Engaging Community Colleges A First Look

1
CCSSE Five Years, Five Key Lessons, Five
Strategies
2007 Findings
2
Session Agenda

• Introductions
• Group Exercise
• Student engagement and CCSSE Overview
• Reflections on CCSSEs First Five Years
• College Leaders Share
• 2007 CCSSE Benchmarks

3
Introductions

• Shirley Gilbert, El Paso Community College,
  Special Assistant to the President
• Ali Esmaeili, South Texas College, Associate Dean
  for Bachelor Degree Programs and Interim Dean for
  Developmental Studies

4
Group Exercise
5
CCSSE Overview
6
The Demand for Data on Student Engagement is
Growing

• As of 2008, approximately what number of students
  have responded to the CCSSE survey?
• More than 700,00 students

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In 2003, 65,238 students from 93 colleges across
27 states (and Canada, B.C.) participated in
CCSSE.
8
In 2007, 573,030 students from 279 colleges
across 48 states and Canada, B.C. and Marshall
Islands participated in CCSSE.
9
The Demand for Data on Student Engagement is
Growing
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Reflections on CCSSEs First Five Years
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Five Lessons Learned

• Be intentional
• Engagement matters for all students, but it
  matters more for some than for others
• Part-time students and faculty are the reality of
  community colleges and typically are not
  addressed in improvement efforts
• Data are our friends
• Look behind the numbers

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Five Strategies That Work

• Set high expectations and clear goals
• Focus on the front door
• Elevate developmental education
• Use engaging instructional approaches
• Make engagement inescapable

13
College Leaders Share
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Panel Discussion

• El Paso Community College
• During the past several years, what initiatives,
  programs, practices have your college implemented
  to promote student engagement on your campus?
• Discuss CCSSE, student engagement, and Achieving
  the Dream at your college.  How has your
  college's participation in CCSSE and Achieving
  the Dream supported your students' success?

15
Panel Discussion

• Highlights from South Texas College

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CCSSE Benchmarks
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CCSSE A Tool for Community Colleges

• CCSSE data analyses include a three-year cohort
  of participating colleges.
• The 2007 CCSSE Cohort includes more than 310,000
  community college students from 525 institutions
  in 48 states, British Columbia, and the Marshall
  Islands.

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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

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What do you think?

• What percentage of students reported they often
  or very often worked with other students on
  projects during class?
• What percentage of students reported they often
  or very often worked with classmates outside of
  class to prepare assignments?

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Key Findings 2007 CCSSE Cohort
Active and Collaborative Learning In-Class
versus Out-of-Class
In your experience at this college during the
current school year, about how often have you
done each of the following?

• Percentage of students responding often or very
  often

This survey item is not part of the active and
collaborative learning benchmark but is included
here to help illustrate the differences in
student experiences inside and outside the
classroom. Source 2007 CCSSE Cohort data.
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Giving Voice to Students
22
What do you think?

• What percent of full-time women students spend
  five or fewer hours per week preparing for class?
• What percent of full-time men students spend five
  or fewer hours per week preparing for class?

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Key Findings 2007 CCSSE Cohort
Student Effort Women and Men

• About how many hours do you spend in a typical
  seven-day week preparing for class (studying,
  reading, writing, rehearsing, doing homework, or
  performing other activities related to your
  program)?

Responses ofFull-Time Women
Responses ofFull-Time Men
Note Percentages may not total 100 due to
rounding. Source 2007 CCSSE Cohort data.
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Key Findings 2007 CCSSE Cohort
Key Findings for Academic Challenge

• During the current school year, how much has your
  coursework at this college emphasized the
  following mental activities?

Percentage of students responding quite a bit or
very much
This survey item is not part of the academic
challenge benchmark but is included here for
purposes of comparison. Source 2007 CCSSE
Cohort data.
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Key Findings 2007 CCSSE Cohort
Student-Faculty Interaction Part-time and
Full-time Students

• In your experience at this college during the
  current school year, about how often have you
  done each of the following?

Source 2007 CCSSE Cohort data.
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Faculty Members Views of Students
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Support for Learners

• What is your best guess?
• What student support service do students indicate
  is most important to them?
• What student support service are students most
  likely to use?

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Key Findings 2007 CCSSE Cohort
Support for Learners Developmental and
Nondevelopmental Education Students

• How important are the following services?

Students who have taken or plan to take
developmental reading, writing, and math
Source 2007 CCSSE Cohort data.
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Key Findings 2007 CCSSE Cohort
Support for Learners Developmental and
Nondevelopmental Education Students

• How often do you use the following services?

Students who have taken or plan to take
developmental reading, writing, and math
Source 2007 CCSSE Cohort data.
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Thank you!

• Christine McLean, Senior Associate, CCSSE
  mclean_at_ccsse.org
• Erika Glaser, Research Associate, CCSSE,
  glaser_at_ccsse.org
• Shirley Gilbert, El Paso Community College,
  sgilbert_at_epcc.edu
• Ali Esmaeili, South Texas College,
  esmaeili_at_southtexascollege.edu