Posts published in October, 2010

Dual Enrollment Programs With High Quality

The National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP) announces the release of a new report, Promoting Quality: State Strategies for Overseeing Dual Enrollment Programs, which documents the strategies that six states employ to ensure that college courses offered to high school students are of the same high quality and rigor as courses offered to matriculated college students. The report also highlights the main approaches used by these states to encourage colleges and universities to align their dual enrollment programs with state and national quality standards.

Across the country, legislative and policy changes have led to rapid expansion of dual enrollment programs in recent years – providing high school students the opportunity to take college classes in order to simultaneously earn both high school and college credit.  This report will help states identify ways to ensure the quality of these courses, a necessary factor to achieving states’ goals to raise the rigor of the high school experience, increase access to college for students who are underrepresented in higher education, reduce the amount of remedial college coursework, and increase college completion rates.

While twenty-nine states have adopted quality standards for post-secondary providers of dual enrollment, few have developed systems to encourage and monitor colleges’ progress toward meeting those standards. Up until now, state policymakers have had limited information on practices in other states when designing or redesigning dual enrollment oversight systems.

“This report has proved invaluable in developing Indiana’s policy for reviewing dual credit programs,” remarked Catisha Coates, Special Projects Coordinator at the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.  “Learning from other states has saved us time and strengthened our approach,” added her colleague Ken Sauer, Senior Associate Commissioner for Research and Academic Affairs.

Case studies included in the report describe strategies utilized by state agencies in Florida, Illinois, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia.  These agencies employ seven main strategies for overseeing dual enrollment programs: program approval, periodic program reviews, student outcome analysis, regular collegial meetings, course approvals, review of district/college agreements, and annual reporting.

“Utah’s collaborative approach to developing quality concurrent enrollment programs is a model for other states to follow,” said Ted Ungricht, NACEP President and Director of Concurrent Enrollment at Utah Valley University.  “With NACEP’s quality standards as the roadmap, the state has created an environment where faculty, administrators, and curriculum experts from post-secondary institutions, school districts, and the state collaborate to create a seamless education system for students.”

“As we strive to enhance the college-level learning opportunities for secondary students in Kentucky, this publication is a valuable resource in learning from the experiences of other states,” said Nicole McDonald, System Director for Transfer and Retention at the Kentucky Community and Technical College System.

The research and writing of Promoting Quality: State Strategies for Overseeing Dual Enrollment Programs was conducted by NACEP’s Executive Secretary Adam I. Lowe and funded by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Oregon Department of Community Colleges and Workforce Development.   The full report can be found online at:
http://nacep.org/research-and-policy/promoting-quality

Study On College Drop Out Costs To States Has Flaws, But Good Start

A study by AIR uses exact dollar estimates for college drop out costs. The study uses the best data base available.  But as the AP story below indicates it uses only full time first year students as its base and ignores part time and transfer students. This understates the costs to states and society. But it is interesting and may help policymakers expand data bases in the future to better measure full costs.

College drop out can mean lost time, burdensome debt and an uncertain future for students. Now there’s an estimate of what it costs taxpayers. And it runs in the billions. States appropriated almost $6.2 billion for four-year colleges and universities between 2003 and 2008 to help pay for the education of students who did not return for year two, a report released Monday says. In addition, the federal government spent $1.5 billion and states spent $1.4 billion on grants for students who didn’t start their sophomore years, according to “Finishing the First Lap: The Cost of First-Year Student Attrition in America’s Four-Year Colleges and Universities.” The dollar figures, based on government data and gathered by the nonprofit American Institutes for Research, are meant to put an economic exclamation point on the argument that college completion rates need improvement. But the findings also could give ammunition to critics who say too many students are attending four-year schools — and that pushing them to finish wastes even more taxpayer money. The Obama administration, private foundations and others are driving a shift from focusing mostly on making college more accessible to getting more students through with a diploma or certificate. Mark Schneider, a vice president at the American Institutes for Research and former commissioner of the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, said the report’s goal is to spotlight the costs of losing students after year one, the most common exit door in college. “We’re all about college completion right now, and I agree 100 percent with the college completion agenda and we need a better-educated adult population and workforce,” Schneider said. The cost of educating students who drop out after one year account for between 2 to 8 percent of states’ total higher education appropriations, Schneider said. He said the report emphasizes state spending because states provide most higher education money and hold the most regulatory sway over institutions and can drive change. Ohio, for example, has moved toward using course and degree completion rates in determining how much money goes to its public colleges and universities instead of solely using enrollment figures. “We recognize an institution is not going to be perfect on graduation and completion rates,” said Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents. “But at the same time, we know they can do better than they’re doing. And if you place the financial rewards around completion, then you will motivate that.” The AIR report draws from Department of Education data, which Schneider concedes does not provide a full picture. The figures track whether new full-time students at 1,521 public and private colleges and universities return for year two at the same institution. It doesn’t include part-timers, transfers or students who come back later and graduate. The actual cost to taxpayers may run two to three times higher given those factors and others, including the societal cost of income lost during dropouts’ year in college, said Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor. And tying state appropriations to student performance could just cause colleges to lower their standards, he said. Robert Lerman, an American University economics professor who, like Vedder, questions promoting college for all, said the report fleshes out the reality of high dropout rates. But he said it could just as easily be used to argue that less-prepared, less-motivated students are better off not going to college. “Getting them to go a second year might waste even more money,” Lerman said. “Who knows?”

Measuring College Completion Is Complex and Controversial

College Graduation Rates: Behind the Numbers
The paper by the American Council on Education (ACE) provides a layperson’s guide to the most common databases used to calculate these rates, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. In addition, the report suggests several factors for policymakers to consider before using graduation rates from existing databases to assess institutional success. “The databases referenced in this report provide valuable information on graduation rates,” said Bryan Cook, director of ACE’s Center for Policy Analysis and co-author, with Natalie Pullaro, of the paper. “However, the disadvantages of each database highlight the need for caution in using them to measure the overall effectiveness of postsecondary education institutions.”

More Families Cannot Save To Pay For College

American families are scaling back plans to pay for their children’s college education as the stunted economic recovery continues to weigh on household budgets, according to a survey by Sallie Mae. The study found that the percentage of families who planned to make little or no contribution to tuition increased, while the percentage who expected to cover more than half of expenses decreased. In addition, the percentage of families who said the reason they are not socking away money for college is that they cannot afford it rose from 62% last year to 68% this year. Source:ECS

Community College Matriculation Is A One Shot Experience With Many Problems

Incoming community college students in California typically walk in cold—unprepared and unaware of the stakes—when taking tests that determine whether they can enroll in college-level courses.

            One student said about the assessment experience: “I thought it was one of those tests that you take just to see which kind of field they were going to recommend. And then I found out it places you in classes.”

            Another student reported: “The woman at the test center said, ‘It doesn’t matter how you place. It’s just to see where you are.’ Looking back, that’s not true. It’s really important.”

            Students who did not perform well on these assessments described being disappointed and frustrated when they learned they had to take remedial courses that did not count toward a certificate or degree.

            Community colleges have processes in place for orientation, counseling, assessment, and course placement. But students, by and large, viewed the practices as a “one-shot deal.” At their college, the students typically walked into a testing center, took a test, received a printout of their results, and registered for courses—usually on the same day. For many students, the process was over at that point. Many did not meet with a counselor to discuss their test results, course-taking options, or an educational plan.

            In general, students did nothing to prepare for the tests—they didn’t know how to. Some students were aware in advance that they would be taking an assessment when they enrolled in college, but very few were aware of the content. Afterwards, they said the tests were not connected to the academic work they had recently completed in high school.

            These findings are drawn from One Shot Deal, a two-year research study funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with additional support from the Walter S. Johnson Foundation. The study focused on students’ experiences with assessment and course placement practices used across California’s community colleges.

            “In the national debates about improving college readiness and increasing college completion, student voices have largely been absent,” said Kathy Reeves Bracco, senior research associate at WestEd and one of the report’s authors. “Our systems of K-12 education and postsecondary education are not connected and it’s students who pay the price by not being prepared for college.”

            Although every community college reported that it did outreach to high schools, students said that, when they were in high school, they thought they didn’t need to do anything extra to prepare for community college—that graduating from high school was sufficient preparation.

