Assessing Developmental Assessment in Community Colleges

Placement exams are high-stakes assessments that determine many students' college trajectories. The majority of community colleges use placement exams—most often the ACCUPLACER, developed by the College Board, or the COMPASS, developed by ACT, Inc.—to sort students into college-level or developmental education courses in math, reading, and sometimes writing. More than half of entering students at community colleges are placed into developmental education in at least one subject as a result. But the evidence on the predictive validity of these tests is not as strong as many might assume, given the stakes involved—and recent research fails to find evidence that the resulting placements into remediation improve student outcomes. While this has spurred debate about the content and delivery of remedial coursework, it is possible that the assessment process itself may be broken; the debate about remediation policy is incomplete without a fuller understanding of the role of assessment. This Brief examines the role of developmental assessment, the validity of the most common assessments currently in use, and emerging directions in assessment policy and practice. Alternative methods of assessment—particularly those involving multiple measures of student preparedness—seem to have the potential to improve student outcomes, but more research is needed to determine what type of change in assessment and placement policy might improve persistence and graduation rates. The Brief concludes with a discussion of implications for policy and research

Trends in Key Performance Indicators Among Colleges Participating in a Technology-Mediated Advising Reform Initiative

In 2015, 26 two- and four-year institutions received three-year grants to implement reforms consistent with the Integrated Planning and Advising for Student Success (iPASS) initiative. Grantees committed to launching or enhancing existing technologies and undertake related organizational changes that would enable them to provide more effective advising and support to all students. CCRC was engaged as a research partner to document the iPASS colleges’ implementation efforts and outcomes. CCRC analyzed key performance indicators (KPIs)—including student retention from the first to the second semester and first-term grade point average—using administrative data collected from all 26 participating institutions. This report describes trends in KPIs, aggregated by college sector and cohort, in the participating colleges from 2011 to 2017—from the period before the initiative started until about two years after the grants were awarded. Because iPASS reforms cannot easily be isolated from other reforms the colleges were carrying out, it is difficult to directly associate the modest changes observed over time in KPIs. This report also includes college scores on an iPASS development index, a weighted measure CCRC researchers created to gain insights into the level of adoption of iPASS technologies and practices across the 26 grantee institutions as of fall 2017, when colleges provided answers to an institutional survey about their efforts. The authors find that while no institution had fully implemented iPASS, at most institutions, substantial progress was being made

Dual Enrollment Programs: Easing Transitions from High School to College

Research demonstrates clear economic benefits for students who continue education beyond high school (NCES, 2001). Yet the transition from high school to college is an unsuccessful one for many. Of those high school graduates who entered postsecondary education for the first time in the 1995-1996 school year, 37 percent had left two years later without having earned a degree or certificate. This slippage results from a variety of causes. Some students are unsure how to apply for college or how to pay for it; some are academically unprepared for higher education; some face a frustrating task of balancing school and work. As postsecondary education becomes increasingly necessary to gain access to most reasonably well-paid jobs, the sharp division between high schools and colleges becomes more problematic

KCTCS Enhancing Programs for IT Certification (EPIC)

As technology and the labor market continue to evolve, community colleges face the crucial challenge of preparing students for contemporary high-skill, high-wage jobs. In an effort to spur the development of new programs that effectively train students for today’s dynamic workforce, the U.S. Department of Labor gave a consortium of six Kentucky community colleges a four-year, $10 million grant in October 2014. The grant money supported Enhancing Programs for IT Certification (EPIC), an online, competency-based curriculum that expands access to computer and medical information technology credentialing programs. This report describes researchers’ qualitative analysis of EPIC and evaluates the program’s implementation and outcomes. The authors found that the program was implemented mostly as planned; by the end of the grant period, it had produced more courses and credentials than initially proposed. The report also recounts challenges researchers faced in evaluating the impact of EPIC on students, due in part to the small sample of students who took at least two program courses and the short time span of this work. Regarding course grades, the authors found that while EPIC students did not underperform in comparison to their peers, they were unable to draw any strong conclusions from their analyses. The report concludes with suggestions for the field of online competency-based education and posits questions for future research

Community College and High School Partnerships

This policy brief, prepared for the White House Summit on Community Colleges, reviews partnerships between community colleges and high schools that can help students succeed in college. These partnerships tend to focus support in the following areas: Enrollment in college – Colleges work with high schools on programs, such as dual enrollment, that help students view college matriculation as an option. College readiness at enrollment – Colleges and high schools work together to ensure students are prepared have both the academic and non-academic skills necessary to succeed in college. Persistence in college – Colleges and high schools work together on programs which can smooth students’ transition from high school to college, and diminish withdrawal rates in the first year. The policy brief describes the various college-high school partnership models, and concludes with a short discussion of policy and funding considerations

State Dual Enrollment Policies: Addressing Access and Quality

Policymakers and educators continue to seek options for helping high school students transition successfully into postsecondary education. This interest stems, in part, from evidence that American students are unprepared for college—nearly half of all postsecondary students need at least one remedial course upon entering college (NCES, 2002). A body of research demonstrates that postsecondary success is predicated on a clear understanding of the expectations in college as well as rigorous academic course work in high school (Venezia, Kirst, and Antonio, 2003; Adelman, 1999). This suggests that high schools and colleges should work together to ensure students’ high school experiences are related to college expectations

Institutionalization and Sustainability of the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program

This three-year study closely examined six ATE projects and four national centers. The analysis was specifically concerned with the ability of the ATE projects and centers to meet the program's goal of having a significant and permanent influence on the host colleges and on the system of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education (STEM) in general. Thus, the report discusses (1) the institutionalization of the projects and centers--the extent to which their activities are becoming incorporated into the normal, ongoing activities of the host community colleges; and (2) their sustainability--the extent to which the major activities of the ATE program continue after the NSF grant expires. The report concludes that the ATE program has an impressive record of accomplishment, particularly in the influence it has had on curriculum and professional development, and on bringing together community colleges, universities, high schools, businesses, and other groups in a unique initiative to improve the education of our nation's STEM technicians

The Landscape of Noncredit Workforce Education: State Policies and Community College Practices

Postsecondary noncredit education has become increasingly common in recent years, and at many community colleges, noncredit programs enroll more students than do credit programs (Bailey et al., 2003). Courses connected with workforce instruction and contract training account for much of this growth (Dougherty and Bakia, 1999), and such courses are noted for their important role in responding flexibly to shifting workforce demands. Still, the growth in community college noncredit workforce education raises questions about whether the colleges are keeping pace with student and industry needs, using resources efficiently, and providing adequate access to all students. The answers to these questions may challenge current state policies and college practices

Bridging College and Careers: Using Dual Enrollment to Enhance Career and Technical Education Pathways

The Concurrent Courses Initiative (CCI), funded by The James Irvine Foundation from 2008 until 2011, comprised eight secondary/postsecondary partnerships across California that offered dual enrollment programs with supplemental student supports. The goal of the CCI was to expand access to supportive, career-focused dual enrollment for students often underserved by such programs and underrepresented in higher education, with the expectation that participating students would prosper in college subsequently. We use longitudinal administrative data on individual students who participated in 2008–09 and 2009–10, compared with data on other students from their districts, to test for evidence of differences in outcomes. Relative to comparison students, CCI dual enrollees had similar GPAs but higher graduation rates in high school. CCI dual enrollees entered college at similar rates to the comparison group, but entered four-year institutions and persisted at higher rates. Notably, CCI dual enrollees accumulated more college credits than the comparison group, and this difference in credit accumulation grew over time. After two years in college, CCI dual enrollees had accumulated 20 percent more credits than their district peers. These are the results of the data pooled across the sites; we also report results for the individual sites, which vary

Dual Enrollment Students in Florida and New York City: Postsecondary Outcomes

This Brief summarizes a study conducted by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) that was designed to fill that research gap. Our investigation sought to assess the effectiveness of dual enrollment programs in promoting high school graduation and postsecondary achievement. We examined the influence of dual enrollment program participation on students in the State of Florida and in New York City, compared to students who did not participate, with a specific focus in both locations on CTE students. In Florida, we also considered all student participants. Our study provides evidence suggesting that dual enrollment is an effective strategy for encouraging postsecondary success for all students, including those in CTE programs