Presentation Template 1

Promising Early Effects of a multifaceted Program to Boost Graduation Rates for at-risk StudentsDREAM 2013Anaheim, CaliforniaFebruary 6, 2013

Sue Scrivener, MDRC Daniela Boykin, City University of New YorkRichard Rivera, Kingsborough Community College#1Session OutlineContext and importance of Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP)ASAPs history, goals, and modelASAP at Kingsborough Community CollegeEarly effects for studentsWhats nextQ & A#2ContextOnly about 1/3 of community college students get a certificate or degree within 5 yearsRecent unprecedented national focus on the importance of increasing graduation rates for community college studentsMany reforms have been tried

#3Past MDRC ResearchStudied several reforms, including enhanced academic advising, student success courses, learning communities, performance-based scholarshipsIn general, programs can improve academic outcomes, but effects typically modest and short-livedCollege completion rates remain stubbornly low and field still seeking reforms that can substantially help students

#4Why Look at ASAP?The City University of New Yorks (CUNYs) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) is multi-faceted and long-lastingBrings together many promising reformsProvides services for three yearsOne of the most ambitious efforts in the country to boost graduation rates for at-risk community college students#5CUNY ASAP:Who We Are#CUNY Community College Students

Source: CUNY Office of Institutional Research 2011#Close to 80% require some for of remediation

Only 66% re-enroll after a year

And only 13% graduate in 3 years

Clearly theres a gap and theres work to do and University leadership is committed to making a dent.

As the Chancellor tells this story himselfhe came up with the idea for ASAP pacing around his living room floorcontemplating the challenges of why students arent graduating.

7Address barriers and streamline student experienceStudents are poorly preparedEducation is often competing for their timeColleges are large with many departments, majors and procedures Minimize students uncertainty to increase engagement. Chancellor Mathew Goldstein

#He came up with the idea to isolate key barriers students face and develop programming to address them and streamline the student experience .

We know that many students arrive poorly prepared; they may have weak study habits and few experienced family members and friends to whom they can turn for counsel. In addition, their education is often competing for their time against their very real need to earn a livingto pay bills and support a family.

We know entering college can be confusing. Incoming community-college students find themselves in large, complex institutions with numerous departments and majors and multilayered procedures for financial aid, registration, and advising.

CUNY is committed to as our Chancellor describes minimizing student uncertainty to increase engagement. 8ASAP HistoryGoal: At least 50% of students will complete an Associates degree within three years

2007: CUNY funded by Mayors Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) at $6.5 million annual budget for three years

ASAP launched 1,132 fully skills proficient students* across six CUNY community colleges*28% of fall 2007 ASAP students had some developmental needs when recruited and addressed over summer.

#So he set out to develop a program that would provide comprehensive support services to students and enlisted the support of Mayor Bloomberg, in partnership with the New York City Center for Economic Opportunity.

The Center looks to target initiatives that impact young adults, the working poor, and families with young children, as recommended by the Mayor's poverty commission. These programs aim to help people break the cycle of poverty through education, employment, and health-based strategies.

Since ASAPs beginning, our goal has been to graduate at least 50% of our students within three years or less. At the time the national graduation rates for urban community colleges was 16% in 3 years.

We recruited our first cohort of students in 2007. Just over 1,100 students who were proficient at time of entry although 28% had developmental need when recruited the semester before and addressed those needs over the summer.

9ASAP HistoryFall 2009: ASAP begins to admit students with developmental needs

Spring 2010: ASAP exceeds 3-year graduation goal with fall 2007 cohortASAP funding now a permanent allocation to CUNY

Fall 2011: Fall 2009 cohort 2-year graduation rate four times higher than comparison groupCUNY Chancellor announces plans to expand ASAP

#Based on the 2-year success of our 1st cohort, we modified our criteria and began to admit students no more than 2 developmental course needs in 2009.

In 2010, we exceed this goal with our 1st cohort graduating 55% of our 1st cohort w/in 3 years and ASAPs funding was made a permanent allocation to the University.

We saw 2-year success with our 2nd cohort of students that had developmental needs and the chancellor announced the Universities commitment to expand the program to serve more students at all 6 colleges.10ASAP TodayRecruited 1,500+ new students in fall 2012

Serve 2,200+ students

Expanding to 4,000+ students by fall 2014

of first-time full-time degree seeking students#11Play Video here#ASAP Design PrinciplesRequired full-time study Limited number of majorsSample Majors: Liberal Arts, Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Accounting, Human Services, Early Childhood Education Consolidated class schedule Cohort design by major Winter and summer course takingDedicated full-time staff at each collegeRigorous evaluation and use data

#ASAP Resources and ServicesASAP Financial Resources: Tuition waiversFree use of textbooks Monthly MTA MetroCards

ASAP Services:Case management advisementAcademic support servicesFaculty engagementASAP SeminarCareer development servicesSpecial programs

#ASAP Structure#ASAP is at 6 of CUNYs community colleges and is administered through a coordinated effort between the ASAP central office and each college program.

Central Office is housed in CUNYs office of Academic Affairs and under the Senior University Dean of Academic Affairs and ASAP at the colleges is housed in Academic Affairs and College Directors report to the VP of Academic Affairs.

Central Office is charged with ensuring program is meeting students needs through development of policies and programming and ongoing assessment and evaluation and are in regular contact with directors.

This structure allow ASAP to benefit from leveraging relationships across the University as well as at the individual colleges.

With that Ill stop there and turn things over to Lesley to share more about our programming from the college perspective.15ASAP at Kingsborough Community College#KBCC Profile70 acre campus located in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn

Founded in 1963; only community college in Brooklyn

Serves over 30,000 students in credit and non-credit courses

Offers 2-year Degrees: Associate in Arts (A.A.), Science (A.S.) and specialized careers (A.A.S.)

Offers nearly 700 courses in 30+ majors

#17ASAP College Staffing StructureUnder Provost:College Director6 Advisors (1:100)Career Employment SpecialistAdministrative AssistantsSupplemental Instructors & Tutors

#18What Makes ASAP EffectiveSupport students by: Removing financial barriers to full time studyOrganizing classes in block schedules (morning, afternoon and evening blocks) to accommodate work &/or other commitments Assigning them to an advisor to help address many of the stresses that deter students from receiving degreesDeveloping a connection to the college and building communityAccessing comprehensive and relevant support services

#The 4 main components to our approach to working with students are

1. Remove financial barriers to full-time study

2. We want to see students gain and maintain academic momentum. We support them by providing a structured pathway with clear expectationsthe most important being they must immediately and continuously enroll in remedial courses with the goal of all students being proficient by the end of their second semester.

3. We want to ensure students develop a connection to the college. BY building relationships and encouraging them to get to know their peers, ASAP staff and faculty

4. And through these relationships, they will become comfortable and more likely to seek out relevant supports w/in ASAP and at the college.

19Admissions Criteria Must be a New York City resident

Agree to study full-time in an ASAP

Continuing students must have less than 15 credits and a GPA of 2.0 or above

Be fully skills proficient or have no more than two developmental course needs

Receive some need-based financial aid (PELL and/or TAP)

#Study -To be eligible for ASAP students mustNeed developmentIncome/PELL

20ASAP Program ComponentsFinancial Incentives:

Tuition waivers (PELL/TAP recipients)

Free use of textbooks

Unlimited monthly MTA MetroCards

#21ASAP Program ComponentsASAP Services: Intensive Academic AdvisementBlocked CoursesPriority RegistrationSupplemental Instruction & TutoringCareer Development ServicesLeadership DevelopmentLaptop Loaner Program Academic & Cultural OpportunitiesHonors ProgramTravel Abroad Program

#22The Recruitment ProcessRecruitment begins in the Spring Semester & runs through AugustASAP students & staff present to continuing students in classes during Spring SemesterWork with Testing & Freshmen Services to screen academically eligible studentsAcademically eligible students must then provide FA confirmationStudents meet with ASAP Staff to review requirements & expectations Students with developmental needs are encouraged to attend summer immersion

#College exploration, application and transfer workshops / individual counseling

Workshops on resume writing and interviewing skills

Scholarship and internship opportunities

23Building A CommunityStudents with a developmental need are strong encouraged to attend summer immersion classesStudents (parents invited too) are required to attend a Summer Orientation MeetingStudents are required to attend a two day summer orientation (1st Day ASAP focused & 2nd Day Campus Fest)

#24

Developmental Policies

Students w/ more than 1 developmental need are required to enroll in Summer Immersion

All students are expected to take developmental courses immediately & continuously

Students take a mix of blocked remedial courses and workshops

Tutoring is required for students w/ developmental needs

#25Supportive CommunityASAP Seminar and workshopsCareer Employment SpecialistsAdditional campus supportsAdvisement

#26ASAP Advisement Dedicated full-time staff with a 1:120 caseloadWork with advisor through graduationContacts builds relationships and student comfort number of contacts per semester are determined based on needs of students Assess and address academic and personal needsFollow-up with faculty about attendance and progress via mid term progress reports

#Study ratio was 1:6027MDRCs ASAP Evaluation#The EvaluationMDRC is studying the implementation of ASAP and its impacts on students academic outcomesStudy is taking place at three of CUNYs six community colleges: Kingsborough, Borough of Manhattan, and LaGuardiaStudy began in 2009 and will continue through 2014#29Random Assignment Research Design#30Students in the StudyLow-income students who needed one or two developmental courses and were willing to attend school full timeAbout 900 students randomly assigned in 2010Almost 2/3 womenMost relatively youngRacially diverse

#31Early impacts are very promising

#32Increased Full-Time Enrollment in First Semester*p .10 ***p .012.5*10.6***#33Increased Average Credits Earned in First SemesterProgram groupControl groupDifferenceTotal credits earned College-level Developmental11.48.52.99.37.61.72.1***0.9***1.1***#34Helped Students Complete Developmental Courses in First Semester14.7******p .0146.631.9#35Increased Enrollment in Second Semester9.8***20.6******p .01#36Comparing Impacts on Credits Earned in First Semester Across Studies#37Conclusions and Whats NextEarly findings very promisingToo early to speculate about longer-term outcomes like graduationFuture reports will present two- and three-year impacts, including graduation rates, and full implementation story#38

Source: CUNY Office of Institutional Assessment and ASAP Colleges#39ASAP ExpansionCore program elements recommended for consideration across CUNY to improve retention, movement through developmental education, and graduation.structured degree pathwaysimmediate and continuous developmental course takingmandatory advisementincentives for full-time study Expansion over next 3 years; expected enrollment of 4,000+ students by 2014Expansion planning efforts supported by CEOCentral & college planning teams developed plans Launched a citywide outreach & marketing campaign Additional funding to be raised by CUNY Academic Affairs

#Sue Scrivenersue.scrivener@mdrc.orgDaniela Boykin daniela.boykin@mail.cuny.edu Richard Riverarichard.rivera@kbcc.cuny.eduContact Information#41