Achieving the Dream Leader College Re-Certification Application

Achieving the Dream

Achieving the Dream Leader College Recertification 2012 Application

Application Submission Deadline: November 30, 2012

Contents Background ........................................................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

2012 Leader College Recertification Application ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.

Leader College Recertification - Criteria for Practice ................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

Leader College Recertification - Criteria for Performance......... Error! Bookmark not defined.

Application Submission and Review ................................ Error! Bookmark not defined.

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2012 Leader College Recertification Application Narrative ....................................... 3 Institution Information ................................................................................................................ 3 Part 1: Student Success Data ................................................................................................... 4 Part 2: Interventions/Initiatives .................................................................................................. 9 Part 3: Innovation and Leading Reform ................................................................................... 21 Part 4: Leader College Self-Assessment ................................................................................ 23

2012 Leader College Recertification Application Checklist ..................................... 24 Attachment 1 – Examples of Completed Data Charts .............................................. 25

2012 Leader College Recertification Application Narrative Institution Information Institution Information Name:

Coastal Bend College

Years Active in ATD

2004-present

Main Contact (To be notified of submission status) Name:

Susan Smedley

Title:

Director of Marketing and Public Relation

Phone:

361-354-2399

Email:

smedleys@coastalbend.edu

Name and Signature of Institution President (verifying application of this institution for Leader College recertification) Name:

Signature:

Beatriz T. Espinoza, Ph.D.

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Part 1: Student Success Data Below and within the 2012 Leader College Recertification Contact and Data Template, your institution will provide data related to TWO of the following Achieving the Dream student success measures: Successfully complete developmental instruction and advance to credit-bearing courses Enroll in and successfully complete the initial college-level or Gatekeeper courses in subjects such as math and English Complete the courses they take with a grade of "C" or better Persistence from one term to the next Attain a credential Colleges must present evidence of improvement in student achievement for three or more years.

Student Success Data Specifications Colleges may present student sub-group data related to the five measures to demonstrate improvement as long as the sub-group does not represent a small cohort of students. For example, colleges may submit course completion data for male students in developmental education as long as it represents a cohort of substantial size.

The evidence must include a year of baseline outcome data and three years of additional outcome data and include the most recent academic year (2011-12). If data for the most recent academic year is not available then this must be explained in the data narrative section.

The evidence should show an upward trend in the student success measures. Any decreases must be explained in the narrative sections.

Data must be disaggregated by race/ethnicity, and gender. The college may disaggregate by other categories in addition to these. Space is provided in the data charts for colleges to add subgroup categories.

Any achievement gaps among sub-groups of students must be addressed in the narrative as well.

1. Student Success Data: Institutions are required to submit student success data related to TWO different ATD student success outcomes. This data will be submitted in the charts provided on Tabs A and B in the 2012 Leader College Recertification Contact and Data Templates, which can be downloaded here. When submitting data: Be sure to present the most recent academic year of data that your college has available. If your college does not have data from the most recent academic year available then you must explain why in the “Data Explanation� section below.

If you would like to submit more than three years of data, you can do so by adding columns for additional years of data in the chart provided in the 2012 Leader College Recertification Contact and Data Templates.

2. Additional Charts/Graphs for Student Success Measure 1 (Additional Charts are Optional)

Successful Completion of Developmental Education Sequence 74%

2011-12

2008-09

ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

75%

2011-12

66%

2010-11 2009-10

Successful Completion of Developmental Math Sequence 61%

2010-11

58%

2009-10

49%

2008-09

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49% 33%

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STUDENT SUCCESS MEASURE 1 - Narrative Questions 3. Data Explanation for Student Success Measure 1 A. If you do not have data for the most recent academic year for Student Success Measure 1, please indicate why in the answer box below. If you do have data for the most recent year of data then enter “NA”.

Question 3. A

N/A

B. Describe the increase in student outcome data for Student Success Measure 1 that your college has seen over the years. Provide any additional information about the data that may be relevant (i.e. explanations of data fluctuations, trends in cohort sizes, etc.). Please be sure to fully explain any decreases in the data if there are any.

Question 3. B

Student Success Measure 1 details the successful completion of the developmental instruction sequence over four years. The first additional chart for Measure 1 (above) details student success in completion of the developmental course sequence. The sequence must be successfully completed before a developmental education student may take certain college level courses. The second additional chart (above) details the successful completion of the developmental math education students over the years 2008-09 thru August, 2012. Much of the focus at Coastal Bend College (CBC) in the previous Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), the Achieving the Dream (ATD) initiative and Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) focused on developmental and college math and that remains a focus of our student success work.

Looking at the disaggregated data, for the entire developmental population, White/nonHispanic students as a group made tremendous progress from 2008-09 through 2010-11, increasing the developmental education (DE) sequence completion rate from just above 40% to almost 75%, before declining approximately 5 percentage points in 2011-12. The size of this cohort, which has been steadily declining and, likely had an effect on the decline of the success rates for these students in 2011-12, though this needs more research and monitoring.

In fact, the size of the DE student population was fairly steady until the 2011-12 year when CBC enrollment as a whole declined. Factors contributing to both the decline in total enrollment and the decline especially in developmental education include state financial aid reduction occurring at the same time as the Eagleford Shale oil exploration operations began in earnest, creating a boom in high paying jobs, which proved too much for many in CBC’s service area to resist -- young men especially. Another reason the developmental education enrollments are lower than previous years is that state funding for prison programs ended and many of those students were enrolled in developmental education courses in previous years.

As a Hispanic-serving Institution, the largest group of students is Hispanic and the size of this group helps “smooth” the results and reduces the effect of variability of scores when measuring the success rates. Hispanic students completing the DE sequence had a success rate of slightly less than 50% for the baseline year of 2008-09, followed by increases in the success rate of 8 points in 2009-10, 7 points in 2010-11, and 11 points in 2011-12. While it is very useful to examine the trends for other race/ethnic groups, the frequencies for those other groups are quite small, with White/non-Hispanic and Hispanic students combined comprising

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more than 90% of the DE sequence completion group.

While CBC’s Developmental Education Initiative focused on all developmental education courses, part of CBC’s initial work with the Achieving The Dream initiative was focused on successful completion of students in the math course one level below college algebra, the final course in the developmental math sequence. The baseline measure of success for the final course in the developmental math sequence was very low in 2008-09, with only a third of students successfully completing the course. The initial low success rate likely reflects the difficulties with the implementation of computer-aided instruction, the need for additional training, and reorganization of the math department. An immediate improvement in the successful completion rate of the math developmental sequence is apparent, reflecting the changes made to the math program, institutional policy, and a reorganization of developmental education into a separate division (College Preparatory Studies) with a full-time director. The initial increase from the baseline year to the 2009-10 academic year was an astounding 16 percentage points, followed by an increase of 12 percentage points in 2010-11, and 14 points in 2011-12. An increase of 42 percentage points over three academic years is testament to the hard work done by the math department and the college preparatory studies director.

C. Describe any achievement gaps that are evident in the data for Student Success Measure 1 and how the college has addressed these.

Question 3. C

The achievement gap between the two largest groups of students shows Hispanic students initially had a developmental sequence successful completion rate approximately 7 points higher than White/non-Hispanic students. However, for the 2009-10 academic year, White/non-Hispanic students’ success on the same measure was approximately 5 points higher than Hispanic students and is persistently higher through the 2010-11 and 2011-12 academic years.

Disaggregating the data by gender also demonstrates an irregular pattern in the achievement gap between males and females. While females completed the developmental sequence at a rate 8 percentage points higher than males in the baseline year 2008-09, the gap narrowed to approximately 4 percentage points in 2009-10, widened to approximately 9 points in 2011-12, and increased to a 10 point gap in 2011-12.

It is possible that moving the lowest level of developmental courses to the purview of the Adult Basic Education department, demographic shifts, the availability of new, high-paying employment, the decrease in state financial aid availability, and a strong emphasis on workforce program certifications that do not require the completion of the developmental education sequence are having strong effects on the size and membership of the developmental education student pool. What is obvious is that the number of students in the DE courses has dropped drastically and that completion rates are higher for all groups when compared to four years prior. The developmental population of CBC is 72% Hispanic, therefore the needs of this particular group are inherently addressed in all interventions.

Additionally, given the overall success rate and the obvious positive impact of developmental interventions, the college plans to maintain current practices with an toward data driven improvements as situations demand.

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4. Additional Charts/Graphs for Student Success Measure 2 (Additional Charts are Optional) Enter any additional charts or graphs below that you college would like ATD to consider in addition to your REQUIRED completion of the data template in the 2012 Leader College Recertification Contact and Data Templates excel spreadsheet.

Success in Gatekeeper Math (College Algebra) [DE Math and College-ready Students] 82%

2011-12

76% 73%

2010-11

2009-10

2008-09

58% 55%

50%

Completed DE Math College Math Ready

51%

53%

STUDENT SUCCESS MEASURE 2 - Narrative Questions 5. Data Explanation for Student Success Measure 2 A. If you do not have data for the most recent academic year for Student Success Measure 2, please indicate why in the answer box below. If you do have data for the most recent year of data then enter “NA”.

Question 5. A

N/A

B. Describe the increase in student outcome data for Student Success Measure 2 that your college has seen over the years. Provide any additional information about the data that may be relevant (i.e. explanations of data fluctuations, trends in cohort sizes, etc.). Please be sure to fully explain any decreases in the data if there are any.

Question 5. B

Slightly more than half (53%) of students enrolling in the initial college-level math course at CBC were successful in the 2008-09 academic year, which is the baseline for this student success measure. The 2009-10 year was a year of change for the Math Department at CBC, at both the developmental and college-math levels, with changes in personnel, policy, texts and computer-aided instruction software. The data do not demonstrate an increase in success rates for all students that year, with Gatekeeper Math success rates declining slightly.

