Impact of Developmental Impact of Developmental Requirements on Student Requirements on Student

RetentionRetention

Planning and Research Planning and Research Teresa Isbell – DirectorTeresa Isbell – Director

Yam Avram – Coordinator Yam Avram – Coordinator

NORTH LAKE NORTH LAKE COLLEGECOLLEGE

Community colleges students come Community colleges students come from more diverse social and economic from more diverse social and economic backgroundsbackgrounds Older Older Part-time Part-time Less academically preparedLess academically prepared EmployedEmployed Commuters Commuters Have Dependents Have Dependents Single parent Single parent Financial needFinancial need High school drop out or GED recipient. High school drop out or GED recipient.

About About 70%70% of those who begin their of those who begin their higher education at four-year higher education at four-year colleges receive a baccalaureate colleges receive a baccalaureate compared to only compared to only 26%26% of those who of those who begin at two-year colleges. begin at two-year colleges. (Dougherty, 1992)(Dougherty, 1992)

Over 50% community college Over 50% community college students leave during or after the students leave during or after the first year (Tinto, 1993).first year (Tinto, 1993).

Where did they go?Where did they go? Why did they leave?Why did they leave? How do North Lake College How do North Lake College

students compare with the students compare with the literature?literature?

How do developmental How do developmental requirements impact retention?requirements impact retention?

470 Full time470 Full time 23.6 Mean Age23.6 Mean Age GenderGender

52% Female52% Female 48% Male48% Male

EthnicityEthnicity WhiteWhite 40.9%40.9% African-AmAfrican-Am 10.2%10.2% HispanicHispanic24.0%24.0% AsianAsian 10.6%10.6% OtherOther 14.3%14.3%

North Lake College Fall 2001 FTIC Cohort

NLC Full Time FTIC Descriptives Have Dependents 438 93.2%

Employed 469 99.8%

First Generation 134 28.5%

Single Parent 29 6.2%

No Campus activities 288 61.3%

Need development/time management 133 28.3%

Financial Aid 111 23.6%

Educational objective uncertain 17 3.6%

NLC Full Time FTIC Coursework

College Courses only 9319.8

%College and

developmental courses 35876.2

%Developmental courses

only 19 4.0%

Developmental Reading 17437.0

%

Developmental Writing 8518.1

%

Developmental Math 35776.0

%

NLC Full Time FTIC Credits and GPANLC Full Time FTIC Credits and GPA

  Mean SD

1st term GPA1 2.47 1.18

1st term GPA2  2.32  1.32

1st term Dev. credit hours 9.94 4.13

1st term college credit hours 7.66 4.12

Retention for Fall 2001 Cohort

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

80.0%

100.0%

Fall2001

Spring2002

Fall2002

Spring2003

Fall2003

Spring2004

Fall2004

Spring2005

Fall2005

Terms

perc

en

t R

eta

ined

Retention Rates for Fall 2001 CohortRetention Rates for Fall 2001 Cohort

Term Enrolled (N) Retained (%)

Fall 2001 470 100.0%

Spring 2002 389 82.8%

Fall 2002 288 61.3%

Spring 2003 243 51.7%

Fall 2003 191 40.6%

Spring 2004 145 30.9%

Fall 2004 87 18.5%

Spring 2005 71 15.1%

Fall 2005 47 10.0%

Factor Analysis Factor Analysis MethodologyMethodology

Principal Axis Factoring withPrincipal Axis Factoring with

Varimax RotationVarimax Rotation

Variables for AnalysisVariables for Analysis

FT_GPAFT_GPA DMATDMATOBJECTIVESOBJECTIVES DREADREADEPENDENTSDEPENDENTS DWRIDWRIFGCFGC FAIDFAIDCMPS_ACTIVITYCMPS_ACTIVITY ETHNICITYETHNICITYAGEAGE GENDERGENDER

