Achieving the Dream

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• Achieving the Dream
• Success is What Counts
• (A National Initiative)
• 2009 SHEEO
• Higher Education Policy Conference
• August 13, 2009 Session
• Tools and Strategies Relevant to States and
  SHEEOs

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Presenters

• Frank Renz, PhD Educational Consultant
• Coach for Achieving the Dream
• fjrenz_at_aol.com
• Debra Stuart, PhD Vice Chancellor for
  Educational Partnerships, Oklahoma State Regents
  for Higher Education
• dstuart_at_osrhe.edu
• Jan Yoshiwara Deputy Executive Director for
  Educational Services, Washington State Board for
  Community and Technical Colleges
• jyoshiwara_at_sbctc.edu

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Success is What Counts

• Achieving the Dream was created to help more
  community college students succeed complete
  courses, earn certificates and earn degrees. The
  initiative is built on the belief that broad
  institutional change informed by student
  achievement data is critical to achieve this
  result.

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Why the Concern About Student Success?

• Our performance as a Nation is lagging in the
  global economy
• Access has improved but there are still
  disparitiesthose with low income, 36 (but
  better than earlier years) those with high
  income, 78
• Completion rates are laggingBA rates 4 in 10
  after 4 years 6 in 10 after 6 years BA rates by
  age 24high SES, 75 low SES, 9

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Why the Focus on Community Colleges?

• CC traditional success indicators worseless than
  1/4th succeed through Dev Ed 1 in 10 earn
  certificate/degree within 3 years 1 in 15 in 6
  years
• Concern that Community Colleges as open door
  institutions were becoming revolving doors
  focusing more on access than success
• Many non-traditional students (students of color
  and low-income) begin at community colleges

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About Achieving the Dream

• Began in 2004 with 27 community colleges in 5
  states
• As of mid-2009, the Initiative has grown to more
  than 100 institutions enrolling more than one
  million in 22 states
• Co-designed by Lumina Foundation for Education
  and seven National partners (ATD is the largest
  non-government Initiative in CC history
• Since Lumina, 12 other Foundations have
  contributed

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About Achieving the Dream

• The 27 colleges and 5 states in Round One (plus
  Ohio) of the Initiative are now officially done
  but 20 (possibly 21) of the colleges have been
  designated ATD Leader Colleges
• Additionally,15 of these colleges and 5 states
  have received Gates funding for a new three-year
  Developmental Education Initiative
• Plans continue in 2009 for a National Expansion
  with 20 colleges joining the Initiative
  (proposing 20 or so colleges be added each
  yearmostly self-funded)

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Achieving the DreamWorking on Five Levels

• ATD is a long-term effort to increase the success
  rates of traditionally underserved students at
  community colleges at 5 levels
• Promote and support institutional change
• Develop supportive state and national policies
• Engage the public to support access and success
• Build knowledge about what works in strengthening
  student outcomes
• Enhance the capacity of national organizations to
  work long-term for improved student success

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Achieving the DreamLevel I Work

• Promoting and Supporting
• Institutional Change

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Initiating Five-Step Process for Institutional
Improvement
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Colleges Making Progress

• Develop institutional research capacity
  throughout the institution
• Provide routine reports to their Board and other
  stakeholders
• Share and present data in user- and
  level-friendly formats
• Identify a limited number of priorities, goals
  and intervention strategies based on data

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Colleges Making Progress

• Are serious about using evidence to
• Evaluate and modify interventionsbased on data
• Stop ineffective practices
• Bring effective interventions to scale
• Note Which are determined only after analysis of
  a colleges context, data and priorities

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• If You Dont Know Where
• Youre GoingYoull End
• Up Somewhere Else
• Yogi Berra

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Encouraging Interventions that are Emerging

• Assessment and placement (mandatory)
• Orientation for first-time students (mandatory)
• Advising and career counseling (mandatory for the
  first 30 college credits)
• Case management/success coaches
• Early alert systems
• Student success course (especially for the
  developmental education student)

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Encouraging Interventions that are Emerging

• Offering late start/mid-term course options
• Learning lab participation
• Supplemental instruction (built in schedule)
• Tutoring options
• Learning communities (paired courses for cohorts
  of students)
• Summer Bridge programs/Boot Camps
• Help with financial aid/child care/transportation