However, the success rate for all Gatekeeper Math course students increased markedly in the 2010-11 academic year with a 13 percentage point gain, followed in the 2011-12 academic year by an almost 14 point increase in the success rate.

The increase in success of the Gatekeeper Math course can likely be attributed to several student success initiatives in recent years that specifically addressed math learning outcomes (Achieving The Dream, CBC’s Quality Enhancement Plan, and the Developmental Education ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

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Initiative). However, one measure of success for one group does not provide enough information to make data-driven decisions; an examination of the disaggregated data tells a more complete story.

If we examine the progress of students of color, we note one characteristic of our students in particular: Hispanic students are twice as numerous in the data and therefore have a significant effect on the ultimate success rates. The baseline measure of Gatekeeper Math course success in 2008-09 demonstrates Hispanic student success rates approximately 2 points higher than White/non-Hispanic students, slips to more than 11 percentage points lower in 2009-10, rises slightly above White/non-Hispanic students in 2010-11, and slips slightly lower in the 2011-12 academic year. The fluctuations in the success rates of Hispanic students make it hard to pin down the causes of the ‘movement’ of the data and is being referred to the Student Success Team for more insight and research by a larger group as to what might be the root cause(s).

Race and ethnicity are only two student characteristics through which to examine the data.

Another way to disaggregate the data is whether or not the students participated in developmental education. Much of the recent student success work at CBC has been focused on developmental education as the pathway to student success through earning certifications or progressing through college-level courses. The chart above (4. Additional Charts/Graphs for Student Success Measure 2) helps demonstrate that Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) funding and interventions helped developmental math students be more successful as they progressed into college level courses. Furthermore, changes to policy, software, and personnel, also motivated by DEI work, influenced success rates for all math students.

The 2008-09 baseline data, when disaggregated by whether a student had completed the developmental math sequence or was considered college-ready, demonstrates an achievement gap between the two groups. Prior to the Developmental Education Initiative, developmental math (DE) students who completed the developmental math sequence and entered the Gatekeeper math course, had success rates that were approximately 2 percentage points lower than college-ready math students. However, the following year’s data (2009-10) demonstrates a remarkable turn-around: the DE students who had completed their developmental math sequence increased their success rate by more than 3 percentage points, approximately 5 percentage points higher than the college-ready math students. This gap between DE students and college-ready students continued and became more pronounced for the 2010-11 academic year, when the DE student achievement was approximately 15 percentage points higher. The discrepancy between the two groups narrows by half in the following year to 6 percentage points, leading our data analyst to consider the 2010-11 year an anomaly. Looking only at the increase in success rate for college-ready students from 2008-09 and 2010-11, there is a more conservative increase of approximately 5 percentage points.

From 2010-11 to 2011-12 there is another large change in success rates for the college-ready students - an increase of approximately 18 percentage points - which brings the latest success rates for the two groups to within 7 percentage points of each other– with the DE students still succeeding at higher rates than college-ready students.

C. Describe any achievement gaps that are evident in the data for Student Success Measure 2 and how the college has addressed these.

Question 5.C

Disaggregating the data amplifies some of the disparities between student groups; the largest ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

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achievement gap can be examined through gender. Female students, both DE and collegeready, have higher success rates throughout the student success measures. At the baseline, both genders were equally under-performing, with female’ success rates less than 2 points higher than male students in the Gatekeeper Math course. The gap between the two genders widened some in 2009-10, with female students succeeding at a rate 4 percentage points higher than males. The gap widened again in 2010-11 to approximately 11 points and to 15 points in 2011-12. There are likely myriad factors contributing to this gap between males and females in Gatekeeper Math success rates. First, and possibly foremost, the size of the female Gatekeeper Math student group is approximately twice the size of the male Gatekeeper Math student group. Another factor has to do with the female student population at CBC – students in the health programs must take the Gatekeeper Math course to be accepted into the nursing programs. Whether or not a student is accepted into the program depends on passing that math course. Females, whether DE or college-ready students, are the highest achieving large group of students at Coastal Bend College CBC).

In light of CBC’s most recent student success efforts focusing on developmental education, it is necessary to compare the success rates of students who completed the developmental sequence with college-ready students. In the area of Gatekeeper Math, the initial college math course that has been part of the student success focus at CBC since 2005, some important differences can be noted. Developmental education students by definition have been taking a minimum of one math course prior to enrollment in the Gatekeeper Math course and have also very likely benefitted from the Developmental Education Initiative interventions such as intensive case management. Many college-ready math students have not attended a math course for at least a few months and are perhaps, ‘out of practice’. Also, many of the collegeready math students are also first-time, first-semester students and have the added burden of adjusting to college life, whereas the DE students have been attending college for a minimum of one semester and have some experience with college life (including student success services). Additional research into this ‘reverse’ gap between the populations will be important to uncover if more/different services need to be provided for students deemed ‘college-ready’ in math, using data mining and focus groups.

