If this is so Easy, Why is If this is so Easy, Why is it so Hard to Do?it so Hard to Do?

John LeeJohn LeeUNC Conference: UNC Conference:

Student Success “A Campus-Student Success “A Campus-Wide Commitment”Wide Commitment”October 24, 2007October 24, 2007

What is the Problem?What is the Problem?

Grades and test scores, rather Grades and test scores, rather than privilege, determine success than privilege, determine success today, but that success is largely today, but that success is largely

being passed down from one being passed down from one generation to the next. A nation generation to the next. A nation

that believes that everyone that believes that everyone should have a fair shake finds should have a fair shake finds itself with a kind of inherited itself with a kind of inherited

meritocracy.meritocracy.New York Times, May 24, 2005New York Times, May 24, 2005

Research and theory on Research and theory on student persistence have yet student persistence have yet

to influence, on a national to influence, on a national scale, student persistence in scale, student persistence in

higher educationhigher education

According to a 2003 report by According to a 2003 report by ACT, the five-year graduation ACT, the five-year graduation rates at four-year institutions rates at four-year institutions throughout the past 20 years throughout the past 20 years

have ranged from 50.9 percent have ranged from 50.9 percent to 54.6 percent to 54.6 percent

The enrollment gap between The enrollment gap between low- and high-income low- and high-income

students has shrunk over the students has shrunk over the last 20 years, but rates of last 20 years, but rates of

college completion have not college completion have not improved for low-income improved for low-income

studentsstudents

According to the 2003 ACT According to the 2003 ACT report, of those students report, of those students

starting at a 4-year college, 48 starting at a 4-year college, 48 percent of low-income students percent of low-income students

graduate while 67 percent of graduate while 67 percent of high income students did sohigh income students did so

““There is no one specific There is no one specific type of successful retention type of successful retention

organization and/or organization and/or successful implementation successful implementation

strategy” strategy” -Vincent Tinto -Vincent Tinto

There is Agreement on There is Agreement on Some Basic PrinciplesSome Basic Principles

I. Have an institutional focus I. Have an institutional focus on student retention and on student retention and

outcomes, not just on outcomes, not just on enrollmentenrollment

Consistent LeadershipConsistent Leadership

Strong leadership Strong leadership from top administrators from top administrators who create an institutional culture that who create an institutional culture that promotes student success. They talk about promotes student success. They talk about it, fund it, and recognize success it, fund it, and recognize success

A A central person, office, or committee central person, office, or committee that coordinates retention activities across that coordinates retention activities across academic and student affairsacademic and student affairs

Use data Use data about retention in the decision-about retention in the decision-making process, as well as to evaluate making process, as well as to evaluate retention programs retention programs

Institutional focus Institutional focus on student outcomeson student outcomes

Make personnel decisions consistent Make personnel decisions consistent with improving student outcomeswith improving student outcomes

Communicate the importance of Communicate the importance of student success, and the expectations student success, and the expectations for each participant, to the whole for each participant, to the whole collegecollege

Be consistent in your effortsBe consistent in your efforts Measure outcomes and report them to Measure outcomes and report them to

the communitythe community

Institutional focus on Institutional focus on student outcomesstudent outcomes

Gain faculty supportGain faculty support Explain that improving student Explain that improving student

success is not an erosion of standardssuccess is not an erosion of standards Maintain high expectations for Maintain high expectations for

student successstudent success How do we engage students in their How do we engage students in their

education?education?

II. Offer targeted support II. Offer targeted support for underperforming for underperforming

studentsstudents

Engage StudentsEngage Students

Encourage high levels of Encourage high levels of student student involvement and engagement involvement and engagement in in campus activities and programs.campus activities and programs.

Create well-developed Create well-developed first-year first-year programsprograms in which student participation in which student participation is mandatory or high. is mandatory or high.

Improve Improve instruction in “gatekeeping” instruction in “gatekeeping” introductory coursesintroductory courses, particularly in , particularly in mathematics.mathematics.

