ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Higher Education Enrollments and Student Success in Times of Budget Scarcity: Examining System-Level Impacts in Recessionary Periods
Author: Wetstein, Matthew
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Higher Education,Enrollment Trends,Economic Climate,Financial Problems,College Transfer Students,Student Mobility,Educational Attainment,Pattern Recognition,Community Colleges,Context Effect,Systems Approach,Economics,Unemployment,Data Analysis,Resource Allocation,Decision Making,State Government,Fiscal Capacity,Time Perspective,Longitudinal Studies,Proprietary Schools,Competition,Student Recruitment

This study seeks to extend the literature on higher education enrollment patterns during times of recession by examining patterns of enrollment and successful course completion in one of the world's largest higher education systems--the California Community College system. The data are drawn from publicly available data sources on the web. CCC system budget data can be found on the Chancellor's Office website (CCCCO 2010). The CCCCO Data Mart was used to collect term-level data on head counts, enrollments in transfer courses and course success patterns. Economic data and unemployment statistics came from the California Employment. The authors begin by examining enrollment patterns during times of economic recession over the last 20 years. Figure 1 provides a snapshot of annual changes in CCC head count from 1992 to the fall 2010 term. To be more specific, the graph charts fall to fall, spring to spring, and summer to summer changes in the unduplicated term head count, so each academic year has three enrolment bars. In many of the terms, one can witness growth from year to year that tracks with California's growing adult population, and the state's budget fortunes--allowing for growth funding in the system budget. The downturns in enrollment track reasonably well with the three California recessions identified by state economists (June 1990 to May 1993, March 2001 to July 2003, and July 2007 to December 2009). The two largest drops in CCC enrollment occurred in the fall term of 2003 (-187,973) and the summer term of 2010 (-266,713), and both of those terms came immediately after the declared end of the two recessions. Community College veterans of the prior recessionary period (2003) can readily recall the massive number of course section reductions that occurred at that time and the loss in both head count and FTES. The CCC system office (CCCCO 2005, 11) reported at that time that a nearly 10% decline in unduplicated head count occurred in the 2003-04 academic year,an a decline of 4.3% in FTES enrollment. Beyond the reduced budget dollars flowing from the state, the 2003-04 period featured increased enrollment fees for students, with prices per unit of enrollment rising from $11 in spring 2003 to $18 the following year, and $26 beginning in fall 2004 (CCCCO 2005, 8). (Contains 1 figure, 4 tables and 2 footnotes.)
The Impact of Hidden Grades on Student Decision-Making and Academic Performance: An Examination of a Policy Change at MIT
Author: Harris, Gregory A.
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Higher Education,Grades (Scholastic),Access to Information,Educational Policy,Information Policy,Disclosure,Barriers,Context Effect,College Freshmen,Decision Making,Grading,Grade Point Average,Physics,Probability,Course Selection (Students),Academic Achievement

Colleges and universities work hard to create environments that encourage student  learning, and they develop grading policies, in part, to motivate their students to perform well. Grades provide two kinds of information about a student's abilities and learned knowledge: "internal" information that informs the students themselves about the university's assessment of their talents and competencies; and "external" information that informs faculty, other institutions, and potential employers about student performance. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), freshman grading policies were changed in the fall of 2002 in an effort to better prepare freshmen for the academic rigors of sophomore year and beyond. Prior to the 2002-03 academic year, all freshmen at MIT received "hidden" grades in "both" semesters of their freshman year. A hidden grade is a "letter" grade that is communicated to the student but is recorded as "pass/no-record" on the student's official transcript. Beginning in the fall of 2002, freshmen received hidden grades for the "first semester only" of their freshman year. Therefore, pre- and post-2002 freshmen received the "same" internal information on their grades in the second semester, but post-2002 freshmen were subject to this information being shared externally. In this study, I estimated the causal impact of MIT's having "hidden" versus "externally-shared" grades on subsequent student decision-making and academic performance by taking advantage of the natural experiment that was inaugurated by this policy change. I looked specifically at the impact of the grading-policy change on freshman spring semester GPA, credit units taken, the probability of declaring early sophomore status, and the probability of taking a more mathematically advanced version of Physics II. I found that freshmen with "externally-shared" grades, on average, earned higher GPAs, had a higher probability of declaring early sophomore standing, took slightly fewer credit hours, and had a slightly lower probability of taking a more rigorous version of Physics II, compared to freshmen with "hidden" grades second semester. Also, for three of my four outcomes, I found that the estimated effect of the grading-policy change differed by the level of a student's pre-college academic performance. (Contains 5 figures, 10 tables and 28 footnotes.) [For a related report, "The Impact of Hidden Grades on Student Decision-Making and Academic Performance: An Examination of a Policy Change at MIT," see ED525887.]
A Longitudinal Analysis of Outcomes Associated with Ohio's Postsecondary Enrollment Options Program
Author: Geise, Mary Jo
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Higher Education,Dual Enrollment,Statistical Analysis,Access to Education,Longitudinal Studies,Academic Ability,Student Motivation,College Readiness,Majors (Students),Student Participation,Influences,Sex,Ethnicity,Academic Achievement,Family Characteristics,School Holding Power

Dual enrollment programs, once created for the most advanced students, are now seen as a way to provide an accessible and affordable bridge to postsecondary education for a broader range of students. Research on the outcomes of such programs has been limited in scope and exists for only a few states. This quantitative study used Astin's I-E-O Model as the conceptual framework to analyze 10 years of postsecondary data from Ohio. Outcomes of traditional-aged students enrolled in the state university system who participated in Ohio's Postsecondary Options Program (PSEOP) were compared with students of similar academic ability who did not participate in this program. Key findings centered on attributes which were significantly related to PSEOP participation and outcomes to which PSEOP participation was a significant contributor. Gender, ethnicity, academic performance, and family characteristics were all related to the decision of whether or not to participate in PSEOP. Students that did participate in PSEOP showed this experience as a significant factor in choosing certain majors and had a statistically significantly shorter time-to-degree completion than those students who did not participate in PSEOP. Results from this study provide areas where participation in PSEOP could be improved to widen the access of higher education to a larger pool of students. (Contains 11 tables and 3 figures.)
Learner-Centered Assessment: A Comparison of Faculty Practices in US Colleges and Universities 1993 to 2004
Author: Webber, Karen L.
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Higher Education,Colleges,Evaluation Methods,College Faculty,Educational Practices,Time Perspective,Comparative Analysis,Program Effectiveness,Models,Statistical Analysis,Revision (Written Composition),Formative Evaluation,Oral Language,Classroom Environment,Student Evaluation,Performance Based Assessment,Peer Evaluation,Cooperative Learning,Student Projects,