A Summary of Evidence
Supporting a Community College Change Strategy
Focusing on Built-for-Completion Program Structure
The purpose of this paper is to offer a summary of selected research literature that seems
most relevant to a community college change strategy that focuses on re-designing
program structure to encourage completion. This document should not be represented as
a complete synthesis of all research literature on this subject, but it covers most of what
seems to be there. It is only a guide and reference source for the colleges and their grant
developers, constructed solely to facilitate the preparation of applications to the
Department of Labor under the C3T solicitation. That SGA requires the applicant to
demonstrate familiarity with the evidence and ―include evidence citations as footnotes in
response to this evaluation criterion along with Web links to the location of the cited
study or report.‖
If we were proposing to replicate and scale-up ―evidence-based strategies,‖ we would be
required to cite strong or moderate evidence from prior research (based in well-designed
and well-implemented experimental or semi-experimental studies or random assignment
multisite trials supporting the efficacy of the proposed strategy). We are not. In the
language of the SGA, we are proposing a ―new or innovative strategy.‖ We are required
to present a rationale for the proposed practice, strategy, or program that is based on
preliminary research findings or reasonable hypotheses, including related research or
theories in education and other sectors
Fortunately, there is persuasive evidence emerging from research and theoretical
discussion that provides a solid foundation for the hypothesis that a carefully integrated,
multi-dimensional approach to re-designing the structure of the community college
student learning experience will produce significantly higher levels of completion,
accelerate time to credential, and lead to better labor market outcomes.1 While a few
elements of the evidence cited below can be supported by findings from experimental or
quasi-experimental study, most of the evidence is clearly preliminary, owing largely to
limitations of scale and scope typically associated with reform and change at most
community colleges.
Narrowly focused change has produced only limited outcomes: Because ours is a
change strategy that proposes to institute a coherent set of inter-related and interdependent changes in program structure, it is appropriate to underscore at the outset that
narrowly focused change has produced only limited outcomes. There is very recent
evidence of this in Turning the Tide, MDRC‘s just-published assessment of five years of
progress of the first 26 community colleges to participate in the Achieving the Dream
1
See Designing an Effective New Program Structure & Powerful C3T Application, available from
Complete College America
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initiative. MDRC found that, on average, each of those colleges college implemented
seven discrete strategies, 187 direct intervention strategies in total. The colleges achieved
some modest progress toward scale-up – most expanded at least one strategy to reach at
least 25 percent of its intended target population. However, MDRC found that most
strategic interventions were limited in scope and remained small in scale; the benefits of
were typically extended to only a small fraction of the students who were their targets.
The MDRC assessment classified the 187 direct interventions into 11 mutually exclusive
strategy types. (The most popular strategies were tutoring, supplemental instruction,
advising, success courses, learning communities and bridge programs.) Interventions
classified by MDRC as intensive strategies, involving curricular reform or intensive
advising, were particularly unlikely to reach large numbers of students.
Most importantly, MDRC found that student outcomes remained relatively unchanged
across the five-year period of study. The average rates of persistence and graduation did
not increase; most development education outcomes did not improve; there was little
change in the achievement gaps by race, ethnicity, and income.
The MDRC report may be found at: http://www.mdrc.org/publications/578/full.pdf
This MDRC report and related evidence cited below argue for strategy intervention at a
more comprehensive and integrated level that aims at simultaneous change focusing
around whole program design and delivery – improving the coherency of instruction and
educationally relevant services that students need as they move through their program of
study. This approach would embed several inter-dependent elements (i.e., cohort
enrollment and learning communities, contextualized remediation, block scheduling,
hybrid delivery, and program-based student services and employer involvement) to restructure the students‘ learning experience. The objective is to build new pathways to
good credentials with labor market value that will work for students not now finding
success in traditional pathways.
For the DOL SGA, this strategy is aimed chiefly at economically stressed working adults,
often displaced from their previous jobs, who are seeking the educational foundation for a
new career start. They have limited time, basic skills that are rusty at best, and little
understanding of how to navigate traditional academic systems. They need structure,
clarity, and above all a compressed pathway to the credential that will lead them to a
good job with career opportunity. This same strategy can work for many others; over
time other students will migrate to pathways that work for them. However, the target
here is the working adult.
Traditional pathways are not working for working adults: There is ample evidence
that traditional pathways to credentials are not working for working adults. Recent
findings from research by the National Center For Education Statistics (NCES:2010-151)
reveal that, of students who first enrolled in two-year colleges at ages 24 to 29 in 2004,
only 29 percent had obtained a credential of any kind six years later.2 More than half –
2
13.2 percent had received a certificate; 12.6 percent an associate‘s degree; and 3.2 percent a bachelor‘s
degree.
2
54.2 percent – had received no credential and were no longer enrolled in any
postsecondary institution. The rest were still enrolled. Those over the age of 30 at
enrollment fared even worse; 58.2 percent had left after six years with no credential, 15
percent were still enrolled, and only 27 percent had received a credential of any kind.
The NCES report revealed that enrollment intensity had very much to do with success.
Of all students starting in two-year colleges whose enrollment was always part-time, 73
percent had withdrawn after six years with no credential – 8.1 percent had gained a
certificate and 5.5 percent had gained a degree and only about 13 percent were still taking
courses.
The NCES report is available at: http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2011/2011151.pdf
The sections that follow offer brief summaries and abstracts of selected research literature
and reports divided in five categories as follows:
1. Publications addressing the concept of program structure and integrated program
design and delivery;
2. Reports and reviews that confront the failure of traditional approaches to
remediating poorly developed or rusty basic math and English skills through
―pre-program‖ developmental education and hold out new ideas consistent with
the strategy of program-embedded remediation;
3. Publications supporting the hypothesis that hybrid program design can help
colleges compress classroom time and accelerate students to completion and
strong labor outcomes;
4. Research reports and literature summaries that offer evidence about the potential
benefits of cohort enrollment, learning communities, and related forms of student
support and peer engagement; and
5. Other reports that are directly relevant to community college change strategies
applicable to the DOL SGA.
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A. The Importance of Program Structure and Whole Program Design
There are several research-based studies that offer evidence and a foundation for
hypotheses about the value of whole program design and block scheduling. This
evidence suggests that student outcomes in terms of persistence and completion in
community colleges would be significantly enhanced by programming that offers more
intentionally designed pathways reducing the complexity of registration, course selection,
and class scheduling and offering the student greater transparency, simplicity, and
predictability in this process. This objective could be met through an explicit definition
of course requirements with a pre-determined sequence, a pre-established life-of-program
class schedule, a cohort-based structure, and a single program registration process.
There are several research documents supporting this hypothesis. Below are summaries
of eight reports and books, some literature reviews and others reporting on specific
evidence, that bear most sharply on the concept of program structure and whole program
design and delivery.
1. The Shapeless River: Does a Lack of Structure Inhibit Students' Progress at
Community Colleges?
Judith Scott-Clayton — January 2011, New York: Community College Research
Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
For many students at community colleges, finding a path to degree completion is the
equivalent of navigating a shapeless river on a dark night. As the author states,
―navigation is particularly difficult when the path is wide, blind, and lacking in shape or
substance. Without signposts, without a guide, without a visible shoreline to follow,
many students make false starts, take wrong turns, and hit unexpected obstacles, while
others simply ‗kill the boat‘ trying to figure out where they are.‖
The author notes that very few studies have explicitly examined the role of structure in
student persistence. This work aims at that area of research and analysis. The author
integrates previously disconnected evidence and draws on ideas from behavioral
economics and psychology to consider the structure hypothesis: that community college
students will be more likely to persist and succeed in programs that are tightly and
consciously structured, with relatively little room for individuals to unintentionally
deviate from paths toward completion, and with limited bureaucratic obstacles for
students to circumnavigate.
The author finds evidence to suggest that the lack of structure in many community
colleges is likely to result in less-than-optimal decisions by students about whether and
how to persist toward a credential. The author acknowledges that evidence regarding the
extent of the problems is much stronger and deeper than the evidence regarding potential
solutions. However, the author finds that research does offer relevant insights, citing in
particular the following:
The potential for technological innovations that could improve students‘ access to
and navigation of information about programs, courses, requirements, and
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prerequisites.
The possible advantages of learning communities to simplify students‘ course
choices (and schedules) by offering them bundles of courses and to improve peer
networks by clustering students in the same set of courses.
Relevant lessons from K-12 curriculum design about the advantages of
instructional program coherence and constrained curriculum.
Lessons from research about private occupational colleges that suggest coherent
program structure and organizational procedures can be associated with better
outcomes for students
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=839
2. Redesigning Community Colleges for Completion: Lessons from Research on
High-Performance Organizations
Davis Jenkins — January 2011. New York: Community College Research Center,
Teachers College, Columbia University
After examining the research from within and outside of higher education on
organizational performance, this paper identifies eight practices common among highperformance organizations: leadership, focus on the customer, functional alignment,
process improvement, use of measurement, employee involvement and professional
development, and external linkages. Evidence suggests that these organizational
practices have the greatest impact on performance when implemented in concert with one
another. The paper assesses the extent to which community colleges generally are
following these practices and evaluates current reform efforts in light of models of
organizational effectiveness that emerge from the research literature.
The author argues that, in order to bring about improvements in organizational
performance, community colleges will need to involve faculty and staff in comprehensive
reform efforts. This paper reviews research on strategies for engaging faculty and staff in
organizational innovation and describes particular challenges community colleges face on
this front. The concluding section recommends concrete steps community college leaders
can take to redesign how they manage programs and services to increase rates of student
completion on a scale needed to help meet national goals for college attainment.
The author argues that ―…programmatic innovations, such as learning communities,
supplemental instruction, and mentoring programs, particularly if implemented in
isolation from larger organizational reforms, will not be sufficient to improve student
outcomes on a meaningful scale.‖ Indeed, the research suggests that scaling particular
innovations generally requires changes in a range of related institutional policies. For
example, offering learning communities to large numbers of incoming students would
require colleges to change how they schedule courses, which has implications for
advising, instructor training and course preparation, and other issues related to
institutional policy. Moreover, the literature also strongly indicates that improvements in
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organizational performance result from implementation of complementary sets of
organizational practices – no one policy or practice, even if implemented at scale, will
improve student outcomes overall. Innovations in policy and practice must be
implemented in concert with one another and must be aligned to support the goals of
increasing student learning and completion.
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=844
3. After Admission: From College Access To College Success.
Rosenbaum, J. E., Deil-Amen, R., & Person, A. E. (2006). New York, NY: Russell
Sage Foundation.
Rosenbaum, Deil-Amen, and Person examine differences in organizational procedures,
through in-depth qualitative and survey analyses, at seven public and seven private twoyear institutions within a single metropolitan area of Illinois. The authors present
evidence that students at community colleges experience greater information barriers than
similar students at occupational schools. For example, the private two-year students were
significantly more likely than the community college students in the sample to know
which courses were needed for degree plans and which classes give college credit, and to
have information about prerequisites. Private two-year students were also less likely to
take a course they later discovered would not count toward a degree. These differences
remained significant even after controlling for student characteristics.
The authors argue that differences in organizational procedures can explain these
differences in student experiences; this argument is supported with qualitative
descriptions. They find that the private colleges in their sample had more structured
programs, making it easier for students to understand and follow important information,
and providing students with fewer opportunities to ―mess up‖ and take a class that they
later find out does not count. Advising at the private two-year schools was also more
structured and intrusive, requiring mandatory meetings each term. Students at the private
schools advanced through programs in cohorts, providing a level of peer support and
streamlining the guidance process from initial registration through job placement.
On the basis of these findings, After Admission recommends that community colleges
simplify their curricula, improve counseling (structuring it into program design and
delivery), more proactively monitor student progress, and improve information systems.
Available at:
http://www.amazon.com/After-Admission-College-Access-Success/dp/0871547074
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4. The Social Prerequisites of Success: Can College Structure Reduce the Need for
Social Know-How?
Regina Deil-Amen and James E. Rosenbaum
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science March 2003
vol. 586 no. 1 120-143.
A shorter and earlier version of the thesis of After Admission, this study of fourteen
colleges finds that community colleges require certain kinds of social know-how—skills
and knowledge less available to disadvantaged students. The authors identify seven
obstacles: (1) bureaucratic hurdles, (2) confusing choices, (3) student-initiated guidance,
(4) limited counselor availability, (5) poor advice from staff, (6) delayed detection of
costly mistakes, and (7) poor handling of conflicting demands.
The authors find that a very different kind of college—the private occupational college—
takes steps to ―structure out‖ the need for this social know-how and address the needs of
disadvantaged students. The authors acknowledge occupational colleges are not for
everyone and that community colleges may offer an inexpensive version of a four-year
college education that works very well for some students. However, the authors conclude
that community colleges often require students to devote additional time obtaining
information, puzzling among choices, exploring, and making false starts and mistakes in
pursuit of a degree in a complex system. The authors recommend that community
colleges seek to emulate the highly structured model of private occupational colleges
where credentials and higher completion rates are associated not with separate and often
unconnected courses but rather with integral programs that have tight labor market
connections leading to good placements ad good jobs.
Available at:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049723?seq=22
5. Curriculum and Pedagogy To Integrate Occupational and Academic Instruction in
the Community College: Implications for Faculty Development.
Dolores Perrin. March 2000, New York: Community College Research Center,
Teachers College, Columbia University New York: Community College Research
Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.
This document describes a case study of seven community colleges that used curriculum
and pedagogy to integrate academic and occupational education. Integration is
accomplished by linking or clustering courses, infusing academic instruction into
occupational education or vice versa, or adding components such as authentic
assessment, career exploration, and work-based learning to traditional career-related
education. An unanticipated finding was that only a small number of community
colleges (at least in the four states targeted in this analysis) actually offered courses that
integrated academic and occupational curriculum. The benefits of integrated instruction
included: (1) increased student motivation; (2) a greater sense of mutual support and
7
community through linked courses; (3) interactions with different faculty that offset the
problem of increased faculty workload; (4) improvements in the teaching skills of faculty
and in their awareness of other disciplines; and (5) integrated instruction that can
stimulate an updating of curriculum and help local employers to form relationships with
the college. Obstacles included: (1) faculty resistance to change or to academicoccupational integration in particular; (2) increased faculty workload; (3) a perception
that integrated instruction reduced educational quality; (4) conflict in the standards or
perceptions of faculty members in linked-course models; (5) questionable transferability
of integrated courses.
