test Your Community College IQ!
What percentage of community college students are 25
or older?
1. 1/4
2. Almost 1/2
3. 3/4
Answer: 46%
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Community College Students Contend
with Competing Priorities
Most Students Are
Enrolled Part-Time
Part-time
students
Most Students Work
Students
who work
more than
20 hours
per week
61%
57%
Source: IPEDS, Fall 2004.
22% of students at 4-year colleges attend part-time
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Source: 2006 CCSSE Cohort data.
Students who participate in collegesponsored activities
1%
2%
12%
83%
None
1-5 hours
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
6-10 hours
11-20 hours
Giving Voice to Students
Carolina Villamar (left)
and classmate Luisa
Castano.
26-year-old single mother of a 6-year-old
son and a 4-year-old daughter
“I’m a divorced, single mother. I can and
need to do this. If I fall down, my kids are
going to fall down. If I’m standing, they will
be there, right beside me.”
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Building a
Culture of Evidence
Understand What Is Happening

19% of part-time students versus 30% of full-time
students say they often or very often talk about
career plans with an instructor or advisor.

38% of part-time students versus 25% of full-time
students say they never have those
conversations.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Understand What Is Happening
Part-time students are less likely to:

Work with other students on projects during class

Make class presentations

Participate in a community-based project as part
of a course
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Share and Act On What You’ve Learned
“Take nothing on its looks; take everything
on evidence. There’s no better rule.”
— Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
Great Expectations
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Using CCSSE Results
CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective
Educational Practice
CCSSE reports survey results in two ways: national benchmarks —
areas that educational research has shown to be important in
quality educational practice — and students’ responses to
individual survey items.
The five CCSSE benchmarks are:
 Active and Collaborative Learning
 Student Effort
 Academic Challenge
 Student-Faculty Interaction
 Support for Learners
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act
1. Identify key areas.
2. Identify relevant survey items and student
groups in need.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act
3. Start with the benchmarks.
4. Look at individual survey items.
5. Disaggregate the data.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act
6. Involve the college community.
7. Design strategies and set targets.
8. Share the data and plans to address them.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Using CCSSE To Assess, Inform, and Act
9.
Track progress by measuring outcomes.
10. Scale up efforts that are working. Modify
or discontinue those that are not.
11. Repeat.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Florida measures progress
Florida’s community college leaders wanted to know
whether a new Student Life Skills (SLS) class was
promoting student success. Measuring student
progress from 1999 through 2004, data showed that
significantly more students – 18% of all students - who
took the SLS course achieved their goals. Among
college-ready students, almost an additional 20% either
graduated or transferred. Among those taking remedial
courses, from 20-25% more students achieved their
academic goals.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Support for Learners: an in-depth look
The items that contribute to this benchmark
include:

Whether the college provides the support
students need to succeed

How much the college helps students cope with
nonacademic responsibilities

Students’ use of academic advising/planning and
career counseling services
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Support for Learners
What are your most important services?
How satisfied are students with them?
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Support for Learners
Most Important Services [very or somewhat important]
89% Academic Advising and Planning
83% Computer Lab
78% Career Counseling
77% Financial Aid Advising
74% Skills Lab
71% Transfer Credit Assistance
*2006 CCSSE Cohort
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Satisfaction with Most Important Services [very or somewhat
satisfied]
71% Academic Advising and Planning
71% Computer Lab
50% Financial Aid Advising
51% Skills Lab
45% Career Counseling
37% Transfer Credit Assistance
*2006 CCSSE Cohort
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
A Texas College Acts on Fact
After its first CCSSE administration, Cedar Valley College
(TX) set a goal of making tutoring available to more students.
The first objective was to provide tutoring to every CVC
student who needed it, a change from the earlier practice of
providing tutoring only to students who met particular
guidelines. CVC created a tutoring center located in the
middle of its campus to provide tutoring in all disciplines, for
all students. The president committed funds to the center,
and the college hired a director, employed additional tutors,
and trained tutors extensively. The new tutoring center
established relationships with faculty members, who broadly
advertised its services. When CVC completed its second
CCSSE administration, the college scored significantly
higher than other colleges in the frequency of use of tutoring
services. CVC also learned that students ranked tutoring as
one of the three services with which they were most
satisfied.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
2006 CCSSE Special
Focus Findings
2006 Special Focus: Academic
Advising and Planning

CCSSE respondents value academic advising
more than on any other student service.