Part 2: Interventions/Initiatives In this section your institution will provide information about the intervention(s)/initiative(s) that your college attributes to your success in student outcomes documented in Part 1.

Space is provided for a college to provide information on up to THREE interventions. However, only information on ONE intervention is required. If your college wishes to provide information on MORE than THREE intervention(s)/initiatives(s) then you must copy and paste the necessary questions for each additional item your institution is providing information on.

For each intervention/initiative your college provides information on, you will be asked to provide: A name and a brief description The years the intervention(s)/initiatives(s) have been implemented (this does not include planning years – “implementation” means the years that the intervention has actively served students) The target student population that the intervention(s)/initiatives(s) serve An explanation of why this target population is a significant population to focus on and how the college has successfully served a significant portion of this population over the years Data regarding the number of students served for at least three years (this should be the most recent three years of data available, ideally with the 2011-12 academic year being included) ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

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A description of any efforts the college has taken to scale the intervention(s)/initiative(s) Interventions/Initiatives Specifications “Intervention” in this case includes any policy changes Be sure to include the number of students served by the intervention(s)/initiative(s) and that number as a percent of total enrollment and of the target population The intervention(s)/initiative(s) must have been in effect during the increases in student outcome data presented in the Student Success Data Section The intervention(s)/initiative(s) must have targeted a student population that is integral to your student success and completion work at the college and the intervention must have served a significant portion of the identified target student population Definition of Scale An integral part of the Achieving the Dream Model of Institutional Improvement is to effectively scale successful interventions. Thus, Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges are those colleges that can not only demonstrate that they have successfully increased student achievement, but also that they have successfully taken effective interventions and scaled them to serve more, and ultimately, most of a target student population.

Over the past few years, institutions participating in the Developmental Education Initiative (an initiative managed by MDC, Inc to expand groundbreaking remedial education programs at 15 Achieving the Dream Institutions) have provided valuable feedback to Achieving the Dream and MDC regarding scaling initiatives on community college campuses. This input, combined with other research from scaling experts across the country, resulted in a guide to scaling from MDC, Inc., “More to Most: Scaling Up Effective Community College Practices” (“More to Most”).

More to Most” presents a framework to determine the level of scale a student intervention has reached and provides tools for institutions to plan for expansion. The framework articulates that an intervention can serve “some,” “more,” or “most,” of the specific student population to whom the intervention is targeted. Scaling an intervention occurs when an institution moves from serving “some” students to “more” students and, finally, to “most” students.

Achieving the Dream has adopted the “More to Most” framework of scale as a useful way of evaluating the progress of an institution in scaling an intervention. Currently, no percentages have been assigned to each of the levels in the “More to Most” framework (some, more, most). However, for the purposes of this application, the following percentages will apply: Some: Intervention(s) will be considered to be serving “Some” students when serving 25% or less of the target student population More: Intervention(s) will be considered to be serving “More” students when serving 25.1% to 60% of the target student population Most: Intervention(s) will be considered to be serving “Most” students when serving more than 60% of the target student population Achieving the Dream will award Leader College recertification to those institutions that can show how they have successfully increased the reach of successful intervention(s) to serve at least “more” or “most” of a target population, according to the definitions above. If an institution has not been successful in reaching at least the “more” category in their scaling efforts they must provide sufficient justification to be awarded Leader College recertification.  Note: Institutions may also consider how they have successfully implemented and scaled policies related to the intervention(s) when answering the scaling question. .

1. Intervention/Initiative 1 - Required

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Space is provided below for information on up to THREE interventions/initiatives. However, only information on ONE intervention is required. If your institution wishes to provide information on MORE than THREE interventions then you must copy and paste the necessary questions for each additional intervention/initiative.

Please be brief and to the point in your answers and descriptions. Clear, concise information is better understood and processed by our reviewers.

1.

A. Intervention 1 - General Information Intervention 1 (Required) Intervention Name and Brief Description The college’s Developmental Education Success Initiative provides interventions and services to all developmental education students in an effort to make them successful and to increase their graduation rates.

Intervention 1 (Required) Years of Implementation (Please refer to academic years – e.g. 2011-12. If an intervention was started in the Fall or Spring term of a particular academic year, please indicate so – e.g. “Fall 2011-12 or Spring 2011-12”)

Fall 2009 -2010 Fall 2010-2011 Fall 2011-2012

Intervention 1 (Required) Target Student Population Since the Fall of 2009 there have been multiple interventions at Coastal Bend College specifically targeting developmental students as a means of addressing the issues of student access, retention and success. These interventions were based on interventions that had proven successful in other community colleges. Rather than testing best practices on a sample cohort it was decided to apply specific policies as preventive measures across the institution thereby addressing scalability with 100% application.