A particularly useful element of this study is a review of literature regarding the students
understanding of about the nature of academic-occupational instruction. Grubb (1996)
points out that when programs "integrated" education merely by requiring that vocational
students take general education courses, the connections were lost on the students. The
contention that occupational education students should not be left to integrate the two
areas themselves is supported by studies that suggest that low-achieving students lack the
meta-cognitive skills to monitor their own learning processes (Brown, Pressley, Van
Meter, & Schuder, 1996) or to coordinate information from various sources (Meltzer,
1993). Even in models that are designed to integrate academic and occupational subject
matter, such as linked courses or applied academics, students might not be fully aware of
the instructional intent unless they are explicitly informed. Generalization of learning
may be enhanced when curriculum materials, such as course syllabi, clearly specify that
instruction is being integrated.
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=38
6. A Working Model for Student Success: The Tennessee Technology Centers
Preliminary Case Study
A report commissioned by COMPLETE COLLEGE AMERICA 1250 H Street NW, Suite
700 Washington, DC 20005 (202)
This is a report about the Tennessee Technology Centers – a statewide system of 27
institutions providing a wide range of rigorous, one to two year, technical/occupational
education programs at consistently high completion and placement rates in high skill and
relatively high wage employment. The report describes how the Centers are organized,
how they operate, and how they are able to achieve completion rates far higher than their
counterparts among community colleges in Tennessee and around the nation.
According to this report, of 1,145 one and two-year public postsecondary institutions in
U.S. (degree granting and non-degree granting), only about 100 can report an average
―150 percent of time‖ graduation rate above 50% for the last five years. All twenty-seven
Technology Centers were found to be included in that group. During those five years, the
Technology Centers averaged above 70% completion and over 75 percent placements in
jobs directly related to the program of study. There is no other state postsecondary system
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that approaches these outcomes.
This report examines four particular pieces of the Technology Centers institutional
framework: (1) an integrated program structure; (2) a competency-based, self-paced
learning model; (3) contextualized foundation skills; and (4) program-based supportive
services. These pieces appear to be the critical underpinnings of the Centers‗ capacity to
produce high rates of completion and placement. Throughout, the report emphasizes how
these components fit together enabling the institution as a whole and the students to
achieve high rates of success as measured by program completions and labor market
outcomes.
The report suggests that much of the success of the Technology Center model lies in the
ways its core organization allows faculty and staff to focus education and service delivery
on student success. Its institutional framework of competency-based education, clockhour format, and self-paced learning facilitates this. Students are not passed from one
class or instructor to another as they make their way toward completion—for the most
part students have the same set of one or two instructors for the duration of their program.
Accessible at:
http://www.completecollege.org/resources_and_reports
7. Paths to Persistence: An Analysis of Research on Program Effectiveness at
Community Colleges
Thomas Bailey & Mariana Alfonso — January 2005. New Agenda Series, 6(1).
[Monograph] Lumina Foundation for Education
This report presents a critical analysis of the state of the research on the effectiveness of
four types of practices in increasing persistence and completion at community colleges:
1) advising, counseling, mentoring and orientation programs; 2) learning communities; 3)
developmental education and other services for academically underprepared students; and
4) college-wide reform.
The authors use this analysis to draw substantive lessons about effective institutional
practices, to identify promising areas for future research, to evaluate the state of programeffectiveness research at community colleges, and to make recommendations for
improving related research. Although many people believe in the effectiveness of
individual programs, the authors also find reason for skepticism about whether they can
be ―taken to scale,‖ that is, applied as institutional reforms. Completion rates at
community colleges are low, and improving them significantly will probably require the
successful expansion of pilot programs and the strengthening of related programs and
services. No program, however well designed, can work in isolation.
Accessible at:
http://www.luminafoundation.org/publications/PathstoPersistence.pdf
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8. Early Outcomes Report for City University of New York (CUNY) Accelerated
Study in Associate Programs (ASAP).
Donna Linderman; The City University of New York (CUNY) and NYC Center for
Economic Opportunity. November 2009.
The ASAP program is designed to help students earn their Associate‘s degree as quickly
as possible, with a target of 50 percent of students graduating within three years. ASAP
provides several incentives to remove financial barriers to full-time college study. Any
gap between financial aid award and tuition and fees is waived so there is no cost of
attendance for financial-aid eligible students. Nearly 84% of ASAP students received Pell
or New York State Tuition Assistance Plan (TAP) for the 2007/08 academic year. All
students receive free monthly Metrocards and free use of textbooks for their classes.
ASAP students are grouped in cohorts based on their majors. During the first year of the
program, students take 3-5 of their classes in cohort blocks with ASAP students and 2-4
out-of-block courses with the general college population. Class sizes usually do not
exceed 25 students, allowing for more regular interaction with classmates and faculty.
All students also participate in the ASAP Seminar, a weekly non-credit advisement
program facilitated by ASAP staff. In year two, students take required classes with small
cohorts of 5-7 ASAP students and the general college population in addition to the
weekly ASAP Seminar.
ASAP advisors meet with their assigned caseload of students at least twice a month.
Advisors provide comprehensive academic, social, and interpersonal support and are
considered one of the most valued elements of the ASAP program by students and
college leadership. Frequent contact between faculty and advisors has ensured that every
student requiring support is referred to tutoring or counseling in a timely manner. ASAP
career and employment specialists on each campus also meet with students and deliver
workshops on interviewing, job skills, and career planning. Students who require
employment are placed in an appropriate job situation to allow them to take a full-time
course load. Advisors and career and employment specialists work together to provide
all students with support in transferring to a 4-year college and/or entering the work force
as they near graduation.
ASAP also provides dedicated tutoring at all sites by qualified undergraduate or graduate
students. ASAP tutors provide general subject area support and conduct regular review
sessions for particularly challenging courses such as statistics or advanced chemistry. The
number of tutors at each college varies based on ASAP enrollment. Struggling students
are mandated to attend weekly tutoring for a minimum number of hours to help them
improve their grades. Other program elements include arts and cultural programs, trips to
4-year colleges, a student leadership program, graduate interns through the Hunter
College School of Social Work, social events, and celebrations of student success, among
others.
In fall 2007 ASAP began with a pilot cohort of 1,132 students who were deemed fully
skills proficient in reading, writing, and math. Having just completed its second year
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ASAP is well on its way to realizing its ambitious goals of graduating at least 50 percent
of its original 2007 cohort within three years. As of August 2009, a total of 341 ASAP
students from the original cohort have graduated with an Associate‘s degree, representing
a 30.1 percent 2-year graduation rate. A comparison group of similar students from fall
2006 had a 2- year graduation rate of 11.4 percent. An additional 325 students are
currently on track to graduate by September 2010, which would result in 3-year
graduation rate of nearly 60 percent. Fall 2006 comparison group students had a 3-year
graduation rate of 24 percent.
