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Top Ten Students: The First Year

Top Ten Students: The First Year. Kathryn Doherty Office of Assessment June 27, 2006. What Is This Study About?. Looks at the experience of 188 students enrolled in the Top Ten program Spring 06 Uses a 47-item questionnaire and 4 focus groups to collect information

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Top Ten Students: The First Year

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  1. Top Ten Students: The First Year Kathryn Doherty Office of Assessment June 27, 2006

  2. What Is This Study About? • Looks at the experience of 188 students enrolled in the Top Ten program Spring 06 • Uses a 47-item questionnaire and 4 focus groups to collect information • Has data from 108 students who completed the survey and 35 students who participated in focus groups • Looks at incoming data for 403 Top Ten candidates • Asks “what happened” and “what can we do better”

  3. Who Were our 05-06 Top Ten Students • Race/Ethnicity: 50% African American, 38% White • 53% Baltimore City, 47% Baltimore County • Gender: 24% Male, 76% Female • Mean HS GPA: 3.56 • Mean TU GPA: 2.40 • Mean SAT score: 925

  4. Where Did Our 05-06 Top Ten Students Come From? • 47% from Baltimore City high schools • 53% from Baltimore County high schools • 63% commute to Towson • 37% live on campus

  5. Who Were the Top Ten Students Who Responded to the Survey? • 63% commute to Towson • 45% spend 6 or more hours a week commuting • 53% spend 5 hours a week or less studying

  6. What Do Top Ten Students Say About Their Overall Experience? • 82% of respondents rate their academic courses at TU as Good or Excellent • Almost 80% of respondents rate their overall experience at TU as Good or Excellent

  7. How Does This Compare With All First Year Students at TU?

  8. What Do Top Ten Students Say About Their Academic Preparation? • 63% felt that they were Somewhat or A Little prepared for Towson’s academic programs • 40% felt it was Difficult or Very Difficult to earn A’s or B’s in their TU classes • 65% felt their academic skill level impacted their first year performance Some or A Lot

  9. How Does This Compare With First Year Students Overall?

  10. What Was the Top Ten First Year Like? • Transition to Towson was tough • High school did not prepare them well enough • Time management skills were a major problem

  11. What Did Top Ten Students Feel Like? • Culture shock was really hard • Friendliness was an issue. No one talks. • No extra curricular activities for commuters • Hard to get used to students who were so different • Stuck with their groups, didn’t want to step out of the box

  12. Top Ten Students Feel Supported… • 86% of respondents said Towson provided the support they needed to succeed academically • 76% Said it was not difficult at all or only somewhat difficult to get support for academic work • 79% said the quality of academic advising at Towson was Excellent or Good

  13. Yet Not Connected… • 57% never met with their Top Ten mentor • 58% never met with a tutor • 45% never participated in co-curricular activities • 36% never studied with students outside class

  14. And Not Engaged at Towson • 83% Never participated in intramurals • 56% never participated in cultural events • 85% never participated in student government • 70% never volunteered on campus or in the community • 45% never participated in clubs or organizations

  15. How Does This Compare?

  16. Top Ten Students Tried to Adjust… “I wasn’t used to having different classes and a different schedule. Time management was an issue. So was getting up on time. There was no help here…”

  17. But Had Trouble with Transition… “I was the valedictorian in my high school. I thought college would be easy when I came here and it wasn’t. Also, the commute was overwhelming…”

  18. And Felt the Loss of Their Communities… “In high school, I had the grades. I had the community and I had the sports. Here it was too hard to get involved…”

  19. What Impacted Top Ten Success? • 25% said work • 20% said course load • 44% said motivation to succeed • 48% said high school preparation

  20. What Did Top Ten Students Find Difficult? • 49% Managing time • 36% Making new friends • 22% Keeping up with course work • 35% Finding time to study • 29% Paying for college

  21. How Did They Feel About Their Academic Performance? • Average, could have been better • Room for improvement • Could have done A LOT better • Should have done A LOT better • Great, very good, have done well • Poor, not my best

  22. How Did They Feel About Their Major? • Still deciding • Switching • Like it a lot • Will stick with it

  23. How Did They Feel About Their Classes? • Good but challenging • Good but difficult • Good but a lot of work • Good but not prepared for them • Good instructors, learned a lot • Good but more work than expected

  24. Have Their Goals Changed? • Still the same: graduate with a degree, be successful • Will have to work harder than expected • Determined to participate more • Will focus more on school than social life • Will go on to graduate school • Finding a career I like

  25. How successful were they? • 61% achieved a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better • 49% of students from Baltimore City high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better • 75% of students from Baltimore County high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better

  26. How successful were they? • 51% of African American Top Ten students earned a CUM GPA of 2.50 or above • 78% of White Top Ten students earned a CUM GPA of 2.50 or above

  27. Comparing Top Ten Success to Overall FTFT Success

  28. Differences by Groups • There were no statistically significant differences by male/female • Top Ten White students were statistically more likely to do well in the program • Baltimore County Top Ten Students were statistically more likely to do well in the program

  29. Baltimore County Students More Successful

  30. Comparing Top Ten Success from First Semester to Second

  31. Fall 06: Who Are Our Top Ten Candidates? • Race/Ethnicity: 38% African American, 38% White • Baltimore City: 82%, Baltimore County: 18% • Gender: 25% Male, 74% Female • Mean HS GPA: 3.66 • Mean SAT score: 1004

  32. How Does This Compare with Fall 05

  33. Predicted Success for Fall 06 by District

  34. Predicted Success for Fall 06 By Race/Ethnicity

  35. This Year, Top Ten Students Were Successful • 61% achieved a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better • 49% of students from Baltimore City high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better • 75% of students from Baltimore County high schools achieved a CUM of 2.50 or better

  36. What About Predictions for Fall 06 Candidates ? • Looking at SAT, HS GPA, district, and ethnicity, 34% may achieve a CUM GPA of 2.50 or better • 27% of students from Baltimore City high schools may achieve a CUM of 2.50 or better • 51% of students from Baltimore County high schools may achieve a CUM of 2.50 or better

  37. How Accurate Are Our Predictions? • Regression analysis predicted 69% of the variance in TU Spring 06 GPA using SAT, HS GPA, TU Fall 05 GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors • Discriminant analysis correctly predicted TU CUM GPA above/below 2.50 with 70% accuracy using SAT, HS GPA, TU Fall 05 GPA, District, and Ethnicity as predictors

  38. What Are the Prediction Relationships? • Moderate statistically significant relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM for all Top Ten students • Weak relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at Baltimore City Top Ten • Very weak relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at African American Top Ten students • Very strong relationship between HS GPA, SAT and TU CUM when looking at white Top Ten students

  39. Is There a Cut-Off Point for Success

  40. What Do Top Ten Students Say Will Help? • More time • More help • More meetings and gatherings • More checking up and following through • More study skill training • More money • More contact with advisors and mentors • More opportunities for commuters

  41. Specifically… • Don’t just give them the money and forget about them • Set up regular meeting times with mentors • Help them connect with the rest of the university

  42. For next year, Towson should… “Provide more opportunities to meet a greater diversity of people…” “Prepare student more for the challenges of college…” “Take into account the trauma of the transition…”

  43. Advice for next year’s students… “Know your resources, find out, do your own planning…” “Believe people when they tell you college is hard…” “Don’t depend on others; do it yourself…”

  44. Will They Volunteer to Help Next Year’s Top Ten? • 40% Yes • 10% No • 50% Maybe

  45. In The End, What Matters Most to Top Ten Students? “It’s an honor to be part of the program so cherish it and work hard to keep it…” “It forces you to work hard but involvement will only come when you’re ready…” “Be active. Try everything…”

  46. Recommendations From the Data • Develop accurate and reliable criteria for selection • Identify at-risk students upon acceptance • Implement early and ongoing support systems • Require participation in support activities • Define and continue structured cohort groups

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