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Effective use of institutional data has the potential to boost student success. |
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Too often, the data that colleges and universities report are never actually used to guide decisions. Only by systematically collecting and analyzing student-performance data can experts pinpoint where and why students drop out, devise ways to improve their performance and, ultimately, enhance their chances of success.
Learning outcomes | Data and student success
As the need for increasing college-attainment levels in the United States becomes increasingly clear, states and institutions are taking steps to collect, analyze, use and share student-performance data to guide their improvement efforts. Lumina Foundation Focus: Off the Charts highlights the trends-and trendsetters-in this vital area.
Also, Aimee Guidera, executive director of the Data Quality Campaign addresses the importance of this data in a Q & A.
Public policy |
Linking education, workforce data
States have made tremendous progress in recent years to develop statewide education longitudinal data systems, says Education and Workforce Data Connections: A Primer on States’ Status
, from the Data Quality Campaign. However linking education and workforce data is in its infancy. This policy brief provides an overview from the DQC 2009-10 Annual Survey of education/workforce connections.
Adult learners | Degree completion: large-scale efforts required
Lumina Foundation will provide up to $8 million in grants over the next four years to support large-scale efforts to increase degree completion among adults who have already earned some college credits.
More » Hear Lumina’s president and CEO, Jamie Merisotis, talk about the growing need to focus on adult learners to ensure the nation’s prosperity and vitality. Video »
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critical outcomes
lead to achievement
of the big goal. | |
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Preparation |
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Students are prepared academically, financially and socially for success in education beyond high school. |
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Success |
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Higher education attainment rates are improved significantly. |
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Productivity |
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Higher education productivity is increased to expand capacity and serve more students. |
Equity | Examining the ‘summer flood’
For a large group of high school graduates, admission to college is not the same as going to college. Programs that provide connections to caring adults and effective structures during the summer after graduation can help these students stay on track with their college goals, says
The Summer Flood: The Invisible Gap Among Low-Income Students, from Big Picture Learning.
Research | Study: High school guidance needs work
Are young people getting effective college help from high school guidance systems? The answer is “no” according to Can I Get a Little Advice Here?, from Public Agenda
. Part of the issue is the disproportionate student-to-counselor ratio in most states, but the report also suggests that degree programs can more thoroughly prepare counselors and that states can provide more professional development opportunities.
College readiness | College, work-readiness the norm
Aligning high school graduation requirements with the demands of college and the workplace has gone from isolated efforts among a few states to the “new norm,” contends Closing the Expectations Gap 2010
, from Achieve. The 50-state survey reports on progress in five reform areas: Standards, graduation requirements, P-20 data systems, assessments, and accountability.
Effective practices | College success for men of color
Terms of Engagement: Men of Color Discuss Their Experiences in Community College, from MDRC, offers insight for community colleges on how they can better meet the needs and challenges of their male students of color.
Engagement | How good is good enough?
Most first-year students feel welcome at college, yet some report they still lack essential information and supports for academic success. Benchmarking and Benchmarks: Effective Practice With Entering Students, from the
Center for Community College Student Engagement, provides six benchmarks to help colleges develop practices that promote student persistence and success.
Degree completion | Latinos & college success
The educational practices of institutions matter when it comes to raising Latino graduation rates, says Rising to the Challenge: Hispanic College Graduation Rates as a National Priority, from the American Enterprise Institute
. Incentives for institutional improvement and policies and programs specifically for Hispanic students are two recommendations that the report offers to improve college completion rates for Latinos.
Affordability | Economy worries students
College students worry about the economy and many question their ability to stay in school. Read
Survey of Young Americans’ Attitudes Toward Politics and Public Service: 17th Edition, from Harvard University Institute of Politics.
Accountability | Linking education, workforce outcomes
To better understand the current state of linkages between education and workforce outcomes, federal and state governments must establish stronger longitudinal data systems, provide colleges with better access to data, and start collecting comprehensive individual-level employment data, says Moving Success From the Shadows: Data Systems That Link Education and Workforce Outcomes, from the
American Association of Community Colleges.
Workforce development | The higher ed factor
More states are recognizing the connection between economic prosperity and higher education. A New Paradigm for Economic Development, from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government
, offers examples of what some states and their higher education systems are doing to collectively spur economic development.
Access | Open-access’ effect on graduation rates
The largest gains in graduation rates are occurring at open-access or nearly open-access colleges and universities, according to a policy alert from the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
. The research suggests that states could realize further improvement by directing policies and supports toward improving graduation rates at these nonselective institutions.
Affordability | New vision for U. of Calif.
Significant reductions in state support have given the University of California cause to consider a series of recommendations to save money, including the creation of a pathway for undergraduate students to complete degrees in three years.
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Alliance focuses on degree attainment
Seventeen states have joined an alliance to help improve college completion rates. Complete College America is funded by several national foundations, including Lumina Foundation. more »
MSIs and student success
Improving Student Success: What the Higher Education Community Can Learn from Minority-Serving Institutions takes place April 22, 2010, in Washington, DC. more »
Request for proposals
Lumina Foundation has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for its Adult Degree Completion program to support large-scale efforts to increase degree completion among adults who have earned some college credit.
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