Achieving the Dream (AtD): HCC Student Success Initiative
Through its Lumina: Achieving the Dream work, HCC has expanded and enhanced its focus on student achievement and student success with college-wide and campus based leadership teams, focused on identifying and addressing gaps in student persistence and achievement, and on measuring overall institutional effectiveness as it relates to the five indicators for student success, provided by the Lumina Foundation.
College-wide efforts under this initiative identified four improvement opportunities in three major categories:
- curriculum and instruction;
- program evaluation; and
- improvement of learning services and practices; and response to student learning outcomes data findings for the following four priority issues:
PRIORITY ONE:
The number of HCC students experiencing successful transition from preparatory reading to college-credit courses is below the Florida Community College System average;
PRIORITY TWO:
Of HCC students enrolling in three historically difficult (barrier) courses, intermediate algebra (MAT 1033); Anatomy and Physiology I (BSC 1085); and Freshman Composition (ENC 1101) too few complete these courses with a grade of C or higher;
PRIORITY THREE:
HCC does not have system-wide procedures for assessing the effectiveness of all academic support services; and
PRIORITY FOUR:
The graduation and retention rate for HCC African-American and Hispanic student groups, particularly males, is below-average.
Achieving the Dream strategies are based on HCC’s analysis of institutional strengths, problem areas, and achievement gaps. AtD is in its third if four years focusing on improving developmental education. Our data revealed large numbers of students who require developmental courses and low rates of passing and retention in these courses. Other strategies that are being pursued by Achieving the Dream at HCC include the following:
- Improving student performance in barrier courses (BSC 1085; ENC 1101; MAT 1033) with supplemental instruction
- Aligning or expanding student success courses/success coaching college-wide
- Offering developmental Learning Communities college-wide
- Building an institutional culture of evidence
- Enhancing academic and student support services
- Using data more effectively to monitor student outcomes and improve college practices
- Engaging the college community in developing strategies and providing support for student success
In summer 2007, HCC was selected as an AtD college to participate in a national research study with MDRC. MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan social policy research organization with headquarters in New York City and a regional office in Oakland, California. The scope of the study focuses on the impact of Learning Communities on the academic success of developmental students. Students placing into Reading I or Reading II are linked with SLS 1501/College Success. Instructors work as pairs offering a variety of integrated assignments. Currently, Dale Mabry campus is running six linked sections, Ybor City campus, three sections and Brandon campus is scheduled to join the study in spring 2008 with one linked section. A total of 1000 students will participate in the study over three semesters.
When Students Succeed We Succeed
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