CommunalitiesCommunalities

Variable Fall 2001

InitialSpring 2002

ExtractionETHNIC .132 .583

GENDER .093 .150

FT_GPA .103 .233

OBJECTIVES .069 .099

DEPENDENTS .085 .231

FGC .193 .271

CMPS_ACTIVITY .230 .653

AGE .131 .474

DMAT .162 .271

DREA .235 .685

DWRI .144 .173

FAID .149 .245

The five most influential factors from high to low for spring 2002 D-read (0.685) Campus activities (0.653) Ethnic (0.583) Age (0.474) FGC (0.271) and D-math (0.271)

Spring 2002 Eigenvalues Total Variance ExplainedSpring 2002 Eigenvalues Total Variance Explained

Factor

Initial EigenvaluesExtraction Sums of Squared

Loadings

Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total% of

VarianceCumulative

% Total% of

VarianceCumulative

% Total% of

VarianceCumulative

%

1 1.900 15.831 15.831 1.305 10.877 10.877 1.142 9.515 9.515

2 1.539 12.824 28.655 .999 8.322 19.199 1.031 8.595 18.111

3 1.335 11.125 39.780 .771 6.428 25.627 .710 5.915 24.026

4 1.182 9.852 49.632 .533 4.439 30.066 .631 5.254 29.280

5 1.128 9.400 59.033 .460 3.831 33.896 .554 4.616 33.896

6 .909 7.572 66.605

7 .831 6.928 73.533

8 .780 6.499 80.032

9 .746 6.220 86.252

10 .607 5.055 91.307

11 .539 4.488 95.795

12 .505 4.205 100.000

Spring 2002 Scree PlotSpring 2002 Scree Plot

121110987654321

Factor Number

2.00

1.75

1.50

1.25

1.00

0.75

0.50

Eig

en

va

lue

Scree Plot

Spring 2002 Rotated Factor MatrixSpring 2002 Rotated Factor Matrix

Factor

1 2 3 4 5

CMPS_ACTIVITY .788

FGC -.482

FAID .437

OBJECTIVES

DREA .729

DMAT .470

DWRI .400

ETHNIC .752

AGE -.531

GENDER

DEPENDENTS -.467

FT_GPA

Spring 2002 Positive Retention Spring 2002 Positive Retention FactorsFactors Campus activitiesCampus activities Developmental ReadingDevelopmental Reading Non-minorityNon-minorityDMAT, DWRI, FAID also have positive impacts, but not as significant

Spring 2002 Negative Spring 2002 Negative Retention FactorsRetention FactorsFirst GenerationFirst GenerationHaving dependentsHaving dependentsDelaying enrollment (Above Delaying enrollment (Above

Average Age)Average Age)

Fall 2002 Influential Fall 2002 Influential Retention FactorsRetention Factors

Age (0.887) Developmental reading (0.680) Campus activity (0.572) Ethnic (0.498) First term GPA (0.337)

Fall 2002 Retention FindingsFall 2002 Retention FindingsBeing first generation college, having dependents are still having negative impact on retention.

Age changing from negative to positive, but has inter-relationship with more than one factor.

Spring 2002 AnalysisSpring 2002 Analysis

No Gender and EthnicityNo Gender and Ethnicity Campus activities (.560)Campus activities (.560) Developmental reading (.389)Developmental reading (.389) First generation college (.290)First generation college (.290) Dependents (.262)Dependents (.262)

Fall 2002 AnalysisFall 2002 Analysis

No Gender and EthnicityNo Gender and Ethnicity Age (.543)Age (.543) Campus activities (.429) Campus activities (.429) Developmental reading (.408)Developmental reading (.408)

Study FindingsStudy FindingsCampus activities and developmental

reading have a positive impact on retention through time.

First generation and minority students are at risk for dropping out.

Having dependents and delaying enrollment impact the first semester retention.

Study FindingsStudy FindingsGender, educational objectives and

DWRI have very little impacts on retention.

DMAT and FAID have some impact but not significant.

FT_GPA has some impact but not as significant as for four-year institutions.

Where do we go from Where do we go from here?here?Additional analysesAdditional analyses

Other institutionsOther institutions