There is a gap between the number of students
who value advising and those who use it.

89% of students say academic advising is
somewhat or very important; 55% report using
that service sometimes or often.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE Focus Question: Academic
Advising and Planning
While attending this college, what has been your best
source of academic advising?
Academic advisor (not faculty)
Academic advisor (faculty)
Friends, family or other students
Online
I have not received any academic advising
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Key Finding: Academic Advising and
Planning
While attending this college, what has been your best
source of academic advising?
Academic advisor (faculty)
43%
Friends, family or other students
26%
I have not received any academic advising
13%
Academic advisor (not faculty)
10%
Online
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
7%
To think about…
What are you doing related to advising and
planning that is showing positive results?
What are areas that you need to strengthen?
With which groups of students are you most
successful?
With which students are you least successful?
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
 How do you know?
 How will you learn about students’
actual experiences and perceptions?
 Who needs to be involved in designing
strategies for improvement?
 How will you involve them?
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Integrated Counseling and Advising
Network
Central Piedmont Community College (NC) initiated a student
success planning initiative entitled ICAN. After initial advising,
students consult with faculty advisors who are experts in their field,
familiar with specific courses in their department, and
knowledgeable about educational and career opportunities in their
areas.
Peer advisors, who are usually students, assist other students in
navigating the catalog, preparing schedules, locating classrooms,
etc. Finally, ICAN has developed a comprehensive online
interactive advisement system intended to supplement the
student/advisor relationship.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Resources for Involving the College
Community
Student Services Predictions and Hopes
http://www.ccsse.org/members/Student%20Services%20PredictHop
es.pdf
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
More Resources for Involving the
College Community
Engaging Faculty to Strengthen Student Success
http://www.ccsse.org/members/Faculty%20Involved.pdf
Faculty Predictions and Hopes
http://www.ccsse.org/members/PredictHopes.pdf
Student Focus Groups Toolkit
http://www.ccsse.org/members/focusgroups.cfm
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
North Hennepin Community College
(MN)
To engage faculty members in reviewing CCSSE results, North
Hennepin Community College (MN) gathered faculty members and
asked them to predict students’ responses to the survey items
Instead of doing this exercise on paper, the college used personal
response system “clickers” and got immediate feedback after
posing each question. The actual student data then were displayed
for discussion. After getting this feedback, the faculty members
were randomly divided into groups and assigned one CCSSE
benchmark. Each group identified two priorities for change related
to their benchmark. These priorities now are part of the college’s
assessment plan initiatives.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
J. Sargeant Reynolds Community
College (VA)
J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College (VA) participated in
CCSSE in 2004 and an action plan for communicating and
interpreting the survey results was developed that included a
“Guess Our CCSSE Results” web survey. This survey provided a
forum for faculty and staff to predict the college’s performance on
the CCSSE via a web survey. The college also scheduled
Introduction to Student Success Data Forums to provide the college
community with opportunities to learn about the results of the
CCSSE, the VCCS (Virginia Community College System) core
competencies assessment, and other information gathered about
student success at the college.
The presentations were followed with conversations about how the
information could be used to focus both institutional and individual
activities on the goal of enhancing the learning environment to
improve student success.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Discussion
1. How was CCSSE introduced at your institution?
2. How have your survey results been
communicated internally?
3. How have you used your CCSSE results been
used to inform and promote student success?
Community College Survey of Student Engagement