Paris Junior College
Paris Junior College (PJC) has acquired software to collect more student information than ever before and begin making data-informed evaluations; the college overall has fostered a culture of using evidence for decision-making.
The purchase of the software noted above has allowed more people easy access to student data. The college’s funding and participation in Achieving the Dream has changed the college to using a culture of evidence. As strategies have grown, the college has committed needed resources to bring them to scale. Interventions that have inspired change within the college include a Student Success Course and Tutoring, which was particularly successful in developmental math courses.
The Student Success Course improved students’ fall-to-spring retention rate and also raised grades in developmental English. Students taking the course completed a survey with questions about skills taught in the course. Data from all semesters indicate that students perceive the course helped them in transitioning into the colligate environment. Every question on the survey received a better than 57% or better response of Agree or Strongly Agree.
In Fall 2010, 8% of developmental math students attended tutoring. Students enrolled in Skill Development Math who participated in tutoring had a success rate of 82%, while their peers who did not participate in tutoring had a success rate of 73%. The results were similar for those taking Intermediate Algebra; tutored students had a success rate of 78% compared to 64% of that of their peers who were not tutored.
PJC is a two-year community college in Paris, Texas—a small, rural town in the northeast part of the state—with additional locations in Greenville and Sulphur Springs. In 2009, 23% of the area population was living below the poverty line. PJC enrolled approximately 6,200 students in Fall 2010, 25% of which were students of color. Eighty-six percent of students in Fall 2010 were financial aid recipients.
PJC is an innovative and comprehensive community college that advances the life-long educational development of students consistent with their needs, interests, and abilities while strengthening the economic, social, and cultural life of its diverse community. The college provides high-quality, flexible academic transfer and career-focused educational programs and services through a commitment to teaching and learning excellence within an accessible and supportive environment.
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.