Policy changes approved by Board of Trustees, June 2010: o No late registration o No on-line registration for developmental students o Pre-placement test preparation o Continuous enrollment in developmental courses until sequence completed o Student success course for developmental students o Reduction of DE math sequenced courses from three to two These policy changes in turn laid the groundwork for implementing and assessing multiple DE interventions, which included: Learning Communities,

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English 1301/ Education 1300 Spring 2010- present Reading 0322/ History 1301 Spring 2010- 2011 Fast Track Courses Reading Flex I & II Fall 2010- present Reading Flex I & II Fall 2010- present Math Emporium Fall 2010- 2012 Case management Fall 2009- 2012 Redesigned DE Math Curriculum Spring 2012-present

Intervention 1 (Required) Briefly explain why this target population is a significant population to focus on and how the college has successfully served a significant portion of this population over the years.

The college has sustained and demonstrated success serving its developmental math population due in no small part to the college’s first ATD initiative addressing supplemental instruction for math as a developmental intervention. Compared to state and national community college trends for FTICs (First Time In College), Coastal Bend College’s demographic enrollment patterns are consistently within the median rather than the exception, particularly when looking at the singular growth of the developmental category. This speaks not only to the potential for individual student success but also to the ability of Coastal Bend College to provide a work-ready workforce for regional business and industry, thereby establishing a pathway to improved and enhanced quality of life for all the citizens of the college’s service area. And, as the population selected for the intervention is a significant population for the college and represents a significant percentage of the college’s total enrollment, leadership committed policy implementation and resources to its Developmental Education Initiative.

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B. Intervention 1 – Student Reach/Scale Information: Provide at least three years of data in the following chart for Intervention 1. If you do not have data for the most recent academic year, be sure to explain why in the comment box below.  See Attachment 1 in this document for an example of a completed students served data chart.

Students Served by Intervention 1 (Required)

Year

Number of Students in Intervention 1

Students in Intervention 1 as % of total enrollment

2009-2010

987

20%

100%

2010-2011

1058

16%

100%

2011-2012

1026

17%

100%

(e.g. 2011-2012)

Students in Intervention 1 as % of target population

Enter Academic Year

Enter Academic Year

Comments

C. Intervention 1 - Scale Information 1) According to the definition of scale provided below (Including the assigned percentages), enter which level of the target population your college is currently serving with this intervention?

Some (25% or less of the target student population) More (25.1 – 60% of the target student population) Most (more than 60% of the target student population) Intervention 1 – Question C .1

The Developmental Education Success Initiative serves most (more than 60%) of the target population (students who require remediation in math, English, and/or reading and have enrolled in at least one developmental education course). In addition, the institutional policies adopted in the Texas Success Initiative impact not only developmental students, but all Coastal Bend College students.

2) If your intervention is not currently reaching MORE (25.1-60%) of the target student population, please explain why and describe how your college is working to remedy any barriers or challenges it faces to scaling. If you are currently reaching MORE of your target student population, enter “NA.”

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Intervention 1 – Question C .2

N/A

3) Describe how your institution has worked to scale the intervention over the years to effectively increase the number of students being served. Be sure to include why your college decided to scale the intervention, what resources and commitments your institution dedicated to the scaling, and how your institution has addressed any barriers to scaling.

Intervention 1 – Question C .3

The institutional policies adopted in our Texas Success Initiative plan, such as no late registration; no online registration for developmental students; continuous mandatory enrollment in developmental sequenced courses; student success courses; and required preplacement test preparation, impact not only 100% of developmental students, but all Coastal Bend College students. In addition, to create a math emporium, the college president dedicated one classroom for conversion into a lab and allocated institutional funds to equip it with new computers, technology equipment, and new furniture. In addition, he allocated money for the labor to make the conversion from classroom to computer lab. At the time it was attempted, although results were promising, math emporium was not equitable for all students as it could not be scaled to other campuses due to lack of funding and space. However, from the math emporium concept sprung the idea to impact more students through acceleration on all campuses by reducing the number of sequenced courses from three to two.

4) Describe any plans your institution may have to further scale the intervention Intervention 1 – Question C .4

As previously indicated, the multiple interventions are already scaled at 100% based on their impact on all developmental students at Coastal Bend College. However, other interventions are in early stages that will also impact all Coastal Bend College students. These include 1) redesigning the college success course as part of our Quality Enhancement Plan. It will be implemented in fall 2013 and will be required for all first-time college students.

2. Intervention/Initiative 2 (OPTIONAL) Submitting information for a second intervention/initiative is optional.

A. Intervention 2 (OPTIONAL) - General Information

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Intervention 2 (Optional) Intervention Name and Brief Description

The college’s Gatekeeper Math Success Initiative evolved from an amalgam of interventions.

Rather than engaging in a time intensive process of vetting various protocols through a number of committees, the college felt it was in the better interest of its students to implement best practices quickly with immediate benefit to the student being an imperative. The original effort began with key components from CBC’s original ATD initiative that achieved the best results and were best suited for the college’s student population. Those components included the continuation of labs staffed by qualified math instructors, computer assisted instruction so that help was available to students while not on campus, peer tutoring and staff tutoring. These components were all augmented by revised curriculums and more flexible class structures.