Accessible at:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/ceo/downloads/pdf/asap_final_report_2009.pdf
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B. The Need for New Approaches to Developmental Education
There is growing evidence and a consensus among researchers that traditional approaches
to developmental education are not working. Assessment methodologies that are the
basis of placement in developmental education are suspect. Many students denied access
to program courses until they complete what might be two or three semesters of remedial
math or English courses lose motivation. Interest is increasing in new approaches that
seek to embed basic skill development into program courses, sometimes augmented by
supplemental or ―co-requisite‖ instruction that can be organized to operate simultaneous
to or parallel to program courses rather than preceding them.
Summarized below are eight literature reviews and evidence-based research reports about
the failure of the traditional development education model and the emergence of
alternative ideas that are consistent with the strategy of admitting students directly into
occupational programs of study and embedding remediation into program content.
1. Challenge And Opportunity: Rethinking the Role and Function of Developmental
Education in Community College
Thomas Bailey — November 2008. New York: Community College Research Center,
Teachers College, Columbia University.
This paper reviews evidence on the number of students who enter community colleges
with weak academic skills and on the incidence of developmental education. It assesses
what happens to developmental students and reviews the research on the effectiveness of
programs at community colleges designed to strengthen weak academic skills. It briefly
discusses the costs of these programs.
The author argues that, on average, developmental education as it is now practiced is not
very effective in overcoming academic weaknesses, partly because the majority of
students referred to developmental education do not finish the sequences to which they
are referred. The author finds reason for optimism in the dramatic expansion in
experimentation with new approaches to strengthen student skills has taken place.
The author suggests a broad developmental education reform agenda based on a
comprehensive approach to assessment; more rigorous research that explicitly tracks
students with weak academic skills through their early experiences at community
colleges; a blurring of the distinction between developmental and "college-level" students
that could improve pedagogy for both groups of students; and strategies to streamline
developmental programs and accelerate students' progress toward engagement in collegelevel work.
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=658
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2. Referral, Enrollment, And Completion In Developmental Education Sequences
In Community Colleges
Thomas Bailey Dong Wook Jeong Sung-Woo Cho, Revised November 2009. New
York: Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.
After being assessed, many students entering community colleges are referred to one or
more levels of developmental education. While the need to assist students with weak
academic skills is well known, little research has examined student progression through
multiple levels of developmental education and into entry-level college courses. This
paper analyzes the patterns and determinants of student progression through sequences of
developmental education starting from initial referral. The authors rely primarily on a
micro-level longitudinal dataset that includes detailed information about student
progression through developmental education. This dataset was collected as part of the
national community college initiative Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count.
The dataset has many advantages, but it is not nationally representative; therefore, the
authors check their results against a national dataset— the National Education
Longitudinal Study of 1988.
Results indicate that fewer than one half of the students who are referred to remediation
actually complete the entire sequence to which they are referred. About 30 percent of
students referred to developmental education do not enroll in any remedial course, and
only about 60 percent of referred students actually enroll in the remedial course to which
they were referred. The results also show that more students exit their developmental
sequences because they did not enroll in the first or a subsequent course than because
they failed or withdrew from a course in which they were enrolled. The authors also
show that men, older students, African American students, part-time students, and
students in vocational programs are less likely to progress through their full remedial
sequences.
This developmental ―obstacle course‖ presents students with many opportunities to step
out of their sequences, and students in large numbers take those opportunities. Less than
one half of students complete their sequences, and only 20 percent of those referred to
math and 40 percent of those referred to reading complete a gatekeeper course within
three years of initial enrollment.
This paper reveals the confusion and disarray that underlies the apparent orderliness of
the developmental sequence. In theory, the system consists of an ordered set of courses
into which students are placed with the assistance of assessments used by hundreds of
thousands of students. But barely a majority of students actually follow their referral
recommendations. For some students, deviation from the referral appears to be a wise
decision, but others ignore the recommendations and disappear from the college
altogether. And those who do enroll in remedial courses take a bewildering variety of
pathways as they try to make progress toward college-level courses.
Given the confusion and ineffectiveness of the developmental system, one possible
objective would be to reduce the length of time before a student could start college
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courses—to accelerate the remediation process. A system that used more accurate
assessment that identifies the specific needs of students and focuses instruction on
addressing those particular needs would be one way to minimize the time a student
spends in remediation. It may be possible to provide that supplemental instruction,
through tutoring for example, while the student is enrolled in an introductory collegelevel course. The authors note that students who choose to skip remediation do
reasonably well and suggest it might make sense to provide appropriate support so that
more students could follow that path.
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=734
3. Facilitating Student Learning Through Contextualization
Dolores Perrin — February 2011. New York: Community College Research Center,
Teachers College, Columbia University.
This paper is a literature review that explores the nature and effectiveness of
contextualization as a way to improve outcomes for academically underprepared college
students. Two forms of contextualization are studied: ―contextualized‖ and ―integrated‖
instruction. Contextualized basic skills instruction involves the teaching of academic
skills against a backdrop of specific subject matter to which such skills need to be
applied, such as philosophy. The primary emphasis of contextualized basic skills
instruction is the teaching of reading, writing, or math, with instruction delivered by
developmental education, English, and math teachers. The author notes there is more
descriptive work on the contextualization of basic skills than studies with student
outcome data. However, contextualization seems to be a promising direction for
accelerating the progress of academically underprepared college students.
Integrated basic skills instruction is the incorporation of reading, writing, or math
instruction into the teaching of content. Integration is seen when a community college
career and technical course instructor teaches students how to write a summary of a
business text or when an allied health instructor teaches students how to write log entries
on patient care.
There is support in the literature for both forms of contextualization identified in this
review, contextualized instruction, which is taught by developmental education
instructors and English and English language arts teachers, and integrated instruction,
which is provided by discipline area instructors. The author concludes that while most of
literature is descriptive rather than evaluative, the 27 studies reviewed reported evidence
that contextualization has the potential to promote short-term academic achievement and
longer-term college advancement of low-skilled students.
However, the studies also indicate that considerable effort is needed to implement
contextualization because instructors need to learn from each other and collaborate across
disciplines, a practice that is not common in college settings. Further, there is very little
14
information on cost or what would be needed to scale up contextualization. However,
the available evidence, taken in combination with practitioners‘ considerable enthusiasm
for contextualization, suggests that this approach would be a useful step toward
improving the outcomes of academically underprepared college students.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=866
4. Accelerating the Academic Achievement of Students Referred to Developmental
Education
Nikki Edgecombe — February 2011. New York: Community College Research
Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
Acceleration, which involves the reorganization of instruction and curricula in ways that
facilitate the completion of educational requirements in an expedited manner, is an
increasingly popular strategy at community colleges for improving the outcomes of
developmental education students. This paper reviews the literature on acceleration and
considers the quality of evidence available on the effects of acceleration on student
outcomes. After examining various definitions of acceleration to better understand what
it is and how it works, the paper describes and categorizes the different acceleration
models in use. Then, the recent empirical literature on acceleration is reviewed to assess
the effectiveness of these approaches. While the empirical basis for acceleration is not as
strong as is desirable, existing evidence suggests that there are a variety of models of
course redesign and mainstreaming that community colleges can employ to enhance
student outcomes. The paper closes with a discussion of the challenges involved in
implementing acceleration strategies and recommendations for policy, practice, and
research.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=867
5. A Model for Accelerating Academic Success of Community College Remedial
English Students: Is the Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) Effective and
Affordable?