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Philosophical Lessons Learned

• Non-traditional students dont do optional
• Besides the traditional 3 Rs importance of the
  new 3 Rs (especially again for non-traditional
  students)Relationships, Relevance and Rigor

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Achieving the DreamLevel II Work

• Developing Supportive
• State and National Policies

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State Policy Goals

• Promote changes in state-level priorities, rules,
  regulations and resource allocations that make it
  easier for participating colleges to improve
  outcomes
• Move proven institutional practices of
  participating college statewide

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Expected Outcomes of State Policy

• Make success of underprepared students an
  explicit policy goal
• Routinely use student outcome data to inform
  decision-making and to assess policy needs and
  options
• Identify and implement specific policy changes
  that promote success of underprepared

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Framework for the State Policy Work (Policy
Levers)

• Clear public policy commitment to student success
• Strong data-driven accountability systems
• Aligned expectations, standards, and assessments
  across education sectors (K-12, 4-year, adult
  education and workforce)
• Incentives for improving success for
  underprepared students
• Financial aid policies and incentives that
  enhance persistence
• Public support

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JFF Created a State Policy Self-Assessment Tool

• Participating states are annually addressing 60
  questions (Rating no/under consideration/in
  process/yes) in 5 categories
• Data and Performance measurement (20 questions)
• Student success policies (17)
• K-12 and Postsecondary alignment (9)
• Transfer and articulation (7)
• Financial Aid policies (7)

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Examples of Questions Posed

• Does the state have the ability to share
  student-level information between K-12, community
  college, and other higher education data systems?
• Is performance funding tied to improvements in
  low-income, underprepared students success or
  narrowing success gaps (e.g., funds sent to
  schools that increase retention and/or completion
  rates of Pell Grant recipients)?

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Percent Changes Between Baseline year and 2009

• 14 ATD States by Policy Area
• decrease increase
• Nos Yess
• Data Systems -71 38
• Student Success -38 35
• K-12 Alignment -49 81
• Transfer/Articulation -53 38
• Financial Aid -48 42

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• Examples of Policy
• Changes Under Each
• Policy Lever

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Policy Lever IClear Public Policy Commitment

• Creating clear statement of overarching student
  success policy goals, objectives
• Specification of measureable goals for improved
  student outcomes (such as statewide goal to
  reduce college remediation rate by 10 by 2015)
• Developing broad stakeholder buy-in (ex. through
  cross-agency State Policy teams)

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Policy Lever IIStronger Data Systems

• Linking unconnected data systems
• Strengthening college and system capacity to use
  data for evaluation and improvement
• Creating Report Cards on performance for state
  and colleges
• Analyzing state data on institutional reform

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Policy Lever IIICross-System Alignment

• K-12 systemsP-20 Coordinating Councils efforts
  to define college readiness readiness
  feedback to schools statewide standardization
  of placement test cut scores examining dual
  enrollment policies
• Postsecondary AlignmentGrowing interest in
  alignment with Adult Basic Education/GED better
  student and parent information on transfer of
  credits to different schools transfer core that
  is accepted statewide

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Policy Lever IVPerformance Measurement

• Changes in state accountability measures for
  community collegesfocusing on progress in
  developmental education momentum points
• New interest and approaches to performance funding

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Policy Lever VFinancial Aid

• Enhancing need-based aid, including support
  beyond just tuition
• Enhanced interest in financial aid programs for
  part-time and transfer students
• Improving central aid tracking systems
• Interest and piloting of Opening Doors model
  (performance-based aid)
• Strategies to increase federal financial aid
  up-take

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Policy Lever VIPublic Support

• Media campaigns
• Public awareness
• Stakeholder ID and campaigns
• Focus on importance of issues, state commitment,
  and progress

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SummaryLessons Learned on Policy Front

• Promising Impacts
• Shifting conversations from strictly access to
  success
• Making tangible policy changes
• Increasing focus on data-driven decisions
• Cross-State fertilization (ex., Data WorkGroup)
• Challenges
• Budget crisis and funding implications
• Leadership changes and staff turnover
• IR capacity (local and state level)

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• Some Examples from
• Washington and Oklahoma
• In Addressing State and
• Local College Issues

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• Questions
• and
• Answers