Data Use In The Community College

"This volume speaks of the multiplicity of data required to tell the community college story. The authors explore and detail how various sources - workforce data, market data, state-level data, federal data, and, of course, institutional data such as transcript files - all have something to say about the life of a community college"--Back cover.

Education has fought long and hard to gain acceptance as a profession and, since professionals by definition use data to shape the decisions they make, education has little choice but to continue moving in this direction. This 3-part handbook represents a major contribution to the literature of education. It is a unique compendium of the most original work currently available on how, when and why evidence should be used to ground practice. It is a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary, research-based, and practice-based resource that all educators can turn to as a guide to data-based decision making. The Handbook of Data-Based Decision Making in Education is a must read for researchers who are just beginning to explore the scientifically based nature of educational practice. It is also appropriate for policy makers and practitioners who are confronted with young people who need to be in classrooms where "best practices" are the norm and not the exception.

Brad C. Phillips and Jordan E. Horowitz offer a research-based model and actionable approach for using data strategically at community colleges to increase completion rates as well as other metrics linked to student success. They draw from the fields of psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics to show how leaders and administrators can build good habits for engaging with data constructively. At the core of their approach is a strategic effort to help administrators and faculty identify leading indicators that they can affect and monitor before student failure occurs. The book also helps educators make better use of common sources of data, clarify problems to be solved, match research-based interventions to problems, and evaluate results. The authors incorporate strategies for college personnel to engage with data more effectively by integrating student stories into presentations and embedding these discussions into existing meetings and routines. Three case studies from Long Beach City College, Southwestern College, and Odessa College further illustrate how this approach was implemented as part of comprehensive reform efforts. Based on two decades of experience working with colleges across the country, Creating a Data-Informed Culture in Community Colleges promises to be a valuable contribution to the ongoing conversation about information use in education to improve student outcomes.

This volume provides practical ways colleges can focus on the College Completion Agenda. Originally begun as an economic workforce issue for the Obama administration, the College Completion Agenda has been adopted by myriad educational institutions, public and private funders, and others. The identified “Big Goal” is to increase the proportion of Americans with high quality college degrees and credentials from 39% of the population to 60% by 2025. To date, much advice has been offered to colleges about what the issues are and what needs to be done. However, there is considerable work being done at colleges around the country to address the identified issues. This volume introduces some of these policies and practices—the thinking behind them, research supporting them, roles to be fulfilled, and impact on the student experience This is the 164th volume of this Jossey-Bass higher education quarterly report series, an essential guide for presidents, vice presidents, deans, and other leaders in today's open-door institutions, this quarterly provides expert guidance in meeting the challenges of their distinctive and expanding educational mission.

Ultimately, the authors recommend that states create new ways of helping colleges with many at-risk students, define performance indicators and measures better tailored to institutional missions, and improve the capacity of colleges to engage in organizational learning.

PLANNING AND ASSESSMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION Demonstrating Institutional Effectiveness In this era of increasing pressure on higher education institutions for accountability, Planning and Assessment in Higher Education is an essential resource for college and university leaders and staff charged with the task of providing evidence of institutional effectiveness. Michael F. Middaugh, a noted expert in the field, shows how colleges and universities can successfully measure student learning and institutional effectiveness and use these results to create more efficient communications with both internal and external constituencies as well as promote institutional effectiveness to support student learning. "How can the assessment of institutional effectiveness be used to provide a solid foundation for planning? Middaugh has crafted a comprehensive, practical guide that also explains what accrediting agencies really want and need to know about these topics." Elizabeth H. Sibolski, executive vice president, Middle States Commission on Higher Education "Only Michael Middaugh, the unquestioned national leader in this field, could write such a lucid overview of how to make institutional assessment and planning really work as a tool rather than as a tedious requirement. He helped invent and shape the focus of national assessment rubrics and now offers his insights into how to make them work for your institution." John C. Cavanaugh, chancellor, Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education "Middaugh provides extremely helpful and practical guidance and insights on how colleges and universities can use assessment tools and frameworks to improve both academic programs and administrative operations. A valuable and timely book for all higher education leaders." James P. Honan, senior lecturer on education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Internal and external pressure continues to mount for college professionals to provide evidence of successful activities, programs, and services, which means that, going forward, nearly every campus professional will need to approach their work with a data-informed perspective.But you find yourself thinking “I am not a data person”.Yes, you are. Or can be with the help of Amelia Parnell.You Are a Data Person provides context for the levels at which you are currently comfortable using data, helps you identify both the areas where you should strengthen your knowledge and where you can use this knowledge in your particular university role.For example, the rising cost to deliver high-quality programs and services to students has pushed many institutions to reallocate resources to find efficiencies. Also, more institutions are intentionally connecting classroom and cocurricular learning experiences which, in some instances, requires an increased gathering of evidence that students have acquired certain skills and competencies. In addition to programs, services, and pedagogy, professionals are constantly monitoring the rates at which students are entering, remaining enrolled in, and leaving the institution, as those movements impact the institution’s financial position.From teaching professors to student affairs personnel and beyond, Parnell offers tangible examples of how professionals can make data contributions at their current and future knowledge level, and will even inspire readers to take the initiative to engage in data projects.The book includes a set of self-assessment questions and a companion set of action steps and available resources to help readers accept their identity as a data person. It also includes an annotated list of at least 20 indicators that any higher education professional can examine without sophisticated data analyses.

American community colleges represent a true success story. With their multiple missions, they have provided access and opportunity to millions of students. But community colleges are held accountable for their services and must be able to show that they are indeed serving their variety of students appropriately. This volume speaks of the multiplicity of data required to tell the community college story. The authors explore and detail how various sources—workforce data, market data, state-level data, federal data, and, of course, institutional data such as transcript files—all have something to say about the life of a community college. Much like an orchestral score, where the different parts played by individual instruments become music under the hands of a conductor, these data can be coordinated and assembled into a message that answers questions of student success and institutional effectiveness. This is the 153rd volume of this Jossey-Bass quarterly report series. Always timely and comprehensive, New Directions for Institutional Research provides planners and administrators in all types of academic institutions with guidelines in such areas as resource coordination, information analysis, program evaluation, and institutional management.