Math Basic Skills Tracking Study

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Math Basic Skills Tracking Study

• Presented to Learning Outcomes Council
• April 5th, 2007
• By
• Institutional Research and Planning
• Michelle Barton Presenter
• Dick Borden Research Analyst (the guy who did
  the work)

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Purpose Overview

• Initial sharing of data as part of our discussion
  about our Basic Skills students.
• Information presented will be at the general
  level.

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Purpose Overview

• Cohort study of students who enter into the math,
  reading, ESL or English curriculum at the basic
  skills level
• Demographics
• Course Flow (progress)
• Term-to-term persistence

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Before we get started Cohort Tracking

• Cohort
• A group of students who share a common
  characteristic (e.g., enrolled in a specific
  Basic Skills course)
• Cohorts are discipline specific
• Reading
• English
• ESL
• Math
• Tracked over four years (twelve semesters)

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Before we get started Cohort Tracking

• For each discipline, students are placed into a
  cohort based on two factors
• Term of first attempt in a course
• Level of first course (i.e., Basic Skills (0-49),
  AA Degree Applicable (50-99), Transfer Level
  (100)
• Therefore, we are looking at entry cohorts
• Cohorts 1995-96 through 2002-2003, then combined
  them.

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Before we get started Cohort Tracking

• What did we look at?
• Demographics
• Progress
• Success/NonSuccess
• Flow through levels within the Discipline
• Courses taken outside of the discipline
• Term-to-term Persistence

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And Finally

• All information is descriptive
• Not intended to draw conclusions about cause and
  effect

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Results of Basic Skills Math Tracking Study
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What is the demographic profile of our students
who enter into the math curriculum at the basic
skills level?
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Math Basic Skills Cohort- Demographics

• Demographics
• Tables.ppt

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Math Basic Skills Cohort Summary of Demographic
Profile

• Gender
• Basic Skills math more females (56/54)
  Transfer level math opposite holds (45/55)
• Ethnicity
• Basic Skills cohorts are diverse
• Age
• Almost three quarters of Basic Skills math
  students are under 25 however the over 35 age
  group is represented making up 13 of all cohorts
  combined
• FT-PT status
• Two third of students who entered into a Basic
  Skills math class were part-time in first
  semester.
• Financial Aid status
• Almost one quarter on financial aid their first
  semester

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Do our Math Basic Skills students progress
through the Math course sequence (or levels)?
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Math Basic Skills Cohort Course Flow
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Math Basic Skills Cohort Course Flow
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Math Basic Skills Cohort Course Flow
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Math Basic Skills Cohort Course Flow
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Math Basic Skills Cohort Course Flow

• Summary
• 67 passed a basic skills math course
• 33 passed an AA level math course
• 7 passed a transfer level math course
• Average terms to successful completion of
  transfer course 7.01.

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What other types of courses did they take?
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Math Basic Skills CohortEnrollment in Other
Courses
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Math Basic Skills CohortEnrollment in Other
Courses
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Math Basic Skills CohortEnrollment in Other
Courses
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Math Basic Skills CohortEnrollment in Other
Courses

• Summary
• Generally, students who enrolled in math basic
  skills course did not enroll in reading or ESL
  courses.
• Some enrolled in basic skill and AA English
  courses.
• Most enrolled in Other transfer level courses.
  Those that were successful in other transfer
  level courses earned, on average, 19 units.

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Math Basic Skills CohortEnrollments in Other
Courses

• What if we looked at just those that passed their
  Basic Skills math course?

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Math Basic Skills CohortEnrollment in Other
Courses

• What if we looked at just those that never passed
  their basic skills math course?

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Do students who enter the math curriculum at the
basic skills level persist from term-to-term?
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Math Basic Skills CohortTerm-to-term Persistence
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Math Basic Skills Cohort - Summary

• Demographics
• Slightly more female than male
• Diverse
• Generally younger than 25 but the older students
  are represented
• Course Flow over four 4 years
• 33 passed AA level Math
• 7 passed transfer level
• Average three years plus one semester to complete
  transfer level

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Math Basic Skills CohortSummary

• In general, students in the Math Basic Skills
  cohort did not enroll in reading or ESL courses
• They did enroll in English and Other subjects
• Students in the cohort who were successful in
  basic skills math
• Completed more units than non-successful
• Persisted from term-to-term

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WaitThree more slidesSuccess rates of students
who receive tutoring support

• Examined Success Rates of students in English and
  Math who either
• Enrolled in and attended Tutoring sessions
• Did NOT enroll in or did NOT attend a tutoring
  session
• Fall 2005 data only.
• Can not differentiate what tutoring services they
  received.

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WaitThree more slidesSuccess rates of students
who receive tutoring support ENGLISH
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WaitThree more slidesSuccess rates of students
who receive tutoring support MATH