Davis Jenkins, Cecilia Speroni, Clive Belfield, Shanna Smith Jaggars & Nikki
Edgecombe — September 2010: New York: Community College Research Center,
Teachers College, Columbia University
The Community College of Baltimore County‘s Accelerated Learning Program (ALP)
permits upper-level developmental writing students to enroll directly in English 101
(ENGL 101) while simultaneously taking a companion course, taught by the same
instructor, that provides extra academic support. The aim of the ALP course, which has
only eight students per classroom, is to help students maximize the likelihood of their
success in English 101.
This study concludes that among students who place into the highest level of
15
developmental writing, participating in ALP is associated with substantially better
outcomes in terms of English 101 completion and English 102 completion, the two
primary outcomes ALP was designed to improve. In the sample used in this study, 82%
of ALP students passed ENGL 101 within one year, compared with 69% of non-ALP
ENGL 052 students. More than a third (34%) of ALP students passed ENGL 102,
compared with only 12% of the non-ALP ENGL 052 students.
Analysis also shows that, compared to the conventional approach, ALP provides a
substantially more cost-effective route for students to pass the ENGL 101 and 102
sequence required for an associate degree ($2,680 versus $3,122 per student). The
benefits of ALP were found to more than double the costs.
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=811
6. How I-BEST Works: Findings from a Field Study of Washington State's Integrated
Basic Education and Skills Training Program
John Wachen, Davis Jenkins & Michelle Van Noy — September 2010. New York:
Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.
Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) is an innovative strategy
developed by the Washington (WA) State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
(SBCTC) in conjunction with the state‘s community and technical colleges to increase
the rate at which adult basic skills students enter and succeed in postsecondary
occupational education. In the I-BEST model, basic skills instructors and professionaltechnical faculty jointly design and teach college-level occupational classes that admit
basic skills-level students. By integrating instruction in basic skills with instruction in
college-level professional-technical skills, I-BEST seeks to increase the rate at which
adult basic education and English-as-a-second-language students advance to college-level
programs and complete postsecondary credentials in fields offering good wages and
opportunities for career advancement.
Promising results from evaluations of I-BEST programs have generated interest in the IBEST model in adult education, workforce development, and postsecondary education
communities in other states. Nationally, over 2.5 million students take adult basic skills
courses at community colleges, high schools, and community organizations, and there are
many more educationally disadvantaged, working age adults in the population at large.
Thus, the large number of students who could potentially benefit from this model has
inspired further interest in understanding I-BEST, and funders such as the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation have expressed interest in
replicating the model.
Quantitative analyses of the I-BEST model indicate that it is effective in improving
educational outcomes, but few people in the larger higher education community outside
of Washington‘s two-year colleges fully understand how I-BEST programs work.
16
Therefore, the study reported on here examines how the 34 community and technical
colleges in Washington State are implementing the I-BEST model and how I-BEST
programs operate.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=806
7. Washington State's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training Program (IBEST): New Evidence of Effectiveness (CCRC Working Paper No. 20)
Matthew Zeidenberg, Sung-Woo Cho & Davis Jenkins — September 2010. New York:
Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.
In response to the low rates at which adult basic skills students advance to and succeed in
college-level occupational programs, the Washington State Board for Community and
Technical Colleges (SBCTC) developed the Integrated Basic Education and Skills
Training, or I-BEST. In the I-BEST model, a basic skills instructor and an occupational
instructor team teach occupational courses with integrated basic skills content, and
students receive college-level credit for the occupational coursework.
This study examined the impact of I-BEST on students enrolled in the program in 2006–
07 and 2007–08. It measured seven educational outcome variables: (1) whether a student
earned any college credit (of any kind), (2) whether a student earned any occupational
college credit, (3) the number of college credits a student earned, (4) the number of
occupational college credits a student earned, (5) whether or not a student persisted to the
following year after initial enrollment, (6) whether a student earned a certificate or
degree, and (7) whether a student achieved point gains on basic skills tests. It also
examined two labor market outcomes: the change in wages for those who were employed
both before and after program enrollment, and the change in the number of hours worked
after leaving the program.
The researchers found that enrollment in I-BEST had positive impacts on all but one of
the educational outcomes (persistence was not affected), but no impact on the two labor
market outcomes. However, I-BEST students in our sample were entering the labor
market just as the economy was entering a major recession, and perhaps a future
evaluation will reveal better labor market outcomes.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=805
8. Promoting Gatekeeper Course Success Among Community College Students
Needing Remediation: Findings and Recommendations from a Virginia Study
(Summary Report)
Davis Jenkins, Shanna Smith Jaggars & Josipa Roksa — November 2009. New York:
Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.
This report summarizes key findings and recommendations from a Community College
Research Center (CCRC) study designed to help community colleges develop strategies
17
for improving the rate at which academically underprepared students take and pass initial
college-level (or ―gatekeeper‖) courses in math and English. CCRC conducted the study
at the request of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) to inform the system‘s
strategic objective of improving retention and academic success for their students,
particularly the large number of students who arrive unprepared for college-level work.
The study examined student characteristics, course-taking patterns, and other factors
associated with higher probabilities that students who require remediation will take and
pass math and English gatekeeper courses.
Included among the several recommendations of the report are two that seem applicable
to most community colleges elsewhere and relevant to this review. First, CCRC
recommends that colleges consider alternative enrollment pathways for students in the
lowest level of developmental courses. Given the low rates of success for students
recommended to the lowest developmental courses on entry, colleges may want to
consider alternative approaches to facilitating their educational success. For example,
colleges may consider encouraging such students to enroll in occupational certificate
programs that do not require college-level math and English as an intermediate step
toward eventually earning a degree. Community colleges in Washington State have seen
promising results from programs that enable adult basic skills students (many of whom
are at a level of readiness similar to that of the lowest level developmental students) to
enter and succeed in occupational certificate programs. In the approach developed by the
Washington colleges, known as I-BEST, adult basic skills students enroll in college-level
career technical programs that are jointly taught by basic skills and career-technical
instructors (Jenkins, Zeidenberg, & Kienzl, 2009).
