Montgomery County Community College
African American students at Montgomery County Community College (MCCC) are persisting from fall-to-spring at slightly higher levels than other student populations.
The results of MCCC’s initiatives that focus on African American students are promising. This population has closed the gap in fall-to-spring persistence.
- 68% of African American students enrolled in Fall 2010 persisted to Spring 2011 compared with 67% of the white student population and 67% of the total student population.
- 71% of African American students enrolled in Fall 2009, and 70% of African American students enrolled in Fall 2008 and Fall 2007 persisted to spring. These persistence rates were slightly ahead of white students and the total student populations in each semester.
- 92% of the 70 African American men students who participated in the Minority Male Mentoring Program during Fall 2009 enrolled for classes in Spring 2010.
MCCC’s two suburban Philadelphia campuses and on-line programs enrolled 14,794 students in Fall 2010. Of these students, 13% were African American, 5% were Asian American, and 5% were Hispanic.
MCCC won special recognition during the 2011 Leah Meyer Austin Institutional Student Success Leadership Award competition for leveraging data. University Business magazine selected MCCC’s Call Center, part of the Student Success Center, as one of 11 “2011 Models of Efficiency.”
MCCC expands the culture of evidence by sharing data broadly through the use of data dashboards and real time data analysis tools, with the publication of its Think Success news blog, and with monthly Research and Practice briefs that are co-written by faculty and institutional research.
Data analysis led MCCC to:
- Scale Concepts of Numbers, its redesigned arithmetic and pre-Algebra course, to all 700 students expected to need it in Fall 2011
- Create a Gateway Academy to support 50 full-time and part-time faculty members as they redesign 14 Gateway courses
- Offer an Accelerated Pathway through developmental math
- Expand Mentoring to all African American male students in Fall 2010 and to African American females in Fall 2012
- Require academically underprepared students to take Smart Start, a one-hour program before registration, and Strategies for Student Success, a two-credit course
- Adjust cutoff scores in Developmental English accelerating access to college-level English while maintaining college-level English course success rates
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
