College Connection

1. College Connection ACT Conference Presentation April 20, 2006

2. Agenda • College Connection Overview • College Connection Results • Assessment • COMPASS • Questions and Answers

3. Presenters Mary Hensley, Ed.D.Vice President, College Support Systems and ISD Relationsmhensley@austincc.edu512-223-7618 Luanne Preston, Ph.D.Executive Director, Early College Start and College Connectionluanne@austincc.edu512-223-7354 Richard Smith, Ph.D.AssociateVice President, Instructional Resources and Technologyrlsmith@austincc.edu512-223-7792 Jennifer Weber, M.Ed.Online Applications Software Administratorjweber@austincc.edu512-223-7333

4. College ConnectionOverview

5. Closing the Gaps • Closing the Gaps warns that if more Texans do not receive college degrees by 2030, the State could lose up to $40 billion in annual household income • Most students (over 50%) will elect to start at a community college • Austin Community College expects 15,000 more students by 2015.

6. Closing the Gaps • State must increase minority participation rates • Goal to increase enrollment in higher education by 630,000 by 2015 • “College-going” rate lags among minority populations • Participation rates of minorities need to be proportional to population figures for the State to improve quality of life and to maintain State economic advantage

7. Improving High School to College Transitions - Goals • Create a culture/expectation that “College is in everyone’s future” • Improve/increase percentage of high school graduates who enter college after high school graduation • Improve/increase number of high school students who earn college credit while in high school

8. Austin Community College Service Area College Transition Rates Texas High School Graduates from FY 2005Enrolled in Texas Higher Education Fall 2005 *Includes students who were not enrolled in Texas colleges or universities in the year immediately following graduation, as well as students who were enrolled out-of-state. **Districts with less than 25 graduates are not included in this report. Source: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/Reports/PDF/1161.PDF

9. Austin Community College Service Area College Transition Rates Texas High School Graduates from FY 2005Enrolled in Texas Higher Education Fall 2005 *Includes students who were not enrolled in Texas colleges or universities in the year immediately following graduation, as well as students who were enrolled out-of-state.**Districts with less than 25 graduates are not included in this report.Source: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/Reports/PDF/1161.PDF

10. Austin Community College Service Area College Transition Rates Texas High School Graduates from FY 2005Enrolled in Texas Higher Education Fall 2005 *Includes students who were not enrolled in Texas colleges or universities in the year immediately following graduation, as well as students who were enrolled out-of-state.**Districts with less than 25 graduates are not included in this report. Source: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/Reports/PDF/1161.PDF

11. College Connection Program • Many high school students find the college enrollment process intimidating. • Austin Community College provides hands-on, one-on-onesupport to assist every student through each step of the college admissions process. • During graduation ceremonies, high school graduating seniors receive acceptance letters to Austin Community College.

12. College ConnectionStudents Receive On-Campus Activities: Access to college and help getting started Student life information Admission application Austin Community College Video Teleconference—Campus Tour Financial aid application ASSET assessment Tour of Austin Community College campus(es) Pre-Advising Advising Acceptance letter to Austin Community College at graduation Registration for Austin Community College classes Red=RequiredBlue=Recommended Black=Optional

13. College Connection Activity Grid Sample San Marcos Lead: Chad Kelly, 512-393-6800, chad.kelly@smcisd.net Senior Count: 424 (SMHS) Cecily Moore, 512-393-6800, cecily.moore@smcisd.net 16 (Pride HS) ACC Lead: Mary Hensley, 223-7618, mhensley@austincc.edu/Luanne Preston, 223-7355, luanne@austincc.edu Admin. Assistant: Esther Buzard, 223-7618, ebuzard@austincc.edu/Charlene Washington, 223-7353, cwash@austincc.edu SHADE/BOLD – Required College Connection Activities

14. School Districts Participating in the College Connection Program 2004-2005 2003-2004 (Year 1) San Marcos ISD 2004-2005 (Year 2) Austin ISD Bastrop ISD Del Valle ISD Leander ISD San Marcos CISD 2005-2006 (Year 3) Austin ISD Bastrop ISD Del Valle ISD Hays CISD Leander ISD Manor ISD Pflugerville ISD San Marcos ISD

15. School Districts Participating in the College Connection Program 2005-2006

16. Other Community Colleges Adopting College Connection Program • Coastal Bend Community College • Del Mar Community College • Houston Community College • Temple Community College • Victoria Community College

17. “Closing the Gaps” Background “The community college’s role in the goal of participation is absolutely vital. We talk about students who come directly from high school into higher education, and while the numbers are going up, we are not attracting a significant increase in the pool. That’s one of the areas that we’re going to have to spend some real effort – in encouraging students who complete high school to continue on with higher education and the Connections Program that has been talked about already today is absolutely the way that it needs to happen all across the state to change.” Dr. Glenda BarronAssistant Commissioner, Community and Technical Colleges DivisionTexas Higher Education Coordinating BoardJanuary 7, 2005

18. “Attaining advanced levels of education for disadvantaged students cannot be done without developing a college-going culture in every middle school and high school in the state of Texas...then suddenly, (going to college) changes from being a possibility to an expectation.” --Raymund Paredes Commissioner, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board January 6, 2005

19. “The state must look forsuccessful programs with statewide potential, such as ACC’s College Connection program, in which seniors in participating high schools are given help with financial aid forms and required to fill out applications.”--Raymond ParedesState Higher Education CommissionerAustin American Statesman, April 16, 2006

20. College ConnectionResults

21. The College Connection Program Works! Blue=Year after College Connection started 1-Source: http://www.txhighereddata.org/Reports/PDF/0961.pdf 2-Source: http://www.txhighereddata.org/Reports/PDF/0963.pdf 3-Source: http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/Reports/PDF/1161.PDF

22. College Connection Results for Austin Community College-Fall 2005 • Positive effect on fall enrollments • 37.6% increase in enrollment from College Connection High Schools from Fall ’04 to Fall ’05 • Positive effect on Early College Start enrollments • 25.6% increase in enrollment from Fall ’04 to Fall ’05 • Positive effect on Tech Prep enrollments • 647% increase in number of students receiving Tech Prep credit from Fall ’04 to Fall ’05

23. The College ConnectionWeb Site • Information in English and Spanish • Information for parents • Information for students • Information for school district personnel • Calendars • Links to pertinent Austin Community College sites

24. College ConnectionAssessment

25. College Connection and the Texas Success Initiative • State of Texas requires all students entering college to demonstrate college-readiness in reading, writing, and mathematics by standardized test scores or by exemption. • Students who don’t meet the college-ready cut scores or exemption scores must take developmental classes.

26. College Connection Testing • State-approved testing instruments are COMPASS, ASSET, THEA, ACCUPLACER. • Free state-approved testing is a required College Connection activity for students who need to establish college-readiness.

27. College Connection Testing • College Connection will serve approximately 9,000 students in 2005-2006. • ACC generally tests about 50% of College Connection participants on at least one skill section. • ACC uses ASSET on high school campuses because the format allows the quick testing of large numbers of students.

28. College Connection Testing • ASSET is an excellent instrument for accommodating students with disabilities. • Assessment, or presentation of exemption scores, is a required part of the ACC admissions process. • ACC uses ASSET and COMPASS scores for correct college-level or developmental course placement.

29. COMPASS Pilot

30. COMPASS Advantages • Lower cost = more participants • Immediate scoring • Score interpretation to students • Printed score report • Shorter testing time • Appealing to students • Make-up testing for absent students • Retesting in single subject areas

31. COMPASS Pilot Overview • Feasibility pilot • Pilot conducted at San Marcos High School in October 2005 • Purpose was to define implementation issues and identify solutions to any problems encountered • Sought to answer the question “Can it be done?”

32. Preparatory Planning • Inter-departmental coordination at the college: • Assessment Specialists (test proctors) • Instructional and Information Technology Staff (technical support) • College Connection Staff (ACC liaison to area High Schools). • Committee meeting called between staff from each of the above areas to define task assignment and a timeline, share prior COMPASS testing experiences, and express any related concerns about the pilot.

33. Results of the Pilot • Feasibility confirmed • 8 participants successfully took the test and obtained a placement printout. • All test components used including e-Write • Issues Addressed: • Software and Client Installation • Server-Side Setup • Assessment Configuration

34. Software and Client Issues • Changes requiring administrative privileges on the High School computer stations: • Internet Explorer security settings, software installation and registration of each workstation with ACT network • Conflict with filtering and classroom management software on the workstations • Variability in workstation setup • Windows updates and network cabling

35. Software and Client Solutions Implementation strategies • Coordination with High School Technology Staff to obtain administrative privileges on the computers. • Plan for sufficient lead time to install software and work out any unforeseen problems • Burn software to CDs to minimize download times • Randomization of test items allows for use of all workstations so there is no need to stagger students.

36. Server-side Setup • Assessments are hosted on ACT servers • Requires some computer literacy and troubleshooting skills • Assessment configuration details need to be verified in four major areas; site definitions, proctor logins, assessment creations and placement criteria.

37. Assessment Configuration • Site and security recommendations • Create a site for each physical location • Deactivate sites when not in use • Restrict which staff logins can proctor at each site

38. Assessment Configuration • Test Packages • ACC imported preexisting assessments from Windows 3.2 version • E-write errors were resolved by creating these from scratch once we determined that they could not be migrated from the previous version. • Score Report format • Set to print upon completion of test • Includes ACC placement information

39. Assessment Configuration • Uncheck SSR file option (Single Student Record) • Student Privacy

40. Other Considerations • Calculate student to computer ratio carefully and plan to allow for 4 hours for each student to take the test. • Special meal arrangements had to be made, as testing times conflicted with student lunch schedules.

41. Future Directions • ACC will continue to expand the College Connection program to additional school districts in 2006-2007. • In order to begin receiving the benefits of computerized testing, ACC is moving forward with a full scale implementation of the Internet version of COMPASS at those high schools which have sufficient number of computers.

42. For a copy of this presentation • http://www.austincc.edu/isd/act/042006Presentation.ppt

43. Questions and Answers