Another recommendation of this report is for colleges to consider ―mainstreaming‖ some
students, particularly those referred to the highest level of developmental coursework in a
given subject area, directly into college-level courses, while providing additional supports
as needed. The report notes that some students referred to developmental education
chose to circumvent those recommendations, and yet they were able to succeed at a rate
similar to those that complied with placement recommendations. Placement tests do not
purport to capture the complete range of factors that allow students to succeed (for
example, personal motivation and interpersonal supports). Accordingly, it may be
appropriate to allow some students who score below the college-ready threshold to
attempt college-level classes, particularly if such students are supplied with systematic
academic and non-academic supports. Programs that attempt to accelerate the progress of
remedial students into college-level courses by offering developmental instruction
concurrently with related college-level courses or by integrating academic support into
college courses have shown some promise (see, e.g., Bragg & Barnett, 2009; Scott, 2003;
Wlodkowski 2003; Wlodkowski & Kasworm, 2003), although these approaches have not
yet been rigorously evaluated (Bailey, 2009).
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=714
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C. Hybrid Approaches to On-Line Learning Can Compress Classroom Time
If time-pressured working adults are to complete robust education programs of one year
or more (the Tipping Point for strong labor market returns), it will be essential to reduce
classroom time and shift a significant portion of instruction to technology-based and
asynchronous delivery. The literature supports a strategy of increasing reliance upon online teaching and learning. However, the research also presents compelling evidence that
merely shifting discrete courses from the classroom to the Internet may not produce
strong outcomes. There appears to be some convergence in the research literature that
supports hybrid program design that blends classroom instruction with on-line instruction
and further uses on-line strategies for delivering extra-curricular material, student
advising and other supports and greater labor market involvement.
Three reports and reviews in particular seem directly relevant to the strategy of hybrid
program design.
1. Online and Hybrid Course Enrollment and Performance in Washington State
Community and Technical Colleges
Di Xu and Shanna Smith Jaggars — March 2011. New York: Community College
Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
This report investigates enrollment patterns and academic outcomes in online, hybrid,
and face-to-face courses among students who enrolled in Washington State community
and technical colleges in the fall of 2004. Students were tracked for nearly five years,
until the spring of 2009. Students who were employed for more hours and students who
had demographic characteristics associated with stronger academic preparation were
more likely to enroll in online courses; however, students who enrolled in hybrid courses
were quite similar to those who enrolled in a purely face-to-face curriculum.
After controlling for student characteristics using multilevel regression techniques, results
indicated that students were more likely to fail or withdraw from fully online courses than
from face-to-face courses. In addition, students who took online coursework in early
terms were slightly but significantly less likely to return to school in subsequent terms,
and students who took a higher proportion of credits online were slightly but significantly
less likely to attain an educational award or transfer to a four-year institution. In contrast,
students were equally likely to complete a hybrid course as to complete a face-to-face
course. Additional analyses with a new cohort of students entering in 2008 showed
short-term results consistent with those of the 2004 cohort. Given the importance of
online learning in terms of student convenience and institutional flexibility, current
system supports for online learning should be bolstered and strengthened in order to
improve completion rates among online learners.
The challenges faced by low-income and underprepared students in online courses,
include: technical difficulties, a sense of social distance and isolation, a lack of the ―high
learner control‖ that may be needed for success in the relatively unstructured and flexible
19
online environment, and limited availability of online student support services. To help
ameliorate these difficulties while still allowing for increased flexibility, some educators
advocate the expansion of hybrid coursework, which is thought to provide students with
the ―best of both worlds.‖ And indeed, in this study, the authors did not find any
consistent or significant differences between hybrid and face-to-face completion rates,
suggesting that hybrid courses may pose fewer challenges for students.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=872
2. Effectiveness of Fully Online Courses for College Students: Response to a
Department of Education Meta-Analysis
Shanna Smith Jaggars & Thomas Bailey — July 2011, New York: Community
College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University.
A meta-analysis commissioned by the U.S. Department of Education (2009) concluded
that, among the studies considered, student learning outcomes in hybrid-online and fully
online courses were equal to or better than those in traditional face-to-face courses. This
conclusion included the caveat, however, that the positive effect for online learning
outcomes was much stronger when contrasting hybrid-online to face-to-face courses than
when contrasting fully online to face-to-face courses. In addition, the positive effect was
much stronger when the hybrid-online course incorporated additional materials or time
on task that was not included in the face-to-face course.
This paper concedes that the Department of Education meta-analysis demonstrates that
online coursework does no harm to traditional student population, offering these students
the benefit of convenience and flexibility in the location and scheduling of their studies,
For low-income and underprepared students, however, an expansion of online education
may not substantially improve access and may undercut academic success and
progression through school. The authors argue that a program designed to improve lowincome and underprepared student access via online learning will need to attend to
several important problems. including low-cost provision of high-speed Internet access
and laptops to low-income students. Without a more critical examination of the
pedagogical factors, student supports, and institutional structures that reinforce online
students‘ academic commitment and motivation, it is unlikely that an increase in online
offerings will result in a substantial increase in educational attainment among lowincome and underprepared students.
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?UID=796
3. Course Design Elements Most Valued By Adult Learners In Blended Online
Education Environments: An American Perspective.
Lunna Asburn, Educational Media International, Volume 41, Issue 4, pages 327-337.
2004.
20
This research describes course design elements most valued by adult learners in blended
learning environments that combine face-to-face contact with Web-based learning. It
identifies the online course features and the instructional design goals selected as most
important by a sample of 67 adults and compares the group rankings with those of
various sub-groups based on gender, pre-course technology and self-direction skills and
experiences, and preferred learning strategies as measured by Assessing the Learning
Strategies of Adults (ATLAS). The results of the study support the principles of adult
learning, indicating that adults value course designs containing options, personalization,
self-direction, variety, and a learning community.
Accessible at:
http://test.scripts.psu.edu/users/k/h/khk122/woty/OnlineAdultLearners/Ausbum%202004.
pdf
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D. Learning Communities and Related Student Support Strategies
Designing and delivering instruction as integral and coherent programs of study that are
block scheduled typically requires that the students be grouped together as cohorts,
moving through the sequence of competencies as a group. This can allow for the
formation of peer group ―learning communities‖ among those students in ways that offer
the potential to deepen and accelerate student learning. While the theoretical literature in
support of learning communities is strong, available research reports are limited to a few
evaluations of learning communities of relatively short duration.
This section summarizes five research reports that are broadly relevant to the cohort
enrollment and learning communities.
1. Classrooms as Communities: Exploring the Educational Character of Student
Persistence.
Vincent Tinto. “ The Journal of Higher Education. November 1997.
This study examined the experiences of students enrolled for one year in the Coordinated
Studies Program (CSP) at Seattle Central Community College. CSP required students to
enroll together in a series of courses that crossed disciplines but dealt with the same
theme, and the program emphasized cooperative learning activities. The study had both a
qualitative component and a quantitative analysis that compared survey results and
institutional outcomes between a sample of CSP students and students sampled from
comparison classes at the college. Descriptive statistics showed that CSP students had
significantly higher rates of persistence, and a multivariate analysis that controlled for
student attributes and behaviors found that participation in CSP was an independent
predictor of persistence into the second year of college. The qualitative case study
suggested that CSP helped persistence by creating supportive peer groups, bridging the
academic-social divide, and giving students a voice in the learning process.
