Monterey Peninsula College January 25, 2012 Thomas Brown tom@tbrownassociates.com

1. Reframing At-Risk to High Potential: Supporting the Achievement and Success of Multicultural, First Generation and Underprepared College Students Monterey Peninsula College January 25, 2012 Thomas Brown tom@tbrownassociates.com

2. A good workshop provides information with which you agree. A better one offers information you can use. Knowledge is not power….

3. Saber Entender Sentir Escoger y Hacer! ThinkingFeelingDOING!

4. Fulfilling the Promise of the Community College Co-editors • Thomas Brown • Margaret C. King • Patricia Stanley Co-sponsored by

5. Today’s session • Examine challenges and successes in increasing persistence of multicultural, first generation, and underprepared community college students • Discuss barriers to students success • Share effective theoretically based practices—individual and institutional • Solve the Mideast crisis!

6. The American formula for success consists of five pillars:The first pillar is providing public education for more Americans.That Used to Be Us Tom Friedman &Michael Mandelbaum, 2011

7. Community colleges have gone from being the stepchild to being the golden child…Dr. Frank Chong, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges, 2011

8. The Challenge Community colleges have a more complicated and more difficult retention pathway because they are likely to attract students who are less-college ready than those who attend the four-year sector…. Linda Serra Hagedorn, President Iowa Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2010

9. Some at-risk groups in education First-generation/Low SES students Adult and re-entry students Student with disabilities Student-Athletes First-year students Undecided students LGBTQ students Students of Color Underprepared students Veterans Transfer students

10. Multiple issues… First-generation/Low SES AND ALSO… Adult and re-entry students Student with disabilities Student-Athletes First-year students Undecided students LGBTQ students Students of Color Underprepared students Veterans Transfer students

11. Treating students the same may be equal treatment,

12. Treating students the same may be equal treatment, but it is not equitable treatment.

13. Human beings seek to economize on the energy required to make distinctions. Most houseplants die because we treat them all the same.

14. Forty percent of new students are the first in their families to attend college.(National Center for Education Statistics, 1996, 1998, 2001)Often, they are not as academically or socially prepared as others and are prone to drop out. Watson Scott Swail, President Educational Policy InstituteChronicle of Higher Education, 1/19/04 Context for this session…

15. The majority of community college students are academically underprepared to achieve success.Schuetz & Bailey, 2008 Context for this session…

16. Some Americans Are Much Less Likely to Graduate From College:Bachelor’s degree earned by age 24 SES is a weighted variable developed by NCES, which includes parental education levels and occupations and family income. “High” and “low” refer to the highest and lowest quartiles of SES. Source: “Family Income and Higher Education Opportunity 1970 to 2003,” in Postsecondary Education Opportunity, Number 156, June 2005.

17. National Graduation RatesCommunity Colleges28%MPC Graduation & Transfer Rates*50%(2007 Entering cohort)*National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Context for this session…

18. MPC Graduation & Transfer Rates White 27% Hispanic/Latino 25 Asian/Pacific Islander 21 Black 11 Source: NCES

19. Context for this session…MPC Strategic Goals & Objectives, 2010-14 Goal 1: Promote academic excellence and student success Goal 2: Promote diversity throughout the institution

20. Engagement Matters The more contact students have with their teachers [and peers], the more likely they are to learn effectively and persist toward achievement of their educational goals. Through such interactions, faculty members become role models, mentors, and guides for continuous, lifelong learning. Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE)

21. When community college students described occasions when they considered dropping out and didn’t, they typically referred to a strong early connection to someone at the college.Very often, they even offered a person’s name…McClenney, 2011 Engagement Matters…

22. Colleges are more likely to blame student attrition on students….What Works in Student Retention, 2004, 2010

23. We build beautiful campuses, • We hire excellent faculty and staff, then the “wrong” students show up! • We develop a challenging curriculum…

24. What happens to students after they enroll frequently has a more powerful impact on whether they stay and achieve their goals or leave.Leaving CollegeVincent Tinto 1987, 1993

25. Community colleges care less about who we enroll and more about what happens to students as a result of their having been with us….Dr. Patricia Stanley Past Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges January 4, 2010

26. While students must accept responsibility for their own success or failure, institutional actors, particularly faculty members, also bear individual and collective responsibility for student outcomes.Achieving Equitable Outcome for All Students AAC&U, 2005

27. Why do students leave college? Isolation Inability to connect with significant members of the campus community…

28. Attributes/calidades of an environment that supports students who are at-risk:Intentional Structured Proactive

29. Increasing engagement and persistence Student success is not an accident – it is the result of intentional activities taken by individuals and institutions.

30. A Model for Ensuring Student Success

31. Changing Environment & Changing Students 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year and beyond Creamer, 2000; Need for Information Changing Needs Need for Consultation

32. Changing Environment & Changing Students 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year and beyond PRESCRIPTIVE DEVELOPMENTAL Lynch, 1989;Brown& Rivas, 1994;Creamer, 2000 Need for Information Changing Needs Need for Consultation Moving In Moving Through Moving On

33. Changing Environment & Changing Students 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year and beyond PRESCRIPTIVE DEVELOPMENTAL Lynch, 1989;Brown& Rivas, 1994;Creamer, 2000;Brown, 2006 Need for Information Changing Needs Need for Consultation Moving In Moving Through Moving On MPCMPC/SMPC/SS/MPC S MPC = Faculty, counselors, academic advisors, etc. S = Student

34. Students usually have a realistic understanding about the demands of academic work and what is required to be successful in their classes. (n = 1587)Strongly agree/agree 13% Disagree/strongly disagree 69%Brown Survey of Faculty

35. Do students understand what is required to be successful in college? I am rolling on the floor!!!Brown Survey

36. How much time do community college students spend preparing for class? 21 or more hours per week 12% 10 hours or less 66% CCSSE, 2007

37. I have to teach students how to study before I can get to course content…Faculty Member Odessa Community College

38. Chapter 4: Reframing At-Risk to High Potential: Supporting the Achievement and Success of Underprepared Students Thomas Brown, Managing Principal Thomas Brown & Associates, LLC Dr. Mario Rivas, Professor of Psychology Merritt College

39. There are within each of us the seeds of who we might become. Thich Nhat Hanh

40. The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.K. Patricia Cross, Professor of Higher Education EmeritaUniversity of California, Berkeley

41. Community colleges are on the frontlines of US higher education, providing opportunities to countless Americans who would otherwise be denied access….Dr. Mario Rivas & Tom Brown New Directions for Community Colleges, 1993

42. Community colleges make winners out of ordinary people. Leslie Koltai, 1993

43. The mission of the community college presupposes that in order for students to succeed, they must be engaged with educators who believe in the capacity of all students to develop and learn! Rivas and Brown, 2011

44. While faculty and staff may be committed to student success, most institutions have a fragmented approach to responding to student needs.Sperling, 2009They are more likely to blame student attrition on students!

45. Today’s teachers have more pressure on them than ever before. They need the most comprehensive and relevant training available to enhance their own skills and their students’ abilitiesDr. Richard Malena, Director of Education Mesa Community College Professional development is critical to faculty and student success

46. From a psychological perspective, under-preparedness may stem from low-self efficacy, or the sense that one has little control over thoughts, feeling, and actions conducive to success.Bandura, 1985

47. Educators need to create trusting relationships with students.Vasti Torres, et al., 2006

48. Stereotype Threat Arises when students are in situations where their performance could result in their being reduced to a stereotype, where they could be judged by a stereotype, or where judgments about them could be made based on a stereotype. Professor Claude M. Steele Stanford University, 1995

49. Stereotype ThreatBlack students can be reticent in the classroom because if they make a mistake, it can be taken as a stereotype and confirm their being academically inferior. Steele 2010

50. Example: Lupe’s reason for not speaking up in class even when she feels that she knows answer and wants to speak. “If I answer wrong, they’ll all laugh at me…and think I’m stupid.” “Soy estupida!” “ I start getting nervous because all the eyes are on me!”