Engaging Community Colleges A First Look

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2009 CCCSE Workshop CCSSE 101
May 26, 2009 Austin, Texas
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• Rowland Cadena
• College Liaison
• cadena_at_ccsse.org
• Erika Glaser
• Research Associate
• glaser_at_ccsse.org
• Courtney Adkins
• Survey Operations Coordinator
• adkins_at_ccsse.org
• Center for Community College Student Engagement
  CCCSE
• Community College Leadership Program
• The University of Texas at Austin

Community College Survey of Student Engagement
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Session goals?
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CCSSE Overview
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CCSSE A Tool for Improvement

• CCSSE helps us
• Assess quality in community college education
• Identify and learn from good educational practice
• Identify areas in which we can improve

Community College Survey of Student Engagement
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CCSSE A Tool for Community Colleges

• CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort
  of participating colleges.
• The 2009 CCSSE Cohort includes more than half a
  million community college students from 663
  community and technical colleges in 49 states,
  British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and the
  Marshall Islands.

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What is Student Engagement?

• the amount of time and energy students invest in
  meaningful educational practices
• in other words, institutional practices and
  student behaviors that are highly correlated with
  student learning and retention

Community College Survey of Student Engagement
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Learning from CCSSE Results
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How can you build a culture of evidence with
CCSSE data?

• Identify key areas aligned with college mission
  and strategic plan.
• Start with the benchmarks.
• Look at individual survey items.
• Disaggregate the data.
• Distinguish between best and typical.

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• Involve the college community.
• Design strategies and set targets.
• Share the data and plans to address them.
• Measure effectiveness.
• Scale up efforts that are working. Modify and
  discontinue those that are not.

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Unpacking your Institutional Report

• Delivered by July 31st
• Hard copy binders are sent to presidents
• Institutional contacts access binder data via the
  CCSSE Web site
• If college participated as part of a consortia,
  printed hard copy will include consortia
  comparison results only. However, both consortia
  and size comparisons will be available
  electronically.

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Report Overview
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Digging Into the Benchmarks
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Benchmarking and Reaching for Excellence

• The most important comparison
  where you are now, compared with
  where you want to be.
• Other comparisons and ways to identify effective
  practices
• Within your own college
• Across your consortium
• Looking at other colleges most like you

Community College Survey of Student Engagement
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CCSSE Benchmarks for Effective Educational
Practice

• The five CCSSE benchmarks are
• Active and Collaborative Learning
• Student Effort
• Academic Challenge
• Student-Faculty Interaction
• Support for Learners

Community College Survey of Student Engagement
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Community College Survey of Student
Engagement 2007 Benchmark Summary Table All
Students Example College, Example Consortium
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Increasing Academic Challenge/Student Effort

• Itawamba Community College QEP Raising the
  Bar Improving Student Writing Through Early
  Intervention
• Focused on increasing quality of student writing
• Increased amount of required writing across the
  curriculum
• Established three writing support centers
  (tutoring) to improve writing basics grammar,
  mechanics, content, etc.
• 2008 CCCSE data show (2006 comparison) students
  spend
• More time on writing papers integrating material
  (from 2.48 to 2.57)
• More time writing multiple drafts than in 2006
  (from 2.37 to 2.55)

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Increasing Support for Learners

• Valencia Community College Supplemental
  Instruction (SI) (prep math and gateway courses)
• Supplemental Learning leaders (trained students
  who successfully completed course) hold
  supplemental learning sessions outside of class
• Results
• Students who attend at least one SL session have
  higher success rates (course grade of C or
  better) than non-attendees
• Students who attend at least one SL session
  withdraw less (17) than non-attendees (40)

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Increasing Student Faculty Interaction/Support
for Learners

• Parkland Community College-Facilitated Study
  Groups (FSGs)
• Led by full-time mathematics faculty, the study
  groups target difficult courses rather than
  difficult students. Group activities include
  academic diagnosis, study skills, professional
  tutoring, supplemental instruction, academic
  follow-up, and, when appropriate,
  computer-assisted instruction.
• Results
• The persistence rate for students in a study
  group has jumped 25, with almost three-fourths
  of those participating completing their
  developmental course.

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Increasing Active and Collaborative Learning

• FCCJ - Creating Optimum Learning Environments
  (CREOLE)
• 4-module online graduate credit course to help
  faculty understand and apply learning/motivation
  research and theory
• Online, Hybrid/Blended, and Classroom Professor
  Certificates
• Required for all faculty teaching online courses
• Available to faculty outside FCCJ for a fee
• Honorariums paid to both department and to
  adjuncts who complete certificates
• Results Both F/T and P/T faculty report
• Increased use of interactive learning strategies
  in BOTH online and classroom settings

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Communicating about and Using CCSSE Results
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Communicating Your Results

• High levels of student engagement are the product
  of an institution-wide commitment, not discrete
  initiatives. In other words, quality education is
  not an event its a culture.
• CCSSE is committed to helping you build that
  culture at your college, and we provide a CCSSE
  Toolkit as a key resource for those efforts.
• How have you communicated about your results?