Support for Support for underperforming studentsunderperforming students

Concentrate on the first yearConcentrate on the first year Profile of an at-risk studentProfile of an at-risk student

First generation collegeFirst generation college Low incomeLow income Inadequate academic preparationInadequate academic preparation Older, with childrenOlder, with children Attends part-timeAttends part-time

Types of supportTypes of support

ProactiveProactive Identify the problem earlyIdentify the problem early Reach out to the studentReach out to the student

Structured Structured AdvisingAdvising MentoringMentoring

Find the right help Find the right help

III. Have well-designed, III. Have well-designed, well-aligned, and well-aligned, and

proactive student support proactive student support servicesservices

Support StudentsSupport Students

Early warning and advising systems Early warning and advising systems to to monitor student progress and to intervene monitor student progress and to intervene when student performance is low.when student performance is low.

Academic and social support servicesAcademic and social support services that students use due to proactive efforts to that students use due to proactive efforts to coordinate services; these services must be coordinate services; these services must be widely advertised. Faculty and staff should widely advertised. Faculty and staff should be knowledgeable about the available be knowledgeable about the available services.services.

Special programs for at-risk student Special programs for at-risk student populations, populations, incorporating effective incorporating effective retention practices.retention practices.

Critique of student support Critique of student support servicesservices

A common problem on many A common problem on many campuses is that efforts directed campuses is that efforts directed towards helping first-year students towards helping first-year students achieve success are “self-contained, achieve success are “self-contained, uncoordinated, and even unknown to uncoordinated, and even unknown to each other” each other”

Be proactive with student Be proactive with student support servicessupport services

Anticipate which students may have Anticipate which students may have problems, and help them before they problems, and help them before they drop outdrop out

Reach out to high-risk students; they Reach out to high-risk students; they will not come to youwill not come to you

Maintain an aggressive advising Maintain an aggressive advising programprogram

IV. Provide support for IV. Provide support for faculty development faculty development focused on improving focused on improving

teachingteaching

What goes on in the What goes on in the classroom, stays in the classroom, stays in the

classroomclassroom There is no one model for improving There is no one model for improving

teaching; it depends on contentteaching; it depends on content Students must feel that they are Students must feel that they are

learning something worthwhile and learning something worthwhile and are making progressare making progress

Student engagement in the learning Student engagement in the learning process is critical process is critical

Some obvious solutionsSome obvious solutions

Small classesSmall classes Reward good teachingReward good teaching Regular academic reviews for Regular academic reviews for

students students Supplemental supportSupplemental support Develop a teaching/learning center Develop a teaching/learning center

for new facultyfor new faculty

Elements of successful Elements of successful developmental education developmental education

programsprograms Context-specific and valued by the learning communityContext-specific and valued by the learning community Centrally structured and well coordinated with the Centrally structured and well coordinated with the

organizationorganization Instructors committed to the students and the fieldInstructors committed to the students and the field Provide multilevel curricula with credit options and exit Provide multilevel curricula with credit options and exit

criteriacriteria Integration of a variety of instructional methodsIntegration of a variety of instructional methods Integrate learning and personal development strategies Integrate learning and personal development strategies

and servicesand services An evaluation system focused on outcomes and An evaluation system focused on outcomes and

continuous program improvement continuous program improvement -McCabe & Day, 1998-McCabe & Day, 1998

Learning is facilitated when Learning is facilitated when the student participates the student participates

responsibly in the learning responsibly in the learning process. process.

— Carl Rogers— Carl Rogers

V. Experiment with ways to V. Experiment with ways to improve the effectiveness of improve the effectiveness of

instruction and support instruction and support servicesservices

Applied ExperimentsApplied Experiments

Develop a hypothesis—why do you Develop a hypothesis—why do you think students drop out?think students drop out?

Run an experiment—make changes Run an experiment—make changes to the programto the program

Measure outcomes—did the change Measure outcomes—did the change make a difference in the outcome? make a difference in the outcome?

Accept or reject the hypothesisAccept or reject the hypothesis

Constant improvementConstant improvement

Marginal improvements in specific Marginal improvements in specific operations add upoperations add up

A continuous cycle A continuous cycle

VI. Use institutional VI. Use institutional research to track student research to track student

outcomes and improve outcomes and improve program impactprogram impact

Track student outcomesTrack student outcomes

Disaggregate student populationsDisaggregate student populations Student unit record systemStudent unit record system Use longitudinal data to identify Use longitudinal data to identify

problems and evaluate outcomesproblems and evaluate outcomes

Soft data sources are Soft data sources are importantimportant

Student focus groupsStudent focus groups Interviews with facultyInterviews with faculty Individual class analysisIndividual class analysis

What are the characteristics of students What are the characteristics of students that drop out prior to the end of the that drop out prior to the end of the semester? semester?