Accessible at:
http://www.maine.edu/pdf/ClassroomsasCommunities.pdf
2. A Good Start: Two-Year Effects of a Freshman Community Learning Program at
Kingsborough Community College
Scrivener, Susan Dan Bloom, Allen LeBlanc, Christina Paxson, Cecilia Elena Rouse,
and Colleen Sommo. MDRC’s Opening Doors Project. March 2008.
A number of studies have suggested that learning communities produce positive
outcomes for community colleges students as well. Tinto (1997) evaluated the course
success and retention rates of community college students in learning communities,
finding that these students were more likely to pass a set of courses than were other
students enrolled in those courses, and they were more likely to re-enroll the following
year. A more recent study conducted in 13 community colleges found that students in
22
learning communities had more positive views of peers and instructors, spent more time
with other students on academic activities, felt more supported and encouraged by the
college community, and were more likely to believe that their coursework emphasized
higher order thinking skills (Engstrom & Tinto, 2007). Students in learning communities
were five percentage points more likely to persist one year later, leading the authors to
conclude that learning communities had modest effects on academic outcomes but more
substantial effects on social integration and engagement. Minkler (2002) also found that
community college students in learning communities had higher rates of retention and
earned the same or better grades than students taking similar stand-alone courses.
As part of MDRC‘s multisite Opening Doors demonstration, Kingsborough Community
College in Brooklyn, New York — a large, urban college with a diverse student
population that includes many immigrants — operated a learning community program.
The program placed freshmen in groups of up 47 to 25 who took three classes together
during their first semester. Approximately 1,500 first-year students at the Kingsborough
campus were randomized into a treatment group that was eligible to be assigned to a
learning community (of about 25 students, on average), and a control group, which
received the college‘s standard courses and services. Treated students took integrated
first-semester including a student ―success‖ course—and received extra tutoring plus
vouchers for textbooks. Results show that during the first semester of the program,
treated students attempted and completed roughly one-half of a course or more, and
completed almost one more developmental credit compared to the control students.
While these effects disappeared over the course of the students‘ participation in the study
and after they left the learning communities, three semesters after entering the program,
treated students had progressed more quickly through developmental (remedial) English
requirements compared to control students.
The researchers found mixed results on persistence. At the end of the first month of
program participation, treated students were no more likely than their control
counterparts to enroll the following semester. However, three semesters after entering
the program, treated students were marginally more likely to enroll the following
semester than control students. This study suggests that learning communities (combined
with a student success course) may generate a small, although possibly short-lived,
improvement in student outcomes.
The Opening Doors Demonstration examined the impact of learning communities in a
community college using random assignment, overcoming the typical problems of selfselection. A preliminary evaluation found that students assigned to learning communities
were more likely to pass their first semester courses and less likely to drop courses than
were similar students in a control group, although second-term retention rates did
not differ between the two groups (Bloom & Sommo, 2005). A more recent evaluation of
the same program found positive impacts on course completion and credits earned, but
only for the semester in which the students were enrolled in the learning community
(Scrivener et al., 2008). There was no impact on persistence in the next two semesters,
although students in the learning community were more likely to be enrolled three
23
semesters later. The learning community students were found to be more engaged and to
have a stronger sense of belonging to the campus community.
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/473/full.pdf
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/410/full.pdf/
3. Learning Communities for Students In Developmental Reading: An Impact Study
at Hillsborough Community College MDRC’s Opening Doors Project. June 2010.
Weiss, Michael, Mary Visher, and Heather Washington, with Jed Teres and Emily
Schneider.
As part of its Opening Doors project, MDRC undertook a rigorous random assignment
study of a ―basic‖ learning community program at Hillsborough Community College in
Tampa Bay, Florida. Unlike the more robust model implemented at Kingsborough
Community College Hillsborough‘s learning communities consisted simply of groups of
around 20 students co-enrolled into a developmental reading course and a ―college
success‖ course for only one semester. By linking the courses, college leaders hoped that
skills learned in the college success course could be applied in the developmental reading
course. Three cohorts of students (fall 2007, spring 2008, and fall 2008) participated in
the study, for a total of 1,071. The findings show that overall (for the full study sample),
Hillsborough‘s short duration learning communities program did not have a meaningful
impact on students‘ academic success. Corresponding to the maturation of the learning
communities program, evidence suggests that the program had positive impacts on some
educational outcomes for the third (fall 2008) cohort of students.
Accessible at:
http://www.mdrc.org/publications/561/full.pdf
4. Toward a New Understanding of Non-Academic Student Support: Four
Mechanisms Encouraging Positive Student Outcomes in the Community College
Melinda Mechur Karp — February 2011. New York: Community College Research
Center, Teachers College, Columbia University
Despite their best efforts, community colleges continue to see low rates of student
persistence and degree attainment, particularly among academically vulnerable students.
While it is likely that academic interventions need to be reformed to increase their
efficacy, another partial explanation for these low success rates is that students have other
needs that are not being met. This paper examines programs and practices that appear to
address these needs by providing non-academic support in order to encourage student
success.
A review of the literature on non-academic support yields evidence of four mechanisms
by which such supports can improve student outcomes: (1) creating social relationships,
24
(2) clarifying aspirations and enhancing commitment, (3) developing college know-how,
and (4) addressing conflicting demands of work, family and college. Identifying these
mechanisms allows for a deeper understanding of both the functioning of promising
interventions and the conditions that may lead students to become integrated into college
life. Notably, each of these mechanisms can occur within a variety of programs,
structures, or even informal interactions. The paper concludes by discussing avenues for
further research and immediate implications for community colleges.
Accessible at:
http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu/Publication.asp?uid=860
5. The Effects of Student Coaching in College: An Evaluation of a Randomized
Experiment in Student Mentoring
Dr. Eric P. Bettinger, March 7, 2011. Stanford University School of Education
Rachel Baker, Stanford University School of Education
College completion and college success often lag behind college attendance. One theory
as to why students do not succeed in college is that they lack key information about how
to be successful or fail to act on the information that they have. We present evidence
from a randomized experiment that tests the effectiveness of individualized student
coaching. Over the course of two separate school years, InsideTrack, a student coaching
service, provided coaching to students from public, private, and proprietary universities.
Most of the participating students were non-traditional college students enrolled in degree
programs. The participating universities and InsideTrack randomly assigned students to
be coached. The coach contacted students regularly to develop a clear vision of their
goals, to guide them in connecting their daily activities to their long term goals, and to
support them in building skills, including time management, self advocacy, and study
skills.
Students who were randomly assigned to a coach were more likely to persist during the
treatment period, and were more likely to be attending the university one year after the
coaching had ended. Coaching also proved a more cost-effective method of achieving
retention and completion gains when compared to previously studied interventions such
as increased financial aid.
Accessible at:
http://ed.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/bettinger_baker_030711.pdf
25
E. Other Reports
1. Boosting Completion at Community Colleges: Time, Choice, Structure, and the
Significant Role of States
Complete College America, A Policy Brief Submitted by Request to the While House
Working Group for the President’s Summit on Community Colleges, August 31, 2010.