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CCSSE Toolkit

• Communication Tools
• Using CCSSE Tools
• Strengthening Student Engagement Tools
• Student Focus Groups Tools

http//www.ccsse.org/members/communications.cfm
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Drop-In Overview Template

• Insert results and circulate to key constituency
  groups
• Used to conduct guided conversations or focus
  groups to promote a better understanding of your
  institutions survey findings and their potential
  implications for improvement initiatives

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Using CCSSE Tools

• Predictions Exercises
• The CCSSE Accreditation Toolkits

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Best Practices - North Hennepin Community College
(MN)

• NHCC translated the Faculty Predictions
  document into an electronic format and used
  personal response system "clickers. Faculty,
  staff, and administration participated, and the
  format provided immediate feedback after each
  survey response percentage was predicted.
• After an initial discussion of the data, everyone
  was divided randomly into benchmark groups and
  asked to identify two priorities for change at
  the college in that area. These priorities for
  change were then worked into the colleges
  assessment plan initiatives.

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CCSSE Accreditation Toolkits

• Individually tailored for each of the six higher
  education accrediting bodies. Each toolkit
  includes
• A model regional accreditation timeline and
  advice about including CCSSE administrations in
  that timeline
• A section that aligns the CCSSE items to your
  accrediting bodys standards and criteria
• Examples of how colleges in your accrediting
  region have used CCSSE results for their review
  purposes

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CCSSE Course Feedback Form

• End-of-course evaluation instrument
• Developed with the assistance of an advisory
  panel from CCSSE member colleges
• Based on student engagement items from the CCSSE
  survey and additional course feedback items
  submitted and reviewed by our advisory panel
  members

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Student Focus Groups Toolkit

• Student Focus Group discussions will help you
  better understand students experiences, as well
  as uncover possible strategies to consider for
  improvement. They will provide qualitative
  information to enhance your CCSSE data.
• The Student Focus Group Toolkit contains
  instructions for planning focus groups and
  recruiting focus group participants, discussion
  tools, and a summary report sample.
• http//www.ccsse.org/members/focusgroups.cfm
• For questions about using the Student Focus Group
  Toolkits, please contact Sandra Shannon, Project
  Coordinator, Initiative on Student Success, at
  shannon_at_ccsse.org

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Best Practices Paradise Valley Community
College (AZ)

• Before PVCC participated in CCSSE, e-briefings
  were sent out to the college community to share
  how CCSSE would serve as a tool for the college.
• The college created a PVCC CCSSE Web site, which
  includes all the e-briefings, an overview of
  CCSSE, an overview of PVCCs CCSSE results, Best
  Practice examples from other colleges, and action
  planning tools.
• The Web site also includes an invitation for each
  department to submit an action plan based on
  CCSSE results. CCSSE Student Engagement Best
  Practices Awards are granted yearly and include
  funding for piloting new programs.

http//www.pvc.maricopa.edu/ccsse/index.html
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Action Plan Guidebook for English 101 Students

• Benchmark Student Effort
• Specific Item Preparing for class (studying,
  reading, writing, rehearsing, doing homework, or
  other activities related to your program).
• Benchmark Support for Learners
• Specific Item Providing the support you need to
  help you succeed at this college.
• Required text for English 101 class
• Designed to enhance students understanding of
  the writing process and requirements for success
• Includes explanations and checklists to explain
  the English 101 rhetorical forms, sample student
  essays and thesis statements, grading criteria,
  encouraging letters from former successful
  students, etc.

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Best Practices Cedar Valley College

• After its first CCSSE administration, Cedar
  Valley College (TX) decided that improvements
  were needed in student access to and use of
  tutoring. The first objective was to provide
  tutoring to every CVC student who needed it, a
  change from the earlier practice of providing
  tutoring only to students who met particular
  guidelines.
• CVC created a tutoring center located in the
  middle of its campus to provide tutoring in all
  disciplines, for all students. The president
  committed funds to the center, and the college
  hired a director, employed additional tutors, and
  trained tutors extensively. The new tutoring
  center established relationships with faculty
  members, who broadly advertised its service, and
  a software package was used to track students
  use of the Center.

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CVC tracks progress by measuring outcomes

• When CVC completed its second CCSSE
  administration, the college scored significantly
  higher than other colleges in the frequency of
  use of tutoring services. CVC also learned that
  students ranked tutoring as one of the three
  services with which they were most satisfied.
• In fall 2007, 63 of students used the Center at
  least once. On average, students
  who used the Center earned at least one letter
  grade higher than their peers from the same
  classes not using the services of the Center.
• Students in developmental courses who attended at
  least six tutoring sessions had a 94 retention
  rate compared to 70 for students who did not use
  the Center.