Fall 2014 ENGL 1 Waiver Students By Daniel Javier Berumen, MPA

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1 OFFICE OF INSTITUTIONAL RESEARCH RESEARCH BRIEF 828 August 2015 Fall 2014 s By Daniel Javier Berumen, MPA Introduction ENGL 21A is a Basic Skills course that is two levels below the transfer level course. s on a traditional pathway enroll into ENGL 21B (English Fundamentals 2) or ENGL 22 (Writing Laboratory) after successfully completing ENGL 21A. However, based on faculty recommendation, some students who complete ENGL 21A are given a waiver that allows them to skip ENGL 21B/ENGL 22 and enroll directly into. The current research brief describes the preliminary findings of a study to identify if there have been significant changes to the success of Santa Monica College (SMC) students who enrolled directly into (Reading and Composition) after the completion of ENGL 21A (English Fundamentals 1). A report completed by the Office of Institutional Research (Research Brief #633) in the fall 2014 term, showed that students who received a waiver had higher enrollment and success rates than students who followed the traditional pathway. As a result, changes were implemented by the English department to increase the number of students who receive an waiver. This brief contains the enrollment and success data for students who completed ENGL 21A in the fall 2014 term, and were given a waiver to enroll in under the new guidelines. Data were obtained from the California Community College Chancellor s Office (CCCCO) Management Information System (MIS) database and SMC s internal MIS system. s The following section describes the percentage of students who successfully completed ENGL 21A in the fall 2014 term and received a waiver to enroll directly into (waiver rate). The comparison group in these tables is the count of students who received waivers during the fall terms. Table 1. s by Term Term Completed ENGL 21A Fall , % Fall , % Total 5,277 1, %

2 About 35% of students who successfully completed ENGL 21A in the fall 2014 term received a waiver to enroll in. This is an increase of 13.5% compared to the percentage of students who received a waiver during the fall terms. Gender Table 2. s by Gender. Female 2, % % +16.5% Male 1, % % +9.8% Total 4, % 1, % +13.5% Females continued to receive waivers at a higher rate (a difference of 12.1%) than male students after the changes in the waiver policy were enacted. Ethnicity* Table 3. s by Ethnicity/Race. Asian/PI % % 26.6% Black % % 4.8% Hispanic % % 11.9% Native American 4 * * 1 * * * White % % 6.8% 2 or more % % 15.8% Unknown % 10 * * * Total % % 13.5% *Percentages that include less than 10 students were excluded from the tables The data reveal that Asian/Pacific Islander students had the largest increase in their waiver rate at 26.6%. With the change in waiver policy, their waiver rates are almost identical to White students (51.1% and 51.8% respectively). While the changes in the waiver policy resulted in an increase in the waiver rate for Black and Hispanic students, they still received disproportionately fewer waivers than White and Asian students.

3 Age Group 19 and younger Table 4. s by Age Group. 3, % 1, % +13.5% 20 to % % +10.9% 25 to % % +22.6% 30 to % % +11.2% 40 to % 3 * * * 50 and up % 2 * * * Total* 4, % 1, % +13.5% *Total includes students with an unreported age Enrollment Status First Time First Time Transfer Returning Continuing Special Admit Table 5. s by Enrollment Status. 3, % 1, % +14.2% % % +4.6% % % +18.6% % % +10.9% 5 * * 4 * * * Total 4, % 1, % +13.5% The data reveal that students in the age group had the largest increase in waiver rates, with an increase of about 23%. In regards to enrollment status, returning students (which are students who return after an absence of one or more primary terms) had an 18.6% increase in their waiver rate.

4 ENGL 21A Grade Table 6. s by ENGL 21A Grade. A 1, % % +21.2% B 1, % % +15.9% C 1, % % +2.1% P 6 * * 3 * * * Total 4, % 1, % +13.5% s who earned an A in their ENGL 21A class had a 21.2% increase in their waiver rate. These students make up the majority of students who receive waivers. The following table contains the waiver rates for students who earned an A in the course by ethnicity. Ethnicity Table 7. s for s who earned an A in ENGL 21A Asian/PI % % +29.0% Black % % +17.5% Hispanic % % +22.4% Native American 1 * * 1 * * * White % % +6.8% 2 or more % % +14.3% Unknown % 5 * * * Total 1, % % +21.2% Of students who earned an A in ENGL 21A, Asian/PI students had the largest increase in their waiver rate, at 29%. As with the results in table 3, this group of students received waivers at a rate similar to White students (85.4% and 81.8% respectively). Black and Hispanic students who earned an A in ENGL 21A received waivers at disproportionately lower rates than Asian/PI and White students. The following section describes the course outcomes of selected students from the ENGL 21A cohort. The tables are divided by course entry method; those who enrolled in via waiver (direct enrollment) vs. those who enrolled in ENGL 21B or ENGL 22 prior to enrollment (traditional enrollment). The latter group includes 14 students who received a waiver to, but instead enrolled in ENGL 21B or ENGL 22 prior to their spring enrollment 1. 1 Research Brief 633 addresses the differences in success rates for this type of ENGL 21A student

5 In order to better evaluate the relationship between entry method and success, only the first attempt in was included in the analyses. Additionally, only students enrolled in by at least the spring term after their fall ENGL 21A enrollment are included. The following tables contain the grade point average () and success rates of students in their first course after completion of ENGL 21A. rates are calculated by taking the number of A, B, C and P grades and dividing that number by the total enrollment. is calculated by assigning a numerical value to A, B, C, D and F grades from four to zero, respectively. Table 8. Outcomes by Term. Term Fall % % Fall % % Fall 2014 direct enrollment students had a higher and a higher overall success rate in when compared to traditional enrollment students. The gap between the two is smaller than it was for the fall cohort. Additionally, the and success rates for the fall 2014 direct enrollment students are lower than the fall direct enrollment students. Completion While the previous section contained information about how well students performed in their first ENGL 1 course, the following tables look at the total number of students who completed. The following table contains the count of ENGL 21A students who successfully completed by the end of following spring term. This table includes students who may have repeated after attempting the course during the winter term. Cohort Table 9. Completion s by Terms fully fully Completed ENGL Completed ENGL 21A 1 by end of Spring Completion Fall , % Fall , % The fall 2014 cohort had an completion rate that was 13.1% higher than the previous three fall terms ( ).

6 Table 10. Average Number of Completers by Type of Enrollment Cohort Traditional Enrollment Direct Enrollment Total Fall (Average) Fall The number of completers increased in fall 2014 for students who took both the traditional and direct enrollment route, compared to the average number of completers for fall There were about 106 more direct enrollment completers in the fall 2014 term than the average for fall Summary The research brief reported on data for 1,236 students who successfully completed ENGL 21A during the fall 2014 term. Of these students, 431 (34.9%) received waivers which allowed them to enroll directly into rather than having to enroll in ENGL 21B or ENGL 22 beforehand. The waiver rate for fall 2014 ENGL 21A students was 13.5% higher than the waiver rate for the previous three fall terms. Approximately 52% of Asian/PI and White students received a waiver to enroll directly into. In comparison only 23.2% of Black students and 29.4% of Hispanic students received a waiver. s from the fall 2014 cohort who enrolled directly into had a higher and success rate in when compared to students who enrolled in either ENGL 21B or ENGL 22 first. s from the fall 2014 cohort who enrolled directly into had a lower and success rate than students who directly enrolled during the fall terms. The completion rate for the fall 2014 cohort of ENGL 21A students was almost double that of the fall cohort (30.5% and 17.4%, respectively).

7 Appendix A: Fall 2014 Cohort s and s 1. and by Gender Gender Female % % Male % % Total % % 2. and by Ethnicity Ethnicity Asian/PI % % Black % % Hispanic % % 2 or more % White % % Unknown Total % % 3. and by Age Group Age Group 19 and younger % % 20 to % % 25 to % % 30 to % % Total % %

8 4. and by Enrollment Status Enrollment Status First Time First Time Transfer Returning Continuing % % % % % % % % Special Admit % Total % %

9 Appendix B: Fall 2014 ENGL 20 s 1. Data Summary for Fall 2014 ENGL 20 Completers fully Completed ENGL to enroll in % Enrolled in (by Spring 2015) 64 Enrollment 81.0% (First Attempt) 64.1% (First Attempt) 2.50 Completed (by end of Spring 2015) 41 Completion 51.9%