Los Angeles Valley College
The long-term goal of Valley College’s participation in Achieving the Dream is to create an institutionalized, sustainable culture of evidence that is well integrated into campus processes for continual improvement. A high priority for college leaders is the creation of campus-wide dialogue about data needs, distribution, interpretation, and usage of data to improve student learning and institutional efficiency. As an Achieving the Dream Institution, the college will have help in facilitating meaningful action, increasing information capacity, and promoting a culture of inquiry. Additionally, the college hopes to gain resources to improve assessment of student success and institutional effectiveness through planning and evaluation processes. Valley College’s two main goals are to:
- Increase student retention, persistence, and success
- Increase student access
Valley College seeks to create a plan that addresses student access and success, closes the achievement gap among White, Asian, African American, Native American, and Latino students, and maximizes the effectiveness of existing programs through well-planned coordination.
Founded in 1949, Los Angeles Valley College sits on 105-acres in the Los Angeles suburb of Valley Glen, located in the heart of San Fernando Valley. Valley College offers transfer education, job training, and lifelong learning to the residents of the San Fernando Valley and beyond, and is one of the nine colleges in the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD). More than 140 associate degree and certificate programs are offered at Valley College to help advance the economic development of the region through courses, services, and partnerships that address continuing and emerging employer needs in a diverse set of industries, including one of the largest concentrations of entertainment studios in the world.
A large majority (77%) of the students who attend Valley College were part-time in the Fall 2009 semester, 71% were students of color, and 41% of the total student population was Hispanic. Analysis of foundational skills programs and student data, including several longitudinal studies of student placement, success, and retention, have revealed that a large proportion of Valley College’s students are not prepared for college-level courses and very few of these students will complete the sequence of classes required for a degree.
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.
