How GRCC Responds to the Unique Challenges of Student Parents Looking to Achieve the Dream

Students who are parents face a variety of challenges to their academic success, which make them an important population for community colleges to understand. In the latest edition of Data Notes, Achieving the Dream notes that 51 percent of ATD students (and nearly one-third of all community college students) have dependents relying on them.

These students often have considerable needs like childcare, employment, housing issues, and access to financial aid that must be met so that they are able to devote their full attention to the classroom.

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The importance of addressing the unique challenges faced by this population is reinforced by the fact that the percentage of single-parent households is increasing dramatically in the US: from 20 percent in 1980 to 30 percent in 2008.

At GRCC, the population of students with children is slightly smaller than the national average: according to the 2011 Community College Survey of Student Engagement only 26 percent of all GRCC students have children that live with them. This however does not mean that the impact of dependents is less dire – each one of those students noted that “caring for dependents” was a likely reason they might have to withdraw from classes or leave college entirely.

As part of GRCC’s ongoing measurement of the student experience with the CCSSE report found that 55 percent of students expressed that the college does help them with their non-academic responsibilities.

Single parents are the most at-risk when it comes to students on campus with dependents: their completion, transfer and re-enrollment rates in the third year are lower than their married counterparts or students without dependents. Of single parents, women are disproportionately represented compared to men – however they outperform their male counterparts in developmental English and Math classes.

Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count is a national non-profit organization committed to helping more community college students succeed, with a special focus on students of color and students with low-income. GRCC is one of the 150 colleges currently participating in the organization.
Source: Achieving the Dream, Data Notes, May/June 2012

Delayed Enrollment and What it Means for GRCC

Integral to improving student success rates is a careful study of the causes behind the data on student success. That’s at the heart of a recent article on “delayed enrollment” published in the most recent issue of Data Notes, a publication of Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count.

“Delayed Enrollment” refers to the reality that nearly half of community college students do not enroll immediately following high school, and the amount of time that elapses before they apply for college seems to affect not only students’ career path but how and when they succeed. [Note: At GRCC, 78% in the AtD cohorts enroll right after high school, so we can’t say “our students”]

This isn’t a new subject for research – but the latest statistics collected by ATD buck historic trends (GRCC is one of the 150 colleges that are contributing data to the study). In the past, the longer a student delayed enrolling in college after high school put them at a higher risk for not earning a degree than traditional students. What ATD has found is that this disparity only seems to exist for the first two years of college; by the third there is no significant difference in success rates.

Who are these students? Research shows that they’re more likely to be female, part-time students and that they’re less likely to transfer to four-year schools. The longer a student waits to enroll, the more likely they are to need developmental education.

Another interesting contrast is that where immediate enrollees were more likely to be successful if they did not receive Pell Grants, delayed enrollees were more successful if they were Pell Grant awardees.

GRCC data show that 85% of students who enroll immediately after high school are still enrolled at GRCC the following term. Term-to-term retention rates are lower for students who delay enrollment by 1 to 2 years (79% retention); 3 to 4 years (71% retention); and 5 years or more (71% retention). Mirroring national data, GRCC students who delay enrollment are more likely to be female and part-time; however, at GRCC, those who delay enrollment are no more likely to be placed in developmental courses than those who do not delay enrollment.

Though it’s early, ATD researchers have been able to draw some conclusions from the data:

• Delaying enrollment reduces student success, however it does not guarantee completion or a successful transfer.
• Students who delay enrollment have considerably different motivations for attending school , as well as different needs than immediate enrollees.
• Understanding the goals and needs of delayed enrollees will be helpful in structuring a successful college experience for them, and this extra attention to detail will pay dividends as they represent half of incoming students.

Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count is a national non-profit organization committed to helping more community college students succeed, with a special focus on students of color and students with low-income. GRCC is one of the 150 colleges currently participating in the organization.

Source: Achieving the Dream, Data Notes, p. 1

Is GRCC Achieving the Dream?

Linda Spoelman, faculty representative to the Achieving The Dream (AtD) committee here at GRCC, is presenting an update on our efforts to date on the Reading Apprenticeship (RA) portion of AtD today at Dean’s Council. Here is a brief summary of Linda’s report:

Winter 2011 – Introduction to RA delivered at AFP learning day; reading faculty given more in-depth introduction to RA.

Fall 2011 Training

1. RA training for all reading adjuncts–August 2011
2. Three day RA training for 32 developmental faculty and staff, including tutor coordinators–Sept 29-Oct 1.
3. In-depth study of RA adopted as topic for reading instructors’ Professional Reading Group. Meetings held in October and November.
4. RA training delivered at English Department learning day to all full time and several adjunct department members–Oct. 7.
5. RA follow up workshop on questioning offered to those who attended the Sept/Oct. training–November 4.
6. Fall 2011 Assessment: Zoomerang survey assessing instructor perception of RA effectiveness delivered to the workshop attendees–December 4.