The data clearly substantiates the value to the student through improved student success rates.

Intervention 2 (Optional) Years of Implementation (Please refer to academic years – e.g. 2011-12. If an intervention was started in the Fall or Spring term of a particular academic year, please indicate so – e.g. “Fall 2011-12 or Spring 2011-12”)

Fall 2009-2010 Fall 2010-2012 Fall 2012-2012

Intervention 2 (Optional) Target Student Population

The targeted student population for the Gatekeeper Math Success Initiative is students enrolled in college algebra.

Intervention 2 (Optional) Briefly explain why this target population is a significant population to focus on and how the college has successfully served a significant portion of this population over the years.

The population selected for the intervention is a significant population to focus on as college algebra is a Gatekeeper course for students seeking associate degrees. The policy changes ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

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that affected the overall success of developmental students also had an impact on college algebra. This was due in part to placing students correctly into math courses and in part to the math redesign and the math emporium. The redesigned curriculum and math emporium prepared developmental students so well for college algebra that now past DE math students are surpassing the students that placed straight into college algebra. The significance of this evidence cannot be understated.

B. Intervention 2 (OPTIONAL) – Student Reach/Scale Information: Provide at least three years of data in the following chart for Intervention 1. If you do not have data for the most recent academic year, be sure to explain why in the comment box below.  See Attachment 1 in this document for an example of a completed students served data chart.

Students Served by Intervention 2 (Optional)

Year

Number of Students in Intervention 2

Students in Intervention 2 as % of total enrollment

2009-2010

647

10%

100%

2010-2011

676

11%

100%

2011-2012

579

10%

100%

(e.g. 2011-2012)

Students in Intervention 2 as % of target population

Enter Academic Year

Enter Academic Year

Comments

C. Intervention 2 - Scale Information 1) According to the definition of scale provided below (Including the assigned percentages), enter which level of the target population your college is currently serving with this intervention.

Some (25% or less of the target student population) More (25.1 – 60% of the target student population) Most (more than 60% of the target student population) Intervention 2 (Optional) – Question C.1

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Based on the scale above, Coastal Bend College is currently serving “Most” of the targeted population as it is serving 100% of math students through the Gatekeeper Math Success Initiative. It is serving both college algebra students and developmental math students.

2) If your intervention is not currently reaching MORE (25.1-60%) of the target student population, please explain why and describe how your college is working to remedy any barriers or challenges it faces to scaling. If you are currently reaching MORE of your target student population, enter “NA.” Intervention 2 (Optional) – Question C.2

N/A

3) Describe how your institution has worked to scale the intervention over the years to effectively increase the number of students being served. Be sure to include why your college decided to scale the intervention, what resources and commitments your institution dedicated to the scaling, and how your institution has addressed any barriers to scaling.

Intervention 2 (Optional) – Question C.3

Scaling the Gatekeeper Math Success Initiative was a systematic process. The first step was to provide new leadership for developmental math by centralizing developmental education.

Under the direction of a new department chair, the developmental math faculty worked on redesigning the math curriculum, course syllabi, and previous departmental policies. After this proved to have some success, a second step was implemented. This step included professional development which included addressing instructor perceptions and teaching strategies. Also, included was software training. After this second step demonstrated an additional increase in student success, the third step was implemented. The third step involved working with a consultant to guide the developmental and academic math faculty through a course realignment process. The course realignment included reducing the number of sequenced math courses from three to two, in addition to aligning the last developmental math course to college algebra. This initiative was scaled up with the alignment process increasing students’ potential and their opportunities for success as they transition from developmental math to college algebra will have opportunity for continued success.

4) Describe any plans your institution may have to further scale the intervention Intervention 2 (Optional) – Question C.4

As the scaling is already 100% of the targeted student population, all college students enrolling in College Algebra will now be impacted by the improved changes to the algebra curriculum and the additional instructor training.

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3. Intervention/Initiative 3 (OPTIONAL) Submitting information for a second intervention/initiative is optional.

A. Intervention 3 (OPTIONAL) - General Information Intervention 3 (Optional) Intervention Name and Brief Description

Enter Answers Here

Intervention 3 (Optional) Years of Implementation (Please refer to academic years – e.g. 2011-12. If an intervention was started in the Fall or Spring term of a particular academic year, please indicate so – e.g. “Fall 2011-12 or Spring 2011-12”)

Enter Answers Here

Intervention 3 (Optional) Target Student Population

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Intervention 3 (Optional) Briefly explain why this target population is a significant population to focus on and how the college has successfully served a significant portion of this population over the years.

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B. Intervention 3 (OPTIONAL) – Student Reach/Scale Information: Provide at least three years of data in the following chart for Intervention 1. If you do not have data for the most recent academic year, be sure to explain why in the comment box below.  See Attachment 1 in this document for an example of a completed students served chart.