            One student said, “[In high school] they don’t tell you that the a-g requirements are required [to prepare for community college]. After you graduate from high school, you figure that out: ‘Oh, these classes they told me were options weren’t actually [just] options.’ ”

            Another said, “At my high school, they said junior college is at the bottom. I always thought junior college was for people who really didn’t care about school and weren’t going to do anything with their life.”

            The study also found substantial variance in community college assessment and placement policies statewide, as well as confusion among students about the policies at their colleges. Examples include:

• Local policies regarding the waiting periods for students to retake their assessments ranged from no waiting period (immediate retakes) to three years.
• Colleges varied in the “multiple measures” they used in addition to test scores to determine course placement, and many counselors did not know what these measures were or how they were used.
• Cut scores—the test scores acceptable for degree-level classes—varied across the state, indicating that there is no agreement about what college readiness is.
• Some colleges accepted placement scores from other colleges, while others did not.
• The levels of remedial or basic skills classes were different across the state.

            These findings must be framed by the acknowledgment that community colleges were operating under stringent budget conditions before the economic recession and have since lost staff and funding for matriculation services.

The report can be accessed at: http://WestEd.org/oneshotdeal.

8 Ways To Make Your Online Degree Count

8 Ways to Make Your Online Degree Count

Guest blogger: Carrie Oakely ( see contact information at the end of blog)

No matter how popular they are, it’s no secret that online degrees are considered inferior to their traditional counterparts. Society accords more importance to degrees earned from institutions with good reputations (read traditional institutions) and employers tend to hire people with degrees from regular colleges rather than those who’ve studied online. But for most people, online education is the only way to continue learning because it allows them to advance academically even as they keep working at their jobs. So the key to making the most of your online degree lies in knowing how to make it count with the people who matter – in most cases, your current or prospective employer.  And to do this, here’s what you need to do:

1. Choose a university that is well known and reputable in the world of education. When your employer recognizes the name of the school (in a positive way), the credibility of your degree is established.
2. Choose a course that is the best in the business – for example, if you want to earn an MBA, some online institutions offer better courses than others. So choose your college based on the degree you want to pursue.
3. Work on getting outstanding grades – no matter how good your university and degree are, you are taken seriously only if your GPA is above average.
4. Augment your education through additional means – some people choose to undergo certification if they’re in the fields of accounting, nursing and similar others that are bound by industry standards; certification gives them credibility and adds to the value of their degree. Others choose to improve their knowledge through material extraneous to their degree, like books or tutorials on the net. And yet others choose to practice their craft (like photography or cooking) in order to improve their skills and augment their classroom learning.
5. Experience speaks louder than degrees – if you have the opportunity to take up an internship, grab it with both hands. When you have relevant work experience to back up your degree, employers cannot afford to dismiss you offhand.
6. First impressions matter – most employers meet you first through your resume, and unless it impresses them, you’re going to be among the thousands on the reject pile. So work on writing a great resume, one that tells employers enough about you to make them want to know much more. Never lie or exaggerate in your resume – just state the facts in an organized manner, and include only relevant information rather than writing your life story in those few pages.
7. Work on your communication skills – most employers avoid online students because they tend to lack the interpersonal and communication skills needed to excel at the job. But if you’re an eloquent speaker and an avid listener, it’s easy to sell yourself at the interview stage. So work on presenting yourself in the best light possible and on communicating effectively and clearly.
8. Prove yourself on the job – when you work hard and handle responsibility well on the job, it says a lot about your character and ability. This comes in handy when you’re up for a promotion or looking for a change in jobs – your employers tend to disregard the fact that you earned your degree online and focus on the fact that you’re an asset to any organization.

Online education is perceived as a scam simply because too many people have abused it and used it to make a fast buck. However, with more reputable institutions (like MIT) jumping on to the online degree bandwagon, these courses are gaining not just in popularity, but also in respect. So before you go in for an online degree, establish how you can make it count so that your efforts and money are not wasted.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Carrie Oakley, who writes on the topic of online colleges . Carrie welcomes your comments at her email id: carrie.oakley1983(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

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Community Colleges Have High Public Approval In New Poll

  I am a consultant to AP for this poll, and there is more data on higher education to come out in the future. Many people were surprised that community colleges had such high approval rankings. The AP story is in the heading and the poll questions in the clip provided by ECS.

