College of the Desert BSI Task Force on Research and Academic Improvement

Proposal for BSI Research Project for Academic Improvement

This proposal addresses BSI Strategic Planning Objective #1, strategies 2 and 2a. It is based upon discussion within the BSI Task Force on Research and Academic Improvement along with recommendations from the Office of Institutional Research (OIR).

Mission Statement

The BSI Research Project for Academic Improvement will close the loop between research and effective action in all areas requiring basic skills by providing the right information to the right people at the right time.

Values Statement We value a research project that is:

Informative:It delivers data in ways that effectively inform efforts to improve learning;

Supportive: it includes mechanisms to help faculty and administrators understand, value and use research;

Readily available: It makes data and information easily available in user-friendly formats.

Key Performance Indicators The BSI Research Project for Academic Improvement is working when:

  • The right research is available when and where it is needed;
  • Faculty and administrators regularly discuss research regarding courses, programs and the institution;
  • Faculty and administrators use research effectively in support of change.

Data sets for research agenda

  • All new students each year
  • Affective and practical data
  • SSTK survey results & possibly additional data, such as CCSSE survey results
  • Demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, first generation college)
  • Student use of college resources (student services, support services, library, etc.)
  • Academic data
  • Initial placement (Including non-credit)
  • Retention (i.e. how many stay enrolled to the end of their courses, receiving a grade)
  • Persistence (i.e. how many of retained students enroll for the following semester and year)
  • Progress through the basic skills sequence of courses (including non-credit)
  • Ultimate success of students (i.e. degree, certificate, and transfer rates)
  • Basic skills outcomes research at the course and program levels

Baseline data

  • All academic data described above for all new students in fall/spring 2005—the year that BSI began at COD—and following them through spring 2009. This will provide an initial longitudinal study against which continuing BSI efforts can be measured. The data may also be queried in response to questions about changes in basic skills curriculum and support services over this time period.

Longitudinal research

  • Each year a new cohort of students will be identified and followed. A cohort will be all new students for fall of that year (including participants in summer bridge programs).
  • Research will include a focus on value added as a result of BSI programs and other changes to programs and services for COD students.
  • Regular reports on the progress of cohorts will be developed. All of these reports would be developed in such a way that we could drill down into SSTK results as needed. These reports will include:
  • SSTK results (summary of new cohort—fall of each year)
  • Initial placement of new cohort cross referenced with demographic data (fall of each year)
  • Status of retention and persistence for any cohort cross referenced with demographic data (the beginning of each semester reporting on previous semester)
  • Progress through basic skills sequence for any cohort by initial placement and cross referenced with demographic data (fall of each year) (E.g. we would get a report on the progress of students who initially place in Eng 50 or any other basic skills course.)
  • Ultimate success of students by achievement (degree, certificate, transfer), showing time of initial enrollment and initial placement all cross referenced with demographic data (fall of each year)
  • Reports on COD’s progress in “Baseline Measures for Developmental Education,” as described in Basic Skills as a Foundation for Student Success in California Community Colleges.
  • A system will be established by which requests for additional research can be processed.

Gathering Data

The following steps will be followed:

  • A BSI Research Sub-Committee will be established
  • Work with OIR, faculty, and administrators to analyze and evaluate data
  • Develop and distribute regular reports
  • Assist COD faculty and administrators with designing additional queries to the database as needed
  • Investigate possible errors in data and data collection as needed.
  • An outside contractor will be identified and employed to
  • Put the SSTK Survey online
  • Develop a data warehouse to support this project
  • Develop standard reports as defined by the BSI Sub-Committee on Research
  • Provide resources to complete required “data programming” necessary to maintain the data warehouse and associated reporting functions, and respond to requests for customized queries.

Providing Information

Our goal is to provide information about COD students in order to understand who they are and assess their academic improvement in basic skills and beyond. This information would be based in data, but delivered in usable formats. The BSI Sub-Committee on Research will work with the OIR to provide the following:

  • A set of standardized reports (described above) designed to be easily interpreted and customizable for responding to focused questions within certain parameters
  • A data library of these reports with a dashboard added to the OIR page
  • Regular interpretive reports on the data for the BSI Committee and the College
  • Support for generating customized reports drawn from the BSI Data Warehouse.

Closing the Loop

This project will provide support for faculty and administrators to interpret and evaluate data and information in order to identify problems, make targeted changes to address those problems, and assess the effectiveness of those changes. The BSI Sub-Committee on Research working closely with OIR and the BSI Professional Development program will provide the following:

  • A train the trainers program for its own members to assure that faculty representatives on the sub-committee can be effective resources to their colleagues within the Divisions
  • The same program of training for administrators and appropriate classified staff
  • Regular professional development opportunities for interpreting and acting upon research through FLEX activities and through the BSI Professional Development Center
  • A program of direct assistance to faculty who wish to pursue research projects
  • Regular reports of exemplary practice in developing change as a result of the effective research both here at COD and elsewhere.