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Students Served by Intervention 3 (Optional)

Year (e.g. 2011-2012)

Number of Students in Intervention 3

Students in Intervention 3 as % of total enrollment

Students in Intervention 3 as % of target population

Enter Academic Year

Enter Academic Year

Enter Academic Year

Enter Academic Year

Enter Academic Year

Comments

C. Intervention 3 - Scale Information 1) According to the definition of scale provided above (Including the assigned percentages), enter which level of the target population your college is currently serving with this intervention.

Some (25% or less of the target student population) More (25.1 – 60% of the target student population) Most (more than 60% of the target student population) Intervention 3 (Optional) – Question C.1

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2) If your intervention is not currently reaching MORE (25.1-60%) of the target student population, please explain why and describe how your college is working to remedy any barriers or challenges it faces to scaling. If you are currently reaching MORE of your target student population, enter “NA.” Intervention 3 (Optional) – Question C.2

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3) Describe how your institution has worked to scale the intervention over the years to effectively increase the number of students being served. Be sure to include why your college decided to scale the intervention, what resources and commitments your institution dedicated to the scaling, and how your institution has addressed any barriers to scaling.

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Intervention 3 (Optional) – Question C.3

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4) Describe any plans your institution may have to further scale the intervention Intervention 3 (Optional) – Question C.4

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Part 3: Innovation and Leading Reform In this section, you will enter information related to how your institution has embraced innovation to meet students’ needs, as well as how your institution has led other colleges and stakeholders in the student success movement.

Innovation The ability to meet the myriad of student needs at a community college campus requires institutions to be innovative in their approach and strategies. Below, you will be asked how your institution has taken bold steps to innovate, have courageous conversations, and therefore push the student success and completion agenda at the institution. Achieving the Dream recognizes that “innovation” will look different at each institution.

1. Describe how your institution has worked to provide innovative ideas to challenges over the past three years and to meet the ongoing needs of your institution’s students.  Please give examples.

Question 1- Innovation

The Coastal Bend College Board of Trustees has supported college leadership by approving policy changes in the college’s Texas Success Initiative (TSI). TSI is a state-legislated program designed to improve student success in college. There are two components of the program, an assessment to diagnose students’ basic skills in reading, mathematics, and writing and developmental instruction to strengthen academic skills that need improvement. Colleges and universities are given the flexibility to design a program that meets an individual student’s needs. The following are changes made to CBC’s TSI Policy and approved by the Board of Trustees.

Accuplacer Prep: All first-time college students enrolling in an academic program at Coastal Bend College will be required to a complete four-hour computer-based pretest preparation before taking the Accuplacer test for college placement.

Student Success Course: Students who place into all three areas of remediation (English, math and reading) are required to enroll in a Student Success Course with the exception of the workforce students.

Online Registration: To prevent students from registering for the wrong sequenced course or a course that requires a prescribed sequence, students that are TSI-liable will be blocked from online registration.

Continuous Enrollment: Students placed into developmental courses will be continuously enrolled in developmental classes until the prescribed sequence is complete.

Learning Communities: English 1301 linked with a Student Success Course. The students in this community scored into the highest tier of developmental English; the remediation is embedded into the English 1301 curriculum.

Most recently the Board approved changing the math developmental education classes from three to two.

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The college has also introduced several innovative strategies designed to reduce the need for developmental education or to accelerate progress through it in order to shorten the pathway to attainment. All have made a difference in success rates for students. The following describes two of these strategies and their success rates: The Fast Track strategy (eight week, back-to-back, sequenced developmental courses) for Developmental English and Reading resulted in a 95.6 % course completion rate and an 87.8% course success rate (A, B or C) for a duplicated 181 students. Of students who needed two levels of remediation and who enrolled in the Fast Track program, 98.4% were retained from one eight-week semester to the next. Ninety-one percent of those needing two levels of remediation completed their first level, and 98% of these also completed their second level. Additional course offerings were added as a result of the strategy’s success. Furthermore, the students taking fast-tracked English courses and the Accelerated Reading Learning Community courses are succeeding and completing the developmental sequence at a faster rate 74% success rate vs. 52% success rate respectively. Conversely, students who did not participate in case management demonstrated more than twice the percentage of D and F grades (31%) compared to case managed students (14%).

Student data collected from focus groups and surveys were used to develop the strategic plan and guide the QEP focus. Like faculty, students indicated the need for improvement in areas that could readily be addressed in a student success course.

The college administers the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) survey every two years. The survey revealed areas that need improvement, and results are being used in program reviews and as a part of annual assessment measures. The survey’s 2012 Key Findings report indicated that CBC ranked 6.9 percentage points higher than its 2012 CCSSE cohort in the overall satisfaction of students with in the “Support for Learners” benchmark.

Leader within the Achieving the Dream Network A key responsibility of being an Achieving the Dream Leader College is the support given to other Achieving the Dream Institutions and advocating for Achieving the Dream principles and practices.

