Tom Leigh, Ph.D . Atsuko Nonoyama, Ph.D Research, Analysis, and Accountability

1. Measuring the Education Level of California Community College Students’ Parents: Current Status and Preliminary Findings Tom Leigh, Ph.D. Atsuko Nonoyama, Ph.D Research, Analysis, and Accountability Technology, Research & Information Systems California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office

2. TOPICS • Parent Education Data Element • Data Completeness • First-Generation • Definition • Characteristics • Educational Outcomes

3. Parent Education Data Element

4. Data Entered by Students at CCCApply Student Profile Section

5. Parental Education Defined in CCCApply Instruction: “Regardless of your age, please indicate the education levels of the parents and/or guardians who raised you.”

6. Data Entered by Students at CCCApply Student Profile Section

7. Parental Education Defined in CCCApply Supplementary Instruction: “For the two parents, other family members, and/or guardians who in your belief played the largest roles in raising you, please indicate the highest level of education that you believe each attained.”

8. Values Available for Parental Education Field (SG09) Position 1 – Parent/Guardian 1 Position 2 – Parent/Guardian 2 * Handout

9. 81 Possible Combinations Parent/Guardian #2 Parent/ Guardian #1

10. Simplify! Highest Educational Level of the Parents: • Grade 9 or less • Grades 10, 11, or 12 but did not graduate • High school graduate • Some college but no degree • Associate degree • Baccalaureate degree • Graduate or professional degree beyond a BA/BS • Unknown/Unreported/Not Applicable * Handout w/ SAS coding

11. Data Completeness Where are we now?

12. Data Examined for Completeness Students enrolled first time in higher education between Summer 2012 & Spring 2013 (n=251,828), in all CCCs 2) Both credit and non-credit students Counting ‘Y’ (not applicable) as valid while ‘X’ (Unknown/Unreported) as missing Including only students who attended at least one course

13. Results

14. Not Ready For Prime Time! • College-level • The college with most complete data • reported 94% with valid data • 52 colleges (=about half) reported no valid data • - The median was 0.4%, mean was 19%

15. Distribution of Colleges Based on Percent of Students w/ Valid Parental Ed Data * Handout

16. Trend: Students Enrolled in Fall 2012 vs Spring 2013

17. More on Completeness of Data • Student-level • 22.4% (=56,530/251,828) had valid parental education data reported • 10 colleges with largest # of valid data accounted for 64% of the reported data • Non-credit students are much less likely to have parental education data reported

18. Credit vs. Non-credit Students Student N= 251,828

19. Data for Continuing Students? Fall 2012 first-time students are followed for 1 year…

20. Of the students whose parental education data are available, what do data look like?

21. Distribution of Parental Education (*Highest)

23. Using The Parent Education Data Element: First-Generation College Students “Uncertain Climbers” (Richard and Skinner, 1992)

24. Selected First-Generation Characteristics: • Female (Nomi, 2005) • Older (Engle, et. al, 2006 ) • Rely on financial aid (Nunez &Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998) • Less academically prepared for college (U.S. Department of Education 2008). • Under-represented minority.

25. Selected First-Generation Characteristics (cont’d): • Less likely to persist into the second year (Chen & Carroll, 2005) • Complete fewer academic credits (Pascarella, • et. al., 2003) • Less likely to successfully complete coursework (Davis, 2010)

26. Variable Definitions of First-Generation • less than a bachelor degree • less than an associate degree • no postsecondary education

28. First-Generation Student Definition: • less than an associate degree

29. Caveat: Although these findings are helpful in assessing the construct validity of the Parent Education data element they are not generalizable to the CCC system due to missing data.

35. Educational Attainment: • Developmental Course Enrollment • Persistence Fall-to-Fall • Course Retention • Course Success • Units Earned

36. *Developmental course defined with 2014 Scorecard cohort criteria.

41. Summary of Findings • No Effect • Age • Course Retention • Small-to-Moderate Confirming Effects • Gender • Persistence Fall-to-Fall • Course Success • Average Units Earned Per Semester • Large Confirming Effects • Race-Ethnicity • Financial Aid Receipt • Developmental Course Enrollment

42. Future Directions • Continue to improve the completeness and quality of the Parent Education Level data element. • Include the First-Generation subgroup in routine reporting of student demographics and educational outcomes. • Analyze subgroups within the Parent Education data elements.

43. Thank You. Questions or Comments?

44. References Chen, X. & Carroll, C. D. (2005). First-generation students in postsecondary education: A look at their college transcripts. Washington, DC: U. S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. Davis, J. (2010). The first-generation student experience: Implications for campus practice, and strategies for improving persistence and success. College Student Education International. Sterling, VA. Nomi, Takako. (2005). Faces of the future: A portrait of first-generation community college students. American Association of Community Colleges. Washington, DC Nunez, Anne-Marie, Stephanie Cuccaro-Alamin. ( 1998). First generation students: Undergraduates whose parents never enrolled in postsecondary education. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

45. References cont’d Pascarella, E., Wolniak, G.C., Pierson, C.T., & Terenzini, P.T. (2003). Experiences and outcomes of first-generation students in community colleges. Journal of College Student Development, 44, 420-429. Engle, J., Bermeo, A., & O'Brien, C. (2006). Straight from the Source: What works for first-generation college students. The Pell Institute For The Study of Opportunity In Higher Education . Washington, DC Richardson, R.C., & Skinner, E.F. (1992). Helping first-generation minority students achieve degrees. In L.S. Zwerling & H.B. London (Eds.), First- generation students: Confronting the cultural issues (New Directions for Community Colleges Series, No. 80, pp. 29-43). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). National Postsecondary Student Aid Study. NPSAS: 08. Data Analysis System.