Reframing At-Risk to High Potential: Supporting the Achievement and Success

of Multicultural, First Generation and Underprepared College Students

Monterey Peninsula CollegeJanuary 25, 2012

Thomas Browntom@tbrownassociates.com

A good workshop provides information with which you agree.

A better one offers information you can use.

Knowledge is not power….

Saber

EntenderSentir

Escogery Hacer!

ThinkingFeelingDOING!

4

Fulfilling the Promise of the Community College

Co-editors Thomas Brown Margaret C. King Patricia StanleyCo-sponsored by

Today’s session Examine challenges and successes in

increasing persistence of multicultural, first generation, and underprepared community college students

Discuss barriers to students success Share effective theoretically based practices—

individual and institutional Solve the Mideast crisis!

The American formula for success consists of five pillars:

The first pillar is providing public education for more Americans.

That Used to Be UsTom Friedman &Michael Mandelbaum, 2011

Community colleges have gone from being the stepchild to being the golden child…Dr. Frank Chong, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges, 2011

The Challenge

Community colleges have a more complicated and more difficult retention pathway because they are likely to attract students who are less-college ready than those who attend the four-year sector…. Linda Serra Hagedorn, President

Iowa Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2010

Some at-risk groups in educationFirst-generation/Low SES studentsAdult and re-entry studentsStudent with disabilitiesStudent-AthletesFirst-year studentsUndecided studentsLGBTQ studentsStudents of ColorUnderprepared studentsVeteransTransfer students

Multiple issues…First-generation/Low SES AND ALSO…Adult and re-entry studentsStudent with disabilitiesStudent-AthletesFirst-year studentsUndecided studentsLGBTQ studentsStudents of ColorUnderprepared studentsVeteransTransfer students

Treating students the same may be equal treatment,

Treating students the same may be equal treatment, but it is not equitable treatment.

Human beings seek to economize on the energy required to make distinctions.

Most houseplants die because we treat them all the same.

Forty percent of new students are the first in their families to attend college.

(National Center for Education Statistics, 1996, 1998, 2001)

Often, they are not as academically or socially prepared as others and are prone to drop out.

Watson Scott Swail, PresidentEducational Policy InstituteChronicle of Higher Education, 1/19/04

Context for this session…

The majority of community college students are academically underprepared to achieve success.

Schuetz & Bailey, 2008

Context for this session…

Some Americans Are Much Less Likely to Graduate From College:

Bachelor’s degree earned by age 24

Young People From High SES Families

75%

Young People From Low SES Families

9%

Source: “Family Income and Higher Education Opportunity 1970 to 2003,”in Postsecondary Education Opportunity, Number 156, June 2005.

SES is a weighted variable developed by NCES, which includes parental education levels and occupations and family income. “High” and “low” refer to the highest and lowest quartiles of SES.

National Graduation RatesCommunity Colleges

28%

MPC Graduation & Transfer Rates*50%

(2007 Entering cohort)

*National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)

Context for this session…

MPC Graduation & Transfer Rates

White 27%Hispanic/Latino 25Asian/Pacific Islander 21Black 11

Source: NCES

Context for this session…MPC Strategic Goals & Objectives, 2010-14

Goal 1: Promote academic excellence and student success

Goal 2: Promote diversity throughout the institution

 

Engagement Matters

The more contact students have with their teachers [and peers], the more likely they are to learn effectively and persist toward achievement of their educational goals. Through such interactions, faculty members become role models, mentors, and guides for continuous, lifelong learning. Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)

When community college students described occasions when they considered dropping out and didn’t, they typically referred to a strong early connection to someone at the college.

Very often, they even offered a person’s name…

McClenney, 2011

Engagement Matters…

Colleges are more likely to blame student attrition on students….

What Works in Student Retention, 2004, 2010

We build beautiful campuses,

We hire excellent faculty and staff, We develop a challenging

curriculum…

then the “wrong” students show up!

What happens to students after they enroll frequently has a more powerful impact on whether they stay and achieve their goals or leave.

Leaving CollegeVincent Tinto 1987, 1993

Community colleges care less about who we enroll and more about what happens to students as a result of their having been with us….

Dr. Patricia StanleyPast Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community CollegesJanuary 4, 2010

While students must accept responsibility for their own success or failure, institutional actors, particularly faculty members, also bear individual and collective responsibility for student outcomes.

Achieving Equitable Outcome for All StudentsAAC&U, 2005

Why do students leave college?

Isolation

Inability to connect with significant members of the campus community…

Attributes/calidades of an environment that supports students who are at-risk:

IntentionalStructured

Proactive

Increasing engagement and persistence

Student success is not an accident – it is the result of intentional activities taken by individuals and institutions.

