For a high percentage of students, taking remedial, non-credit-bearing courses delays or prevents their progress toward a degree. Community colleges are beginning to implement a variety of interventions to help students persist in college and progress toward a degree. This report explores program specifics, efficacy evidence, and costs for 14 intensive math interventions. Researchers focus on short-term programs designed to accelerate students’ progress through developmental material, discuss similarities and differences among the programs within three category types, and examine strategies used to support developmental math students.

This longitudinal study, conducted by the National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment to improve the understanding of how learning communities work, compares the experiences of first-year community college students in learning communities and traditional classes. Researchers also conducted a case study on the effectiveness of collaborative learning strategies and identified common themes in students’ experiences that impacted their views of learning and persistence in higher education.

With nearly half of all students in higher education not earning a degree, colleges and universities refine strategies to increase retention rates and to address specific needs determined by their student demographics. This study investigates the retention rates for full- and part-time students at public community colleges by degrees of urbanization (i.e., city, suburb, town, and rural), and the differences in retention rates between and among these differing institutions. The authors present the findings regarding retention rates and recommend further research to examine the causes.

While community colleges nationwide struggle to figure out how best to increase completion rates for their students, one state has achieved high completion rates with its unique postsecondary education system. This case study describes the Tennessee Technology Centers and how these 27 institutions are organized, how they operate, and how they are able to achieve postsecondary success for their students. The report examines four highly integrated components of the Centers’ framework and how these components appear to be critical to producing high rates of completion and placement in relatively high-wage jobs. Through the description of this alternative approach to occupational education and the lessons learned by Tennessee Technology Centers, a working model for student success is offered.

Without sufficient financial aid, many community college students cannot begin their postsecondary education, much less sustain it to complete a certificate or degree. This report describes how at a particular meeting in early 2012, postsecondary reform leaders, policymakers, and financial aid experts collaborated to understand how existing federal financial aid policies act as a barrier to institutional and statewide innovation for low-income students. Using case studies, the report describes the reform efforts of two states—Virginia and Washington—to describe obstacles encountered with federal policy and how these states developed workarounds and unique solutions to ensuring that low-income students have funds to complete their education. The author outlines next steps for states, as identified by those participants who are leading the conversation in financial aid policy reform. 

With college enrollment information generally geared toward traditional students, it can be difficult for adult students with previous college experience to find relevant information on re-enrolling. In this case study, the authors describe Nevada’s Concierge Model, which ensures that each public institution has at least one staff member responsible solely for working adults returning to college. These concierge personnel guide students through the complex issues of the re-enrollment process, including financial aid, learning assessments, class scheduling, transferring credits, and coping with anxiety about reentering the classroom.

African American students, particularly men, have historically underperformed in postsecondary education. To better serve these students, it is important for community colleges to have a strong understanding of the factors that influence their college experience. This combined quantitative/qualitative study examines the specific institutional factors at one California community college to identify which factors correlate with higher educational outcomes. Findings show that African American men perceive themselves as unsupported by and disconnected from the college community, but positive peer and faculty interactions can build a more supportive environment and relate to higher outcomes.

Community colleges are faced with the challenge of improving the rate at which students successfully complete their postsecondary education. This six-year study extends a previous two-year study, examining the short- and long-term effects of a comprehensive freshman learning community program on academic success. The study finds that after six years, a greater proportion of the learning community students as compared to the control group earned a degree, and that the program is cost effective. The report does note that distinguishing characteristics of the program at this large, urban community college, such as three linked courses, enhanced counseling and tutoring services, recruitment of full-time students, and strong college leadership, may have enabled a unique context for implementing and sustaining the learning community program.

As community colleges are working to improve student completion rates, it’s not often that college leaders can learn the collective views of their students about what’s working and not working for them at the institution. This report uses focus group data to describe the perspectives of community college students— current students, completers, and non-completers—and their community college experiences. Specifically, the authors identify findings as they relate to three areas: connection to information and supports, connection to instructional services, and connection to career and/or career exploration. In each area, the authors discuss students’ perspectives on the services that met their needs, key challenges they encountered, and suggestions for improving how colleges can be more pro-active in anticipating student needs and engaging student learning.

