Local Vertical Alignment Through

Data-Driven Decision Making

Dr. Colby Stoever

April 4, 2011

• Inability to coordinate between secondary and postsecondary educational levels

• Inability to share and understand data

• Inability to make data-driven improvements to institutional processes

2

These barriers negatively impact

student enrollment and persistence,

time-to-degree,

and degree completion in Texas postsecondary education.

3

• Eliminate barriers to sharing student-level data across educational segments

• Provide resources to make data more accessible to educators and policy-makers at all levels

• Provide training in reading, interpreting, and using data to improve curriculum and institutional processes

• Improve student outcomes by giving educators the data, knowledge, and the training to make data-driven decisions

• Provide evaluation of interventions and systemic policy changes generated as a result of Pathways

• Provide a forum to communicate education improvements to a statewide audience of educational practitioners 4

Highest H.S. Math Course Taken by Students Entering Community College

Region A

5%

18%

1%

68%

8%

AP Calc

Pre-Calc

Stats

Algebra 2

BelowAlgebra 2

Region B

6%

29%

0%52%

13%

AP Calc

Pre-Calc

Stats

Algebra 2

BelowAlgebra 2

The level of content knowledge can be different between regions.

5

First College Math Course at a 2-year institutionStudents who Passed Algebra 2 in High School (H.S.)

H.S. Graduates 3 years of Cohort Data

Region A

55%

37%

7%

*

*

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DE Math

Inter. Algebra

Algebra

Pre-Calc

Calc/Other

Region B

44%

12%

43%

*

*

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DE Math

Inter. Algebra

Algebra*

Pre-Calc

Calc/Other

Different institutional policies can cause large differences in student experience.

6

First College Math Course at a 2-year institution Pass RatesStudents who Passed Algebra 2 in H.S.H.S. Graduates 3 years of Cohort Data

Location A

71%

57%

62%

*

*

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DE Math

Inter. Algebra

Algebra

Pre-Calc

Calc/Other

Location B

49%

41%

33%

*

*

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DE Math

Inter. Algebra

Algebra

Pre-Calc

Calc/Other

Different institutional policies can cause large differences in placement and success.

7

Starting College Developmental Education (DE) Course Level For Math StudentsTracked for Three YearsFTIC Fall 2006 Cohort

17.3%

27.3%

22.0%

9.1%

24.4%

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

No Math CourseTaken

Lowest Level ofMath DE

Medium Level ofMath DE

Highest Level ofMath DE

Credit BearingMath Course

58.4% of Students started in DE Math

Students that transferred to other institutions were removed from this report..

Institutional policies and lack of data resources can impact negatively impact students.

8

100%*

57.3%*

29.4%*

15.7%*8.5%*

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

All Students Passed LowestDE Course

Passed MediumDE Course

Passed HighestDE Course

Passed CreditCourse

Tota

l Stu

de

nts

Flow of Math Developmental Education Students Starting at the Lowest Level of Developmental Education

Tracked for Three YearsFTIC Fall 2006 Cohort

*All percentages are based on the total number of FTIC students that started at the lowest level of developmental education.

Students that transferred to other institutions were removed from this report.

Institutional policies and lack of data resources can impact negatively impact students.

9

• Form Regional Partnerships– Use feeder patterns to determine partners– Develop data sharing agreements– Coordinate data collection– Form subject area Vertical Teams (VTs)

• Increase P-16 Data Access– Generate regional reports– VTs review reports– VTs request data specific to regional needs

• Increase Understanding of Data– Train VTs to interpret data and reports– Formative evaluation of training– Modify training and reports

10

11

Regions

• El Paso

• Houston 1

• Houston 2

• Rio Grande Valley

• San Antonio

Number of Institutions

• 40 ISD’s

• 13 Community Colleges

• 9 Universities

12

Regional Coordinator

Secondary Co-Chair Postsecondary Co-chair

Secondary and PostsecondaryContent Team Members

12-15

Each Region has at least 4 content area teams.

13

• The heart of the Texas Pathways

• Meet once a month for ~2 hours

• Develop interventions and system policy change

• Complete work outside of team meetings

• Co-chairs (vertical team leaders) have numerous responsibilities

14

• Advise co-chairs on their duties and help them build leadership abilities

• Provide direct links to state and local educational leadership

• Ensure the teams needs are met

15

Senior Research Specialist(3/4 Time)

16

• Collects and stores all Pathways data

• Generates and writes all data reports for the vertical teams

• Provides all data training for vertical teams

• Evaluates content team interventions

• Provides technical support in the form of research and evaluation expertise

• Maintains and supports the statewide project

• Provides team website and data access portals

17

18

Strategies(Interventions)

Inputs Outputs Short-Term Impacts(1-4 years)

Form Regional Partnerships•Use feeder patterns to determine partners•Develop data sharing agreements•Coordinate data collection•Form subject area Vertical Teams (VTs

•THECB research staff•THECB data collection staff•Institutional research staff from regional partners•Regional partners program staff•Regional program director (regional coordinator)•Large data storage•Team start-up funds•Vertical Team Members

•# of regional partnerships•# of data sharing agreements•# of Vertical Teams•# of subject area curriculum revisions•# of systematic policy changes•↑ the # of secondary/Post secondary interventions•Team satisfaction•Regional Program director satisfaction•Regional partners satisfaction

•Subject area curricular alignment between post-secondary institutions and feeder high schools•↑ Postsecondary enrollment•↓ Developmental course enrollment•↑ College readiness assessment scores•↓ student’s educational costs •↑ Retention rates•↑1st year course completion•↑1st & 2nd year persistence rates•↑ communication and understanding between educational segments •↑ communication between regional and state policy-makers

19

Strategies(Interventions)

Inputs Outputs Short-Term Impacts(1-4 years)

Increase P-16 Data Access•Generate regional reports•VTs review reports•VTs request data specific to regional needs

•THECB research staff•Regional program director (regional coordinator)•Web designer•Secure data portal•THECB evaluation staff

•# of reports produced•# of special data requests•# of special reports produced•# of presentations to stakeholders•Data access satisfaction

•Improved P-16 data access•↑ Data-driven decisions• Improve statewide data reports based on Pathways information•↑ use of data sources outside of pathways

20

Strategies(Interventions)

Inputs Outputs Short-Term Impacts(1-4 years)

Increase Understanding of Data

•Train VTs to interpret data and reports•Formative evaluation of training•Modify training andreports

•Training materials•Trainers•VT members•Regional program director (regional coordinator)•THECB research staff•THECB Evaluation Staff

•# of trainings•# of people trained•Training satisfaction•Report satisfaction•Process satisfaction

•Improved understanding of P-16 data•↑ Data-driven decisions•Improve statewide data reports based on Pathways information• ↑ use of data sources outside of Pathways

21

• Increase graduation rates (secondary and postsecondary)

• Increase certificates and degrees awarded

• Increase transfer rates between 2-year and 4-year institutions

• Increase the number of STEM field majors

• Decrease time to degree

• Decrease credits to degree

• Comparable and valid metrics for all regions to inform state-level education decisions and policy

• Increase 3rd & 4th year persistence rates22

• Vertical team members with the time to solve problems

• Strong co-chair leadership

• Funds to start team interventions

• Increased training for vertical team members

• Decrease time to generate data reports

• Dedicated statewide program coordinator (1 FTE)

• Dedicated statewide program evaluator (1 FTE)

• Dedicated statewide researcher (1 FTE)

• Funds to expand23