A Model for Ensuring Student Success

Changing Environment & Changing Students

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year and beyond

Creamer, 2000;

Need for Information

Need for ConsultationChanging

Needs

Changing Environment & Changing Students

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year and beyond

PRESCRIPTIVE DEVELOPMENTAL

Lynch, 1989; Brown& Rivas, 1994; Creamer, 2000

Need for Information

Need for ConsultationChanging

Needs

Moving In Moving Through Moving On

Changing Environment & Changing Students

1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year and beyond

PRESCRIPTIVE DEVELOPMENTAL

Lynch, 1989; Brown& Rivas, 1994; Creamer, 2000; Brown, 2006

Need for Information

Need for ConsultationChanging

Needs

Moving In Moving Through Moving On MPC MPC/S MPC/S S/MPC SMPC = Faculty, counselors, academic advisors, etc.S = Student

Students usually have a realistic understanding about the demands of academic work and what is required to be successful in their classes. (n = 1587)

Strongly agree/agree 13%

Disagree/strongly disagree 69%

Brown Survey of Faculty

Do students understand what is required to be successful in college?

I am rolling on the floor!!!

Brown Survey

How much time do community college students spend preparing for class?

21 or more hours per week 12%

10 hours or less 66%

CCSSE, 2007

I have to teach students how to study before I can get to course content…

Faculty Member Odessa Community College

Chapter 4: Reframing At-Risk to High Potential: Supporting the Achievement and

Success of Underprepared Students

Thomas Brown, Managing PrincipalThomas Brown & Associates, LLC

Dr. Mario Rivas, Professor of PsychologyMerritt College

There are within each of us the seeds of who we might become. Thich Nhat Hanh

The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.

K. Patricia Cross, Professor of Higher Education EmeritaUniversity of California, Berkeley

Community colleges are on the frontlines of US higher education, providing opportunities to countless Americans who would otherwise be denied access….

Dr. Mario Rivas & Tom Brown New Directions for Community Colleges, 1993

Community colleges make winners out of ordinary people.

Leslie Koltai, 1993

The mission of the community college presupposes that in order for students to succeed, they must be engaged with educators who believe in the capacity of all students to develop and learn!

Rivas and Brown, 2011

While faculty and staff may be committed to student success, most institutions have a fragmented approach to responding to student needs.

Sperling, 2009

They are more likely to blame student attrition on students!

Today’s teachers have more pressure on them than ever before. They need the most comprehensive and relevant training available to enhance their own skills and their students’ abilities

Dr. Richard Malena, Director of Education

Mesa Community College

Professional development is critical to faculty and student success

From a psychological perspective, under-preparedness may stem from low-self efficacy, or the sense that one has little control over thoughts, feeling, and actions conducive to success.

Bandura, 1985

Educators need to create trusting relationships with students.

Vasti Torres, et al., 2006

Stereotype Threat

Arises when students are in situations where their performance could result in their being reduced to a stereotype, where they could be judged by a stereotype, or where judgments about them could be made based on a stereotype.

Professor Claude M. SteeleStanford University, 1995

Stereotype Threat

Black students can be reticent in the classroom because if they make a mistake, it can be taken as a stereotype and confirm their being academically inferior.

Steele 2010

Example: Lupe’s reason for not speaking up in class even when she feels that she

knows answer and wants to speak.

“If I answer wrong, they’ll all laugh at me…and think I’m stupid.”

“ I start getting nervous because all the eyes are on me!”

“Soy estupida!”

Stereotype threat has also emerged as a possible cause of the inequalities women face upon entering majors and careers dominated by men, such as science, math and engineering

Steele, James, & Barnett, 2002

Schools can eliminate some of the stereotype tension by building trust between teachers and students and protecting student identities and confidence in the classroom.

see: http://reducingstereotypethreat.org

Many non-traditional students want their doubts [dudas] erased about their being capable of learning….

This is especially true for first generation students, Hispanic and African American students….

Laura Rendon

Transforming Students Through Validation

Success appears to be contingent on whether [faculty and staff] can validate students in an academic or interpersonal way.

Laura Rendon, 1994, 2001

Optimism is a better predictor of first-year college grades than SAT scores or high school grades.

Martin Seligman University of Pennsylvania

OPTIMISM…

Having a strong expectation that things will turn out all right, despite setbacks and frustrations.

Optimism can be learned.

I scored 700 on my SATs and I have a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California….

