Pathways to Postsecondary Completion: How Are Philadelphia Students Faring?

Transcription

1 Pathways to Postsecondary Completion: How Are Philadelphia Students Faring? Context, Findings, and Recommendations: A Companion Presentation to the Original Report December 2011

2 Today s Agenda Context Findings/Data Issues Policy Directions Recommendations Discussion

3 Context

4 Mayor Nutter s Goals Reduce high school drop-out rate by 50% by 2015 or Increase high school graduation rate to 80% by 2015 Double college degree attainment from 18% to 36% by 2018

5 Data on the National Agenda Complete College America, Data Quality Campaign, CLIP, PPS, CPSP, Strive Foundations: Gates, Citi, Lumina Broad goals of the initiatives Alignment across K-12, postsecondary, workforce Using data to track progress, provide accountability, inform decision-making Common metrics/indicators Shift conversations from not only access but to completion and beyond Use of data to inform practice

6 Drilling Down: Data on the Local Agenda School District CRIS, Strategic Data Project, NSC Knight Reports Mayor s Office of Education Council for College and Career Success

7 Council for College and Career Success

8 CollegeReady Committee: Structure CollegeReady Three Work Teams: Data Postsecondary Readiness Strategies College Completion

9 Significance of this effort Solicited completed templates from over 30 colleges First effort of its kind for Philadelphia Ability to truly track Philadelphia students linked to all types of high schools, not just public

10 Purpose of the Pathways to Completion Data and Report Describe 2 and 4-year enrollment, academic preparation, persistence and completion trends among students across the colleges Inform the effort to improve and strengthen data collection across all the colleges that serve Philadelphia students Recommend policy directions for stakeholders in this work

11 Findings

12 Findings: 4 Domains 1 CONNECTION ENTRY PERSISTENCE COMPLETION

13 BMFG Loss-Momentum Framework

14 Major data issues and limitations Missing data did not allow for pipeline analysis Non-Philadelphia student data were not provided consistently, therefore comparisons could not very effectively be drawn Aggregate level data did not allow for analysis of individual level progress

15 Findings The number of college applications is rising faster than acceptance and enrollment figures. Getting through the first semester and the first year of college are not the only critical retention points for students; students may also be losing ground even after completing their second year. Academic challenges may explain only a portion of the loss of Philadelphia students from college. Many Philadelphia students are taking more than four years to complete college.

16 Findings 1 The number of college applications is rising faster than acceptance and enrollment figures Applications Acceptances Enrollments CCP Enrollments

17 1 Questions for Further Reflection: 1.What is driving the increase in applications: more students applying or more applications per students? 2.Why hasn t the increase in college applications led to a greater rise in acceptances and subsequent enrollments?

18 Findings 2 Getting through the first semester and the first year of college are not the only critical retention points for students; Students may be losing ground even after completing their second year. 3 Academic challenges may explain only a portion of the loss of Philadelphia students from college.

19 Findings 2 Post-2 nd year retention 3 GPA vs. Credits 1 st Semester Retention 1 Year Retention 2 Year Retention Minimum GPA Minimum credits 4-year graduation 6-year graduation

20 2 3 Questions for Further Reflection: 1.Are students leaving college versus simply not being on track to a four- or six-year graduation but still enrolled?

21 2 3 Questions for Further Reflection: 2. Can we make connections between why and when students fall off the pathway? How might strategies be targeted for students falling off track at different points on the college continuum?

22 2 3 Questions for Further Reflection: 3. What is driving the low percentage of students who are on track to ontime graduation after the second year? 4. What are the support strategies or institutional policy changes that can help students to pursue and stay on a four-year, or alternatively a six-year, track to graduation?

23 Findings 4 Many Philadelphia students are taking more than four years to complete college.

24 4 Questions for Further Reflection: 1.Impact on students of taking six years versus four years to graduate? 2.Institutional policies impacting students longer time to graduation and/or supporting students who take longer? 3.How do these numbers compare to the colleges overall graduation rates?

25 Policy Directions

26 Ultimate purpose (down the road): More research leading to a common agenda Priority: What are the top line 2 or 3 things that we can take on as a community to achieve the Mayor s college attainment goal? Role Alignment: How does the work of different stakeholders fit into these 2 or 3 things? Which stakeholders will be able to address which questions? Action Alignment: How can stakeholders communicate with one another effectively to track progress?

27 Priority: Zeroing in on Findings and Policy Directions Connection Entry Progress Completion Data Findings Student applications are rising faster than acceptances and enrollments. Developmental education course requirements are high for Philadelphia students entering college, especially at the community college. Getting through the first semester and the first year of college are not the only critical retention points for students; students may also being losing ground even after completing their second year. Academic challenges appear to explain only a portion of Philadelphia student drop off once in college. Among Philadelphia students completing college, many are taking more than four years to graduate. Policy Directions 1. Identify opportunities across K-12 and postsecondary partners for increasing not only Philadelphia student applications but also corresponding enrollments 2. Explore strategies at the K-12 and postsecondary levels to minimize the burden of developmental education as a barrier 3. Target persistence strategies to students dropping off after completing a second year 4. Consider and address nonacademic reasons for student loss 5. Design policies that help more students graduate within four years 6. Ensure that policies, particularly financial aid policies, support longer times to graduation when appropriate (e.g., longer degree programs, part-time students)

28 Recommendations for Future Data Collection Stress importance of complete data and compliance with the format Add additional variables Strengthen areas in which data were missing Collect additional years of data Collect student-level data Align metrics with those of Complete College America

29 THANK YOU TO ALL PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS! Cover image taken from Temple University Physician Scientist Training Program: