Transcript Engaging Community Colleges A First Look

Committing to
Student Engagement
AVC 2008 Findings
CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement
CCSSE helps us:

Assess quality in community college education

Identify and learn from good educational practice

Identify areas in which we can improve
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement
How the CCSSE Survey Came to AVC:

Spring 2008

Researched by the Student Success and Equity
Committee

Funding Approved by the Enrollment
Management Committee
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement
Why the CCSSE Survey:
 Nationally Normed Survey to Measure
• Institutional Learning Outcomes, Program Learning
Outcomes, Operational Outcomes and Student Learning
Outcomes.
 Survey Given to 62 Randomly Selected Classes
(Excluding Classes with High Percentage of High
School Students)
• Classes at Both Lancaster and Palmdale
• Randomly Selected by Time of Day
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement
Who Took the Survey:
 Gender
AVC Respondents
AVC IPEDS
– M
– F
47%
53%
39%
61%
42%
58%
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
36%
26%
12%
9%
5%
5%
4%
0%
30%
18%
13%
11%
12%
12%
11%
0%
25%
19%
15%
14%
14%
8%
4%
1%
 Age
18-19
20-21
22-24
25-29
30-39
40-49
50-64
65+
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Cohort Colleges
CCSSE: A Tool for Improvement
Who Took the Survey:

Respondents
Cohort Colleges
Ethnicity
–
–
–
–
–
–

AVC
American Indian
Asian/Pacific Islander
Black
White
Hispanic
Other
1%
5%
14%
39%
29%
7%
1%
6%
18%
40%
28%
7%
1%
6%
14%
57%
16%
5%
68%
32%
32%
68%
38%
62%
Full Time/Part Time
– Full Time
– Part Time
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE: A Tool for Community Colleges
CCSSE data analyses include a
three-year cohort of participating
colleges.

The 2008 CCSSE Cohort
includes more than 343,000
community college students
from 585 institutions in 48
states, British Columbia, Nova
Scotia, and the Marshall Islands.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Participating California Community
Colleges in 2008 :

Antelope Valley College

Laney College

Berkeley City College

Moorpark College

Butte College

Oxnard College

Citrus College

Sacramento City College

College of the Desert

San Jose City College

College of the Siskiyous

Skyline College

El Camino College

Ventura College

El Camino College Compton
Center

West Hills College Coalinga

Glendale Community College

West Hills College Lemoore

West Hills College NDC
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
CCSSE Benchmarks
CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective
Educational Practice
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
Benchmarking — and Reaching for
Excellence
The most important comparison: where you
are now, compared with where you want to
be.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
5. Support for learners
4. Student faculty interaction
3. Academic challenge
2. Student effort
1. Active and collaborative learning
AVC Benchmark Score
CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective
Educational Practice
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
5. Support for learners
4. Student faculty interaction
3. Academic challenge
2. Student effort
1. Active and collaborative learning
Benchmark Score
CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective
Educational Practice
60
50
40
30
Full Time
Part Time
20
10
0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
5. Support for learners
4. Student faculty interaction
3. Academic challenge
2. Student effort
1. Active and collaborative learning
Benchmark Score
CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective
Educational Practice
60
50
40
30
30+
<30
20
10
Building a
Culture of Evidence
Start with the Truth
“We gain strength, and courage, and
confidence by each experience in which we
really stop to look fear in the face. … We
must do that which we think we cannot.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Active and Collaborative Learning
Survey items that contribute to this benchmark
include experiences such as:

Asking questions in class

Making class presentations

Working with other students in and out of class

Discussing ideas from classes outside of class
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Active and Collaborative Learning at
AVC
Benchmark Scores
All Students
Antelope Valley College
Large Colleges
2008 CCSSE Cohort
50.5
49.3
50.0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Student Effort
Survey items associated with this benchmark
include experiences such as:

Preparing multiple drafts of papers

Integrating ideas from various sources

Coming to class unprepared

Using tutoring services, skill labs, or computer labs

Hours per week spent studying
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Student Effort at AVC
Benchmark Scores
All Students
Antelope Valley College
Large Colleges
2008 CCSSE Cohort
48.2
49.4
50.0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Academic Challenge
Survey items associated with this benchmark
include experiences such as:

Working harder than you thought you could to
meet an instructor’s expectations

Whether coursework emphasizes synthesis and
analysis as opposed to memorization

The number of assigned textbooks and papers
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Academic Challenge at AVC
Benchmark Scores
All Students
Antelope Valley College
Large Colleges
2008 CCSSE Cohort
49.9
49.7
50.0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Student-Faculty Interaction
The items used in this benchmark include
experiences such as:

Using e-mail to communicate with an instructor

Discussing grades, assignments, and career
plans with an instructor

Receiving prompt feedback from instructors

Working with instructors on activities other than
coursework
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Student-Faculty Interaction at AVC
Benchmark Scores
All Students
Antelope Valley College
Large Colleges
2008 CCSSE Cohort
48.1
49.2
50.0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Support for Learners
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 at AVC
Benchmark Scores
All Students
Antelope Valley College
Large Colleges
2008 CCSSE Cohort
51.3
49.3
50.0
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Lessons Learned
Lesson #1: Be intentional

Engagement doesn’t happen by accident; it
happens by design.

Just as colleges must be intentional about
engagement, students must be intentional about
their own success.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Lessons Learned
Lesson #2: Engagement matters for all students,
but it matters more for some than for others
 There are consistent, unacceptable gaps between
outcomes for high-risk students and outcomes for
their peers.
 CCSSE data show that high-risk students typically are
more engaged than their peers, but tend to have lower
aspirations and less successful outcomes.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Lessons Learned
Lesson #3: Part-time students and faculty are the
reality of community colleges — and typically are
not addressed in improvement efforts

Colleges that are serious about improvement
must better engage part-time students.

Colleges are beginning to engage part-time
faculty to better engage part-time students.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Lessons Learned
Lesson #4: Data are our friends

Colleges operating within a culture of evidence
embrace data, sharing them honestly and
unflinchingly.

Data often conflict with individuals’ observations
because data show the typical student experience
— and that is what colleges must understand to
improve.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Lessons Learned
Lesson #5: Look behind the numbers

Colleges can go deeper with qualitative data,
such as student focus groups.

On the national level, CCSSE is exploring how
relationships help students succeed, and is
continuing its research program.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Strategies That Work
Strategy #1: Set high expectations and clear goals
Set high expectations:

Set and communicate high expectations.

Language matters.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Strategies That Work
Strategy #1: Set high expectations and clear goals
Set clear goals:

Set goals and provide the support to meet them.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Strategies That Work
Strategy #2: Focus on the front door
 Community colleges typically lose about half of their
students prior to the second college year.
 Current research indicates that helping students
succeed through the equivalent of the first semester
can dramatically improve retention — and improve
students’ chances of attaining further milestones.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Strategies That Work
Strategy #3: Elevate developmental education

Up to 61% of all first-time community college
students are academically underprepared for
college-level courses, and the numbers are far
higher in some settings.*

Research shows that effective remediation pays
high dividends, but success may depend on early
intervention.
*Source: Adelman, C. Principal Indicators of Student Academic Histories in Postsecondary Education, 19722000 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences), January 2004.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Strategies That Work
Strategy #4: Use engaging instructional approaches

Most community college students are on campus
only when they attend classes.

CCSSE data indicate that the most successful
engagement strategies happen in classrooms.

Colleges can play to the strength of in-class
engagement by maximizing engaging instructional
approaches.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
Five Strategies That Work
Strategy #5: Make engagement inescapable

Colleges are most likely to engage students when
they make engagement inescapable.

Colleges and their faculty members can set the tone
for — and set the terms of — student engagement.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement