NC State College Unique CharacteristicsNC State College Unique Characteristics

• Small city with some “urban issues”; outlying area is rural; co-located campus

• Low level of educational attainment in region

• Qualified for AtD consideration due to high % of student population being PELL eligible

• Self-financing our AtD work

Current Achieving the Dream work has two areas of focus:

• Developmental courses

• Gateway (or “gatekeeper”) courses

Why Developmental Education?

• REACH: A large number (66%) of NC State students need at least one of these courses

• TIMING: Most take these courses early

Developmental Education Impact on Student Persistence

SUCCESS = PERSISTENCE:

92% of NC State students who succeed in developmental courses go on to take more classes

Developmental Education Impact on Student Persistence

FAILURE = DEPARTURE:

47% of NC State students who do not succeed in developmental courses immediately leave the college.

Why Gateway Courses?• Courses must be passed in order to

move on in a major – “weeder” courses

• Typically taken early in academic career

• Persistence statistics virtually identical to developmental courses

How Will We Improve Student Success In These Courses?

1. Improve curriculum and instruction

2. Strengthen the college advising system

In NC State’s AtD Work Plan, virtually all action steps align with one of these two areas!

We’ve Worked In Stages

• Developmental course interventions implemented in 06-07

• Gateway course interventions implemented in 07-08

• Early results look positive in many areas but too early to draw conclusions!

AtD Long-Term Impact (How Will We Know This Is Working?)

• Tracking by AtD cohort

• Performance indicators: Developmental course completionGateway course completionCredit completionPersistenceCredential completion

AtD Long-Term Impact (How Will We Know This Is Working?)

• We’ve set measures for every performance indicator

• Long-Term Expectations:Success rates for indicators will steadily

increaseReduction and eventual elimination of

performance gaps for subgroups

Future AtD strategy possibilities:

• Maximizing financial aid as a retention tool• Collaborating with Adult Basic Literacy

Education partners to provide developmental education more efficiently

• Collaborating with secondary education partners to align college readiness expectations

• Offering a part-time continuing enrollment contract

Lessons Learned

• To avoid “Project Overload” we integrate our initiatives (AQIP, AtD, Perkins, strategic planning)

• Engage faculty early… and let them lead

• Student voices MUST be heard – and have the power to move us from “what?” to “why?”

Lessons Learned, continued

• Manageable number of interventions (3-5)

• Be clear on the results we expect -- and how, when and by whom they will be measured

• Learn from our mistakes, but celebrate progress!   

QUESTIONS?QUESTIONS?