Leader College are expected to disseminate lessons from their Achieving the Dream work (this could range from presentations at national conferences to authoring local or national op-eds about student success and equity) and to support efforts to build a policy environment in their state and nationally that promotes student success. Therefore, Leader Colleges applying for recertification must demonstrate how they have: Provided support to other community colleges within the Achieving the Dream Network Advocated for the core principles and values of Achieving the Dream both within their state and nationally Disseminated lessons learned to other community colleges and related stakeholders

2. Describe how, as a Leader College, your institution has contributed to the larger Achieving the Dream Reform Network.

Question 2- Leading

The college’s Student Success Team has been pro-active in sharing evidence and findings ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

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with the at-large community college environment. For example, The college’s Developmental Education department chair presented with three other Texas DEI colleges at a meeting of the Texas Association of Community Colleges, Fredricksburg, TX, July 2010: “Texas Takes Developmental Education by the Horns.”

The following year the Developmental Education department chair presented with other Texas DEI colleges at the Achieving The Dream Strategy Institute, Indianapolis, in February 2011: “Texas Takes Developmental Education by the Horns.”

The college’s Institutional Research Analyst is part of the DEI Texas Leadership Team which impacts state policy. Several college math instructors serve on a state committee spearheaded by Texas State University, under the guidance of THECB (Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board). This College and Career Readiness Initiative focuses on K-16 alignment, and CBC is addressing the alignment of high school math and college algebra.

Another lead developmental math instructor serves on the MathWays Project under the direction of the Dana Center at the University of Teas at Austin.

In addition, CBC is a member of and participates in the Texas Developmental Education State Policy Leadership Team and regularly brings forward its success in developmental education as part of its ATD platform. A panel of community college leaders who are visioning the future of Texas community colleges will participate with CBC and share their ideas about the Student Success Agenda and the important role of Texas' faculty leaders. The Leadership Team will participate in designing a statewide Student Success Pathway model for Texas community colleges.

Part 4: Leader College Self-Assessment In this section, your institution will download the Leader College Self-Assessment and complete the assessment.

Leader College recertification will take into account the institution assessment tool completed by all Leadership Coaches and Data Coaches as part of the 2012 Annual Review Process. In addition to the coach assessment on the tool, each Leader College seeking recertification will complete the tool as a self-assessment.

Achieving the Dream trusts that current leader colleges can fairly assess their progress to date and will consider these ratings in conjunction with the ratings of the coaches. The tool allows for explanation and justifications for answers and this narrative will be considered along with the ratings.

Honest assessment of a college’s progress will be the most important determinant in the self-assessment.

That is, Achieving the Dream will still consider granting Leader College recertification if ratings fall below the minimum if a college can accurately justify its ratings and explain how the college is working to improve.

To complete the Leader College Recertification Self-Assessment, download the assessment tool here, complete the assessment tool according to the directions given, and submit it along with the other 2012 Leader College Recertification Application components ATD 2012 Leader College Recertification Application

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2012 Leader College Recertification Application Checklist Please make sure you have the following items included in your submission.

2012 Leader College Recertification Application Item

Included?

1. 2012 Leader College Recertification Application Narrative (Submitted as a PDF without pp. 1-11 of this document)

X

2. 2012 Leader College Recertification Contact and Data Templates (Submitted as an excel document)

X

a. Tab A: Updated contact information for the college.

X

b. Tab B: Data Chart for Student Success Outcome Measure 1

X

c. Tab C: Data Chart for Student Success Outcome Measure 2

X

3. 2012 Leader College Recertification College Self-Assessment (Submitted as a PDF document)

X

**All templates and resources can be accessed at the Leader College Recertification page on Achieving the Dream’s website.

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Attachment 1 – Examples of Completed Data Charts

Example: Student Success Data Student Success Measure 1 Title: First Year Fall to Winter Retention ATD Measure: Persistence from one term to the next Target Population: All first-year, first time students 2007-08 (Baseline) N

Return

2008-09

% Return

N

2009-10

Return % Return

N

Return

2010-2011 % Return

N

Return

% Return

All

680*

513

75.40%

648**

497

76.7%

691

548

79.3%

691

562

81.3%

White

398

304

76.40%

377

294

78.0%

406

320

78.8%

410

334

81.5%

African-American 212

154

72.60%

207

152

73.4%

234

190

81.2%

226

179

79.2%

Other+

55

78.60%

64

51

79.7%

51

38

74.5%

55

49

89.1%

70

+Other includes Hispanic, Native American, Asian and non-identified.

*Represents 100% of first year full and part time enrollment and 40% of total enrollment. **Represents 100% of first year full and part time enrollment and 41% of total enrollment.

Represents 100% of first year full and part time enrollment and 42% of total enrollment.

Represents 100% of first year full and part time enrollment and 41% of total enrollment

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Example: Number/Percentages of Students in Intervention Students Served by Intervention 1 (Required)

Year Number of Students in Advising

Students in New Student Orientation as % of total enrollment

Students incomprehensive Advising as % of target population (all new students)

2008-09

150

8%

35%

2009-10

300

12%

60%

2010-11

437

20%

70%

2011-12

500

35%

75%

(e.g. 2010-2011)

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