AP Poll: Americans Support Community Colleges
The vast majority of Americans feel it is better for some students to go to community college instead of a four-year school, according to a new poll by The Associated Press and Stanford University. Respondents rated community colleges as excellent or good at nearly the same rate as four-year schools. Seventy-one percent said it’s sometimes better for students to pursue a diploma or certificate from a two-year school than aim to enter a four-year college. (Associated Press, 10/05/10)

ACT Surpasses SAT In Number Of Test Takers

  A major reason for this trend is casued by 8 states requiring all their high school students to take ACT as part of the state assessment program for k-12. But this article from the Sacramento Bee explores other causes for college entrance.

For years, most students turned to the SAT as the college admission test of choice.

Now, besides deciding when and where to take the all-important test, students are debating whether to take the SAT or ACT, or both.

The ACT officially caught up with the SAT in popularity nationwide for the class of 2010 test takers, although California students still prefer the SAT 2 to 1.

With several major differences between the tests, parents and students are researching which one will produce the best results.

Every college that requires a college admissions test accepts the SAT or ACT.

“It used to be that you just took the SAT,” said Desiree Pierson, whose son Chase is a senior at the small School of Engineering and Sciences in the Pocket. “Now, you have a choice and colleges look at those, so we parents are looking at those to see which would work best for our kids.”

Pierson said she is considering academic strengths and weaknesses in deciding with her son which test is right for him. Chase Pierson is a good writer, but math isn’t his strong point, she said.

“We haven’t made a decision,” she said. “He’ll probably take both.”

Kristen Campbell, an executive director at Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, said that when counseling students on which test they should take, she goes over some of the major differences between the SAT and ACT. For example:

• The SAT penalizes for wrong answers by 1/4 point. The ACT does not.

• The essay is mandatory on the SAT and optional on the ACT. Some colleges do not require the essay.

• The SAT is longer, lasting 3 hours and 45 minutes. The ACT is 2:55 without the 30-minute essay exam.

• Campbell said the SAT has more math problems. The ACT has less math, but more of those questions are advanced.

• Scoring is very different between the tests. Until 2006, a perfect score on the SAT was 1,600, but an 800-point section was added, bringing it to 2,400.A perfect score on the ACT is 36.

Campbell said over the last three years, most of the students coming to Kaplan centers are opting to take both tests. That explains why the increased popularity of the ACT hasn’t cut the SAT’s growing numbers.

In the class of 2010, 1,568,835 students nationwide took the ACT, while 1,547,990 students took the SAT.

Twenty years ago, 817,000 students across the country took the ACT, while 1,093,833 took the SAT.

“We have been doing what we can to inform students and counselors about the ACT and the benefits it offers,” said ACT spokesman Ed Colby. “We would like to see more students taking the ACT in California.”

Response To Paying Colleges For Course Completion Rather Than Enrollment

I’ve talked to serveral CC instructors who believe the state should not be responsible for subsidizing a student who drops a class or fails. Solution? Charge the student the non- state subisidized course cost  amount of the class if s/he drops or fails. Easier said than done, I’m sure, but the students really need to be held accountable here, more so than the institution!

Katherine Horton, Santa Rosa , Ca.

My comment: This response shows how complex these finance issues are . Other responses claim that colleges will lower their standards for passing a course if state aid is based on course completion. The current system is not working, so we need to figure something out to increase college completion.

Gates To Invest $34.8 Million In Community College Reform

I just got this from Gay Clyburn at the Carnegie Foundation:

GATES FOUNDATION INVESTING IN COLLEGE COMPLETION
On the eve of the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday will announce a $34.8 million, five-year commitment to raise stagnant completion rates in the nation’s two-year public institutions.  Lagging completion rates in two-year colleges are seen as a major impediment to meeting the Obama administration’s goal of regaining the world lead in college degrees by 2020. Barely one student in five completes community college with an associate degree or certificate, according to federal data. An additional share of students successfully transfers to four-year institutions. The article is in The Washington Post.