Helen Burnhburn@highline.edu

Student Achievement Database: Exploring Precollege Mathematics Achievement

Helen Burn, Ph.D.Department of MathematicsHighline Community College

Tipping Point Research

Building Pathways to Success for Low-Skill Adult Students: Lessons for Community College Policy and Practice from a Longitudinal Student Tracking Study

(Prince & Jenkins, 2005)http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/docs/data/research_reports/resh_06-2_tipping_point.pdf

Higher educational attainment = higher earnings

Benefits of one year of college + credential

$7,000 for students who started in ESL $8,500 for those who started in ABE or GED $2,700 and $1,700 for those entering with a GED or high school diploma, respectively

Momentum Points

Milestones along the way to “tipping”:

•Completing pre-college math or English credits •Completing college-level quantitative course•Attaining 15 college-level credits•Attaining 30 college-level credits•Attaining degree or certificate (tipping). Certain certificates counted if 45 or more credits also earned.

Student Achievement Database website: http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/e_studentachievement.aspx

Data dictionary: http://www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/_d_datawarehouse.aspx

Variables of Interest for Math

Variable name Variable description Scale CollegeReadyMath_Attempted Indicates if the student enrolled and attempted

any pre-college math course. 0 – no, 1 – yes

CollegeReady PreMath_Points One point each time the student earns any pre-college math credit at the college's qualifying grade point for moving to the next level.

0, 1, 2, 3

QuantCourse_Point Earned when a student earns at least 5 college credits in college level computation (technical programs) or quantitative reasoning (math/logic) classes in the system.

0 – no, 1 – yes

QuantCoursesEarnedPrior Indicates whether a student earned 5 quant credits prior to academic year in system.

0 – no, 1 – yes

15ClvlCr_Point Earned if student achieves 15 college-level credits.

0 – no, 1 – yes

30ClvlCr_Point Earned if student achieves 30 college-level credits.

0 – no, 1 – yes

TippingPoint Earned when student receives a … certificate, degrees or apprenticeship awarded by the end of the year. Certificate counted if 45 or more credits also earned.

0 – no 1- yes

The database also includes demographic variables, such as: Student ID, Purpose of Attending, gender, race/ethnicity, SES, FT/PT, disability status, Running-Start status, prior educational attainment.

Highline’s Analysis

 Precollege Math Momentum Point Achievement of Eligible Students*, by Cohort

2005-06 (n=13028)

2006-07 (n=13761)

2007-08(n=14370

Attained 5-credits college-level quantitative credits QuantCourse_Point = 1 9% 9% 9%

Attempted precollege math momentum points (PcMP)CollegeReady PreMath_Attempted = 1 13% 12% 13%

Attained at least one precollege math momentum point (PCMP) CollegeReady PreMath_Points ne 0 9% 8% 9%

*I omitted 5045 (11%) students who had previously earned five college-level quantitative credits (QuantCoursesEarnedPrior = 1). The remaining students are considered “eligible” for precollege math points [PcMP]

Many types of students attempt* PcMP:

Who Attempts PcMP? (LastPurpAttend by Cohort)

A0506 A0607 A0708

Transfer 986 1028 1091

Prof-Tech 467 422 451

Other 103 153 161

HS/GED 34 37 44

Enrichment 21 17 26

Missing 60 56 84

TOTAL 1671 1713 1857

*Variable = CollegeReadyMath_Attempted ne 0

How many PcMP do eligible students attain in a year?

2007-08 Attempted and Attained, by Gender and Age

Percent who attempted and attained at least one PcMP, by age and gender

Limitation

“Attempt” is a dichotomous variable (0-no, 1-yes). Students who attain 3 PcMP could do it with 1, 2, or 3 attempts.

Solution: Create “# attempts” variable using transcript data.

2007-08 PcMP Attempt and Attain Data

Precollege Math Momentum Points Attained

# Attempts

0 1 2 3 Total

1557

(44%)699 (56%)* 0 0 1256

265 (14%) 208 (44%) 196 (42%)* 0 469

37 (6%) 30 (26%) 39 (33%) 41 (35%)* 117

40 6 (60%) 2 (20%) 2 (20%) 10

Total629 943 237 43 1852

*Shaded cells are “success”: attempts = attained

Highline plans to track the “one-one” group

Subgroup Analysis of “one-one” group

2007-08 Percent Attained One PcMP, on one attempt, by gender and age.

Additional Variables Created by Highline

• Pcmathattempts - # precollege math attempts

• MathPlace - Highest math placement (1, 2, or 3 levels below college level)

• WritPlace - Highest writing placement (1, 2, or 3 levels below college level)

• ReadPlace - Highest reading placement (1, 2, or 3 levels below college level)

• MP311status – refers to Achieving the Dream moniker (3 levels below college in math and one level below college in writing or reading)

Student Achievement Dashboard for Precollege Mathematics

A0506 A0607 A0708

18-19 Males 51% 47% 41%

Place 3 levels below in Math

50% 48% 53%

Hispanic/Latino 53% 46% 46%

African-American 46% 47% 49%

25-29 Females 67% 67% 59%

Percent of students who attempted and successfully completed one pre-college math course during the year (attained the grade needed to advance to the next course

Helen Burnhburn@highline.edu

hburn@highline.eduwww.flightline.highline.edu/hburn

Each college has its unique Student Achievement Data. The value to me of the database is that it broadens focus from single courses to overall course-taking patterns that can be tracked easily over time.