This report by Complete College America is a synthesis of findings from quantitative and
qualitative research
Accessible at:
http://www.completecollege.org/resources_and_reports/
2. Educational Attainment Strategies for Working Adults and Nontraditional
Students: Applying New Models in Postsecondary Education
Summary Report on a Project Supported by the Lumina Foundation for Education
Prepared by FutureWorks for Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, April 2010
This report summarizes leading trends and programs in new educational strategies to
increase educational attainment among working adults and younger, non-traditional
populations. The report includes results of a national scan of ‗purpose built programs‘
serving working adults and younger, non-traditional populations and the results of a
convening in the Spring of 2009 of about 100 practitioners in this field, policymakers,
and thought partners interested in ways to increase postsecondary attainment.
This project, led by Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana and supported by the
Lumina Foundation for Education, focused on these programs in order to focus attention
on new designs in postsecondary educational delivery and to learn from them as they are
building services and meeting challenges within their institutions. The convening was, to
the knowledge of the participants, the first time a gathering of this kind was held.
Program models described in this report represent an important, but little researched and
not well documented, element of postsecondary reform. Much interest of educators,
foundation supported programs, and policy makers has focused on issues of access and
pathways into postsecondary educational programs for adults and for other specific
populations such as lower income people or nontraditional student groups. Much less
attention has been focused on the structures, organization, and services that are delivered
to students as they move through the academic environments, courses, and programs that
lead to credentials or degrees. Except for documentation of the growth and efficacy of
online programming and courses, little is known about reform in the delivery of
education as a strategy to increase educational attainment.
The scan identified about 75 new educational strategy programs and then collected more
detailed information on about 50 of those through phone interviews. Collectively, these
programs present a picture of a diverse and eclectically organized set of relatively small
26
programs that are just beginning to establish a firm place within the mainstream institutional
practices and organization of postsecondary education.
The programs are generally small in enrollment, limited to a few degree tracks within a
college, and are housed and administered within college academic departments or divisions.
A few are large, concentrated in four-year colleges, with up to 2,000 students enrolled. Most
are young; the median age of programs in the study sample was two years in operation,
although the longest running was nearly half a century. They are eclectic. With the exception
of a goal of degree or credential completion there is a wide variation in program elements,
composition, and operation.
Interviews uniformly, but largely anecdotally, reported very high retention and completion
for students in those programs that had produced outcomes. Colleges report completion rates
(defined as completing program objectives) as ranging from 60 percent to over 90 percent.
The interviews suggested a very high level of satisfaction with these strategies by students,
faculty, and their leadership. By and large, these programs worked for the students who
entered them. However, few of the programs had rigorous or quantitative data to verify their
belief.
One important common characterization is typical—few of the programs in the sample
appear to be deeply embedded in the core operations of their host colleges. The overview of
the programs scan, interviews, and the discussion in the convening all suggest this is an
important element in understanding the current situations and a key to unlocking the promise
of these programs. Currently, they are not operating as a core part of their host college’s
administrative apparatus. Their administration is ‘owned’ by departments or division faculty
or chairs and generally not by senior administration. Only a handful of the programs appear
to be a component of the core operations of a college. Interestingly, among the four-year
colleges that have made these program an integral part of their operations, enrollments
account for upwards of half the total student enrollments in the whole college.
Accessible at:
http://www.completecollege.org/resources_and_reports/
3. Certificates Count: An Analysis of Sub-Baccalaureate Certificates
Complete College America, December 2010
This study concludes that certificate awards for completion of programs of study of at
least one year have significant and consistent labor market value and should count toward
national and state postsecondary attainment goals. They are particularly accessible to
young high school graduates and working adults who may not now be attracted to more
traditional degree programs. As the federal government and the states start treating these
certificate programs more seriously as integral components of their postsecondary
strategy, it will be feasible to contemplate very significant increases in the number of
awards, making a strong contribution to attainment goals.
However, this assessment has also found that certificate programs are under-appreciated
and under-developed in many states leading to inconsistencies among and even within
27
states in program definitions and content. While some program variation is appropriate
to reflect differences in local labor market demand, some of the variation is also
attributable simply to the idiosyncrasies of faculty interest and staff direction from
college to college and reflects a lack of state and national oversight by standard-setting
and accrediting organizations, including national private sector employer groups. It also
reflects a shortage of information among colleges about career pathways in occupations
where job entry at the mid-level and advancement to family-supporting jobs does not
require a degree.
Treating long-term certificates as a national measure of postsecondary attainment
requires greater attention to the portability of such credentials among regions and across
the country. Lack of consistency in program definitions and content inevitably will raise
questions about the quality of the programs and will limit the national portability of
certificates. This in turn could dampen enthusiasm for upgrading the legitimacy of the
awards and for increasing production. State leadership can support this but it seems
important to provide a national framework for promoting greater consistency and quality
assurance in certificate level programs.
This suggests the need for more inquiry at the state and college level to gather better
information about program definitions and program content for major certificate
programs and the occupational pathways for which they are to provide a foundation.
Federal authorities from the Department of Education and the Department of Labor might
provide some leadership here. It will also be important to secure the close involvement
of national employer groups.
Accessible at:
http://www.completecollege.org/resources_and_reports/
4. Steps to Success: Analyzing Milestone Achievement to Improve Community College
Student Outcomes
Colleen Moore, Nancy Shulock, Jeremy Offenstein October 2009, Institute for Higher
Education Leadership & Policy
This report offers a framework for guiding educators in using available knowledge and
tools to improve student outcomes. It shows how better use of available data can help
diagnose why students fail to make progress toward a degree and can better demonstrate
the progress students make along the pathway to a degree. The framework consists of
two factors: milestones, or intermediate educational achievements that students reach
along the path to degree completion, and indicators of success, or academic patterns
students follow including remediation, gateway courses, and credit accumulation, that
have been demonstrated in research studies to correlate with forward progress and
completion. Data to demonstrate the value of the framework are from the California
Community Colleges (CCC).
The authors show how the framework can be applied to:
analyze student achievement of various milestones, by subgroup
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identify where student progress gets stalled on the path toward a degree
analyze enrollment patterns to diagnose why students fail to make progress
draw connections between campus or system policies and the patterns revealed by
the analyses, in order to suggest changes that would foster better student
outcomes.
The framework also provides a means of improving accountability by including measures
that demonstrate the progress students are making along the pathway to college
completion. This is important given the challenges of identifying students‘ goals and the
many obstacles that community college students face on the road to completion of an
academic program.
The analysis shows how few students reach each of the milestones along the path to
degree completion, especially older students, part-time students, and black and Latino
students. Data also show that students who complete college-level math and English
within the first two years of enrollment, complete at least 20 credits in the first year of
enrollment, take summer courses, complete at least 80% of the courses in which they
enroll, register for courses on time, and/or attend full time are more likely to complete
than students who do not follow these patterns.
Accessible at:
http://www.csus.edu/ihelp/PDFs/R_steps%20to%20success_10_09.pdf
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