Why did they leave?Why did they leave?

Why is This so Hard to Why is This so Hard to Do?Do?

1. Mission conflict1. Mission conflict

Public universities are torn between Public universities are torn between an impulse toward excellence that an impulse toward excellence that leads to an emphasis on research leads to an emphasis on research and tighter admission standards, and tighter admission standards, and providing access to a broad and providing access to a broad range of students range of students

2. Structural problems2. Structural problems

Universities are federations, with a Universities are federations, with a central government overseeing semi-central government overseeing semi-autonomous colleges/schoolsautonomous colleges/schools

The bigger the university, the less The bigger the university, the less attention is paid to student persistence attention is paid to student persistence at the top levels of the administrationat the top levels of the administration

This makes it difficult to institutionalize This makes it difficult to institutionalize a consistent approach to improving a consistent approach to improving student persistencestudent persistence

3. No coordination among 3. No coordination among officesoffices

Efforts to improve persistence are Efforts to improve persistence are often program-specific, and in many often program-specific, and in many cases depend on available extra cases depend on available extra fundingfunding

The programs are often aimed at The programs are often aimed at helping minority and low-income helping minority and low-income students or students with physical students or students with physical or learning handicapsor learning handicaps

4. Inconsistent data4. Inconsistent data

Most universities do not Most universities do not systematically use data to track systematically use data to track their students and see where they their students and see where they have problemshave problems

Universities depend on special Universities depend on special studies or occasional reports to studies or occasional reports to evaluate their overall successevaluate their overall success

5. Incentives5. Incentives

External factors influence the External factors influence the amount of attention persistence amount of attention persistence receives. These include: receives. These include:

Changes in state supportChanges in state support External accountability requirements External accountability requirements Numbers of student applications Numbers of student applications Accreditation requirementsAccreditation requirements

6. Inadequate Aid6. Inadequate Aid

Low-income students work a great Low-income students work a great deal while they attend the deal while they attend the universityuniversity

Financial aid programs have Financial aid programs have competing purposes, and may not competing purposes, and may not provide a coherent safety netprovide a coherent safety net

7. Low expectations and 7. Low expectations and efforteffort

With some exceptions, most students do With some exceptions, most students do not work very hard in their classes. They not work very hard in their classes. They attend class sporadically and do not do attend class sporadically and do not do much work outside of classmuch work outside of class

If engagement is a key to persistence, If engagement is a key to persistence, this lack of academic engagement may this lack of academic engagement may be an important avenue to explorebe an important avenue to explore

Faculty should demand more of studentsFaculty should demand more of students

ConclusionConclusion

Persistence is a systemic problem, and no Persistence is a systemic problem, and no one player can fix itone player can fix it

If you don’t change anything, nothing will If you don’t change anything, nothing will changechange

Keep focused on student outcomes -- that Keep focused on student outcomes -- that is all that countsis all that counts

Reengineer; don’t add onReengineer; don’t add on Set priorities -- you cannot do it all at onceSet priorities -- you cannot do it all at once Keep at itKeep at it

““Plans are only good Plans are only good intentions unless they intentions unless they

immediately degenerate immediately degenerate into hard work.”into hard work.”

-Peter Drucker-Peter Drucker

Thanks toThanks to

Jennifer Engle and Colleen O’Brien of Jennifer Engle and Colleen O’Brien of the Pell Institutethe Pell Institute

The Lumina Foundation, which has The Lumina Foundation, which has funded so much of our workfunded so much of our work

SourcesSources

Raising the Graduation Rates of Low-Income Raising the Graduation Rates of Low-Income StudentsStudents, Pell Institute, 2004, Pell Institute, 2004

Demography Is Not Destiny: Demography Is Not Destiny: Increasing the Increasing the Graduation Rates of Low-Income College Students Graduation Rates of Low-Income College Students at Large Public Universitiesat Large Public Universities, Pell Institute, 2006, Pell Institute, 2006

Moving From Theory to Action: Building a Moving From Theory to Action: Building a Model of Institutional SuccessModel of Institutional Success, Tinto and , Tinto and Pusser, for NPEC, 2006Pusser, for NPEC, 2006

Community College Management Practices Community College Management Practices that Promote Student Success that Promote Student Success Jenkins, 2006 Jenkins, 2006 CCRC Brief 31 CCRC Brief 31