Dr. Robert UrtechoCollege of the Sequoias (CA)

Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Barriers to Student Success

Low ability attributions Ego vs. Task involvement Reluctance to seek assistance

Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Barriers to Student Success

Low ability attributions Ego vs. Task involvement Reluctance to seek assistance

Attributions

1. Explain reasons for successes or failures,

2. Influence expectations, future efforts, persistence on educational tasks, etc..

Brown & Rivas, 1997, 2004, 2011

Attributions are beliefs

1. Explain reasons for successes or failures,

2. Influence expectations, future efforts, persistence on educational tasks, etc..

Brown & Rivas, 1997, 2004, 2011

Ability Attributions…

By the time students reach high school, they generally believe that ability is a relatively fixed, unchangeable capacity.British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1983

Ability Attributions…

By the time students reach high school, they generally believe ability is a relatively fixed, unchangeable capacity.British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1983

Undermining Attributions

Negative thoughts about ability & task difficulty that can inhibit students’ “direction, strength, and persistence of behavior toward a goal.”

Attribution Theory of Achievement and Emotion Ability Task-Difficulty Goal Expectancy

Low High Low

Shame & Doubt

Helpless Hopeless

Give up(Drop out)

Perception

Feeling

Weiner, 1972 & 1977

“I am not smart and don’t belong in college!” “No soy inteligente.” “Soy bruta!

The Power of Emotions

Emotions have a powerful effect on the student achievement behaviors:“ Siempre estoy nervioso/a en clase y

no quiero participar!” “ I’m always nervous in class and I don’t

want to participate!”Latina community college student

African American men report being stereotyped based on the styles they wear, such as baggy jeans, braided hairstyles, or gold jewelry. Terms of Engagement: Men of Color Discuss Their

Experiences in Community College. MDRC, 2010

But they did not allow these negative attitudes and racial stereotypes to hinder their pursuit of higher education and career goals. MDRC, 2010

A critical element in increasing student success:

Help examine and challenge low ability and high task-difficulty attributions (beliefs)—ours and theirs.

“I can’t do Calculus….”

“Those students can’t do Calculus….”

Is there “Math DNA?”

A “Calculus gene?”

What Background is required for success in Calculus

Pre-CalculusAlgebra/TrigAlgebraBasic Math

What Background is required for success in

ReadingWritingAccountingBiology, Chemistry, etc.Other developmental or Gateway courses

Shift attributions (beliefs) from ability to background preparedness.

Students’ attributions and those of faculty and staff.

It’s not enough to change what we do, we must also change what we believe.

The fixed mindset limits achievement

It makes effort disagreeableLeads to inferior learning

strategiesMakes other people into judges

instead of allies.Carol Dweck, 2008

Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral Barriers to Student Success

Low ability attributions Ego vs. Task involvement Reluctance to seek assistance

Task versus Ego-Involvement Ego involvement- negative emotions occur and undermine achievement because students are focused on comparing themselves to others rather than task of developing competence.

Compare and despair….

The Challenge

SHIFT students from Ego-Involvement to Task-Involvement…

Rivas 0-100% Competence Method

0

100

Break the Task Into Do-able Components

Task versus Ego Involvement

0

100

0

100

Ego Involvement (Focus on Comparison to Others) “Compare and Despair”

40

95 Ideal others

Shame, despair, angerfrustration, fear, etc.

Task versus Ego Involvement

0

100

0

100

Task Involvement Ego Involvement (Focus on Task) (Focus on Comparison to Others) “Compare and Despair”

40

95 Ideal others

Shame, despair, angerfrustration, fear, etc.40

80

Task versus Ego Involvement

0

100

0

100

Task Involvement Ego InvolvementTask-involvement creates hope and confidence (belief in self) as progress is made toward competence goal!

40

95 Ideal others

Shame, despair, angerfrustration, fear, etc.40

80

Change meaning of “failure”

Human Natural A critical part of learning and

development A test of resilience

Help students see faculty as resources for learning rather than punishing judges.

Carol Dweck, 2008

The 0-100% Teaching and Advising Method to support students to share the responsibility for learning and to shift from a focus on grades to a focus on mastery.

0-100% Learning Model100

0

Sedulous

0-100% Learning Model100

0

SedulousAdjective:Painstakinglypersevering

0-100% Learning Model100

0

SedulousAdjective:

Painstakinglypersevering

Maria was sedulous: she never gave up despite the frustration and pain often associated with becoming an effective/successful learner.

Breaking Calculus into Do-Able Components

0

100 Identify a level of

competence that the student wants to achieve, (e.g. “80”) and then break the task into “ do-able component parts…”

80

0-100% Learning ModelFocus on the Task

100

0

Calculus 1Competence Goal 85

Current PerformanceLevel

45

0-100% Learning ModelFocus on the Task

100

0

Gap

Competence Goal 85

Current PerformanceLevel

45

0-100% Learning ModelFocus on the Task

100

0

Competence Goal 85

Current PerformanceLevel

45Not 0-100

Breaking Basic Writing Into Do-able Components

0

100

40

80 }

ParagraphsVocabularySentence StructureGrammarReading promptsSpelling

When student sees task in do-able steps which can be mastered with effort, thereis increased hope because the goal is do-able and achievable.

Comments?

Questions?

Challenges?

Successes?