Research has shown that community college students who enroll in a remedial math, reading, or writing course have lower success rates than students who start college-ready. Using quantitative data, this study investigates developmental course-taking patterns and related student outcomes, and using qualitative data, examines related policies and practices among California’s community colleges. The authors describe the characteristics and course-taking patterns of developmental education students as well as current issues within developmental education. Additionally, the authors identify the different approaches to the practice of developmental education and the need for innovation and effective practices to move students through remedial coursework quickly and successfully.

This brief reports on factors that negatively impact the effectiveness of developmental education programs, such as insufficiently targeted placement assessments and extended developmental course sequences that leave students discouraged. The authors describe three program designs that show potential for improving developmental services.

The open admissions policy of community colleges means that there is a wide range of students who arrive prepared and unprepared and for different intentions. Based on interviews with developmental education instructors, this report examines the conception these instructors have of their students and their awareness of the factors that impact students’ academic performance. Given students’ heterogeneity and range of readiness, the authors identify five different kinds of developmental education students and offer recommendations to institutions for more differentiated services to address the varied needs of these students.

This brief report profiles a young adult returning to school through the support of a Back on Track program, “X-Cel,” aimed at getting disconnected youth on a path toward postsecondary success. Focusing on the journey of this one individual, the report describes how X-Cel provides one-to-one support to low-income, young adults to help them successfully complete high school and navigate the obstacles of college.

Cabrillo College’s Digital Bridge Academy (DBA) is a curriculum-integrated student support program that provides at-risk students with a two-week intensive skills course followed by a full semester’s coursework with linked services. This report examines the impact of the program on student persistence and success. Two models of the program were examined: the accelerated model included a college-credit English course, while the non-accelerated included a developmental English course. Using comparative analysis, researchers found that DBA students, regardless of the version of the program they were in, earned more college credits overall and had higher one-semester persistence rates than comparison students. The program did not show an impact on two-semester persistence or transfer credits.

Students forced to complete a long sequence of remedial or English language classes before they can begin their postsecondary program are less likely to earn college certificates or degrees. This brief highlights six promising programs that show how career pathway bridges help lower-skilled students move farther and faster along college and career paths through programs that link basic skills and occupational certificate courses. The author explains two career pathway bridges models — the paired course approach and the integrated course approach — and describes how six colleges implement either approach to meet the particular needs of lower-skilled adults.

The more developmental courses students must take, the less likely they are to earn a degree or credential. This paper examines how developmental summer bridge programs, designed to provide recent high school graduates with remedial instruction in reading, writing, or math, along with an introduction to college, may support students in their transition from high school to college. Researchers study the effectiveness of a developmental summer bridge program model implemented at eight Texas colleges and describe students’ progression through developmental education, student success in college-level courses, and persistence into the second year of college. Among the early findings, the evidence suggests that summer bridge program students had improved success rates in entry-level college courses in math and writing.

This report examines the implementation of Florida’s developmental education policies at three community colleges with high success rates among developmental education students. These colleges exhibit the same characteristics as those identified by the research literature on high-performing colleges: committed leadership, innovative instruction, proactive student support, regular use of data, and professional development. The authors discuss Florida’s statewide mandates in developmental education on issues of assessment and placement, literacy and math competencies, funding formulas, and accountability, and suggest how other states can learn from their policies.

Postsecondary institutions are faced with the tremendous challenge of how to improve student persistence. Open access institutions, which serve greater proportions of high-risk students, see even lower rates of retention and graduation than do selective institutions. Based on a study of four for-profit schools in Texas that had high graduation rates and low student loan default rates, this report describes what those institutions did to achieve such positive outcomes, particularly for these high-risk students. This study finds that among these institutions, a combination of key institutional practices aimed at retaining and graduating students along with establishment of a culture that emphasizes completion and job placement contributed to these schools’ abilities to support postsecondary student success.

Far too many community college students, especially developmental education students, are at risk of failing, and thus at greater risk of not earning a living wage or advancing through job opportunities. This policy brief examines the challenges of developmental education and the efforts that states can pursue to increase the success of students enrolled in remedial courses, leading to improved rates of transition to credit-bearing courses. The authors recommend that state policymakers consider policy changes affecting data systems, assessment and placement, concurrent developmental and college-level course taking, financial aid eligibility, support services, and funding for new models of delivery. These recommendations are discussed along with brief examples of what a few states have done to increase student transition out of developmental education.

This PowerPoint presentation from the American Youth Policy Forum on Increasing Postsecondary Success highlights the FastStart and College Connection accelerated programs, briefly describing key program components, student profiles, and course completion rates. The FastStart model compresses two to four semesters of developmental math or English courses into a single semester in a program that includes wrap-around services for students, while College Connection’s intensive eight-week or one-semester bridge program provides academic, emotional, and logistical support services to recent high school graduates and GED recipients.

The CCRC Assessment of Evidence Series consists of working papers that provide evidence-based recommendations in eight major topics impacting college completion. This introduction provides a brief explanation of findings within each topic as well as an exploration of how four aspects of organizational redesign—simplifying bureaucracies, engaging faculty, curriculum alignment, and data use—serve as unifying themes for the series.

Community college completion and transfer rates are startlingly low, and students need for colleges to make learning, especially at the remedial level, meaningful to help students engage and persist. This preliminary report examines the impact of learning communities on students enrolled in developmental education English courses at two community colleges. The authors describe the implementation of learning community programs at these two campuses and their related outcomes — which were found to be inconsistent — in pass rates, credits earned, and enrollment post program. An additional report is anticipated, synthesizing the findings and lessons across six community colleges to better understand the potential impact of learning communities on student progress.

Low-income, college-ready students are often at a disadvantage when it comes to selecting the best colleges to apply to as they may be lacking information, resources, and support to guide them through the process. This brief reviews the common challenges students face in the college selection process, such as late planning, limited school and financial aid information, and limited support, and provides guidance on how practitioners can better support students through the process.

This memo is sixth in a series of eight responding to questions regarding student service delivery methods and structures.

Memo 6 responds to the request: Identify successful models where academic and student affairs are integrated.

This memo is eighth in a series of eight memos responding to questions regarding student service delivery methods and structures.

 Memo 8 addresses the question: How could technology be used to provide quality support services to students?

In the United States, nearly 7 million young adults (ages 16 to 24) are disconnected from education and/or the work force, but this disconnection can be remedied. More commonly referred to as disconnected youth, this report redefines them as “opportunity youth,” noting their high level of optimism and aspiration for returning to education/work. The authors explore the characteristics of opportunity youth, identifying the challenges they face, and provide targeted policy recommendations to better support them in returning to an educational or career path. The report also provides case studies of successful programs and individuals.

The nation has gaping economic needs that with training and education, could be filled by disconnected youth returning to school. This report offers a model based on successes in creating aligned pathways between community-based organizations, school districts, and postsecondary institutions targeted at putting off-track high school students and returning dropouts back on track through their first year of college. The Back on Track model features enriched and accelerated academic preparation, postsecondary bridging, and first-year supports. The authors present examples of current partnerships that work together to create this bridge, as well as policies to support the scaling up of this model

The Student Support Partnership Integrating Resource and Education (SSPIRE) initiative requires participating schools to develop linked student support programs, use data to refine and improve efforts, and identify ways to sustain the programs. This report describes the efforts of nine California community colleges to implement four integrated services—learning communities, “drop-in” study center, summer math program, and case management programs. The authors present lessons learned from these “well-implemented” programs.

Currently, basic skills students must spend additional time and money taking remediation courses. This is the key reason, according to research, for why these students don’t graduate or transfer. This brief suggests key principles for policymakers concerning resource adequacy, transparency, and acceleration. Additionally, the author briefly describes strategies institutions can use in redesigning instructional systems and support services to better support students in need of basic skills.

As part of Achieving the Dream, the Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) asks participating schools to expand on their efforts in instituting reforms that reduce or eliminate students’ need for developmental coursework. This report explores what strategies participating schools have undertaken (institutional policy, student support, classroom instruction, or precollege interventions) and the challenges involved, including issues of staffing, communication, and resource acquisition and allocation.

Using data on 35,000 first-time students in Florida community colleges, this research brief explores the factors impacting academic outcomes of traditional and older students. The authors specifically focus on student outcomes from enrollment in developmental course pathways and earned-credit milestones (i.e., completing 20 credits or 50% of a program). Findings suggest that students of different age groups are impacted differently by enrollment pathways and credits earned, and the authors note ways support services can take these differences into account.

Letter from WestEd's Office of Research Integrity, granting permission to proceed with Student Focus Groups without further IRB review.

Archive of WestEd/Public Agenda's Student Focus Group Training Webinar: January 10, 2012.

Community colleges are interested in providing support for students that improves student success, leading to increased completion rates. This report uses data from the Virginia Community College System to examine whether early enrollment in a student success course has positive academic outcomes for students, especially those in developmental education. The study finds that among all students, those who enroll in a student success course are more likely to earn college-level credits in their first year and persist to the second year, but also that students referred to developmental education are more likely to earn college-level credits within the first year if enrolled in a student success course.

As colleges invest tremendous efforts into reforming higher education and improving the student success rate, there are few opportunities to hear from those most directly impacted — the students. Based on student focus group data from 161 current and former (i.e., completed or dropped out) community college students in four states, this report presents student viewpoints on the relationship between their education goals and their college experience. A discussion of the five themes that emerged, including stories and recommendations of the students, is offered as useful information to stakeholders engaged in the process of student-centered reform.

Researchers interviewed men of color from four community college campuses to examine the interplay of racial and ethnic identity, motivations for attending college and persisting to completion, and engagement with the campus community. Recommendations include the need for mandatory academic counseling and informative financial aid workshops for students.

This Practice Guide identifies institutional barriers to student success and offers colleges four high-leverage strategies for developing career and college pathways to better prepare low-skilled students for more advanced studies or family-supporting careers. The guide describes specific practices Breaking Through colleges have used in implementing each strategy, as well as vignettes illustrating how selected colleges created their programs.

More than half of all community college students are referred to developmental education courses, and yet most of these students never complete their remedial course sequence or leave school before earning their degree or certificate. Using data from six community colleges, this study examines the short-term effects of learning communities for developmental education students. Overall, the study finds that learning communities had a small, positive effect on progress in the targeted subject (English or math) and on total credits earned, but no impact on credits outside of the targeted subject, and no impact on persistence in college. 

In an effort to reform education, schools often reinvent the wheel or modify available programs to accommodate school needs. This report examines how eight schools implemented the AVID program model with strict fidelity and describes the schoolwide impact of AVID across the schools. The authors recommend additional program features and present individual school profiles describing each school’s AVID program, including its program history, operations, schoolwide impact, and student outcomes.

This report offers a summary of Texas’s Colloquium on State Policy Support for Developmental Education Innovation, which focused on the practices and policy supports needed for successful reform of developmental education programs. In addition to encouraging the implementation of proven strategies such as learning communities and enhanced student support services, the discussion focused on the need for systematic data use, focused professional development, and improved alignment of adult basic education.

In 2004, 26 colleges began working with the Achieving the Dream initiative to improve their use of student performance data to shape the services they provide to students and raise achievement levels. This report examines the progress of these “First Round” schools over the first five years of the initiative, including leadership and staff engagement, data systems and programs implemented, and student outcomes.

This essay, meant to guide the Hewlett Foundation’s efforts in education reform, highlights the benefits of community colleges as institutions over discrete community-based programs for providing disconnected youth with support and job training, particularly focusing on the potential of bridge programs. The author also discusses areas of institutional improvement (developmental education, financial aid, etc.), the relative low priority of equality and reform agendas, other policy areas that can complement education in addressing issues of inequality, and specific problems within California’s education system.

Research on college completion seldom includes controls to examine the effect of various institutional policies on student completion rates or how policies’ effectiveness change over time. In this study, researchers used longitudinal transcript data to examine the relationship between institutions and graduation probability. They then ranked similar community colleges on their success in graduating minority students and held interviews with personnel from six schools (three high-impact and three low-impact colleges) to determine which policies contribute to the schools’ completion rates.

This report uses data from the longitudinal National Study of Student Support Services to identify five successful student support programs. The author builds case studies of these programs, examining the commonalities among them to identify best practices to provide support to students and the observable effects on student outcomes. Among the five major areas of commonality, the author notes strong academic support offered during freshman year.

Students arrive at community colleges with college-ready status determined by a placement test; however, many of these students, along with their peers in developmental education, are still not completing college successfully. Perhaps, then, college readiness support should not focus only on academics. Based on interview data from a previous study, this paper addresses the non-academic expectations of community college students and the unspoken role they are expected to exhibit to successfully navigate and complete their academic programs. The authors provide a description of the community college student role and the specific components of the role. Aiming for transparency for students, the authors offer student strategies within each component for playing out the new role.