Cuyahoga Community College
Orientation seemed to improve fall-to-spring retention so significantly that Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C) instituted a “No Late Registration” policy in 2011 to ensure new students take either the in-person orientation or online program.
Strengthening students’ entrée to Tri-C extends from orientation to developmental math improvements.
Since 2006, experiments with Paired Math have made small positive improvements in student outcomes. This intervention connects Beginning Algebra (Math 0950) with a two-credit course (Math 0850) that addresses study skills, math practice time, and math attitudes.
Tri-C is now also pilot testing Quantway. This new Carnegie Foundation-developed curriculum focuses on quantitative literacy and alternative pathways for engaging students in mathematical applications and numerical reasoning.
Tri-C is the largest and oldest public community college in Ohio. It served 31,262 credit students on three campuses in metropolitan Cleveland in Fall 2011. The average age of Tri-C students is 29 years old. Sixty-one percent of the college’s students are women; 32% are African American; 4% are Hispanic.
In recent years, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County residents have struggled with unemployment in excess of 9% and high home foreclosure rates. Cleveland’s population declined by 80,000 residents between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, and now ranks as the 45th largest U.S. city. In 1970 it was 10th.Tri-C has aligned its Achieving the Dream interventions with its five-year strategic plan and Academic Quality Improvement Program efforts. In addition to orientation and developmental math innovations, the interventions include:
- Supplemental Instruction led by students who have completed developmental education. During 2010-2011 these sessions served 800 students.
- Mentoring of first-time-in-college students by faculty and staff members. While serving approximately 500 students per semester, fall-to-spring retention was 74% for mentored students compared to 67.8% for non-mentored students.
- Learning Communities that link the highest developmental English course with popular 1000-level courses in business administration, history, and political science.
The Achieving the Dream Model
Achieving the Dream community colleges commit to our Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. Based on four principles, the model frames the overall work of helping more students, particularly low- income students and students of color, stay in school and earn a college certificate or degree.
Each college approaches the work differently, but Achieving the Dream’s five-step process provides practical guidelines for keeping the focus where it belongs and building momentum over time. Throughout the process, Achieving the Dream coaches offer customized support and help each college’s core team implement data-informed programs and policies that build long-term, institution-wide commitment to student success.
Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges
Leader Colleges are demonstrating the power of the Achieving the Dream Student-Centered Model of Institutional Improvement. They show us it is possible to raise persistence and graduation rates, close achievement gaps, and change lives. Leader Colleges embody the ultimate goal of Achieving the Dream, and as such, serve as mentors within our community of learners.
To be eligible for Leader College distinction, colleges must show three or more years of improvement on one or more of these five measures:
- Course completion
- Advancement from developmental to credit-bearing courses
- Completion of college-level math and English courses
- Term-to-term and year-to-year retention
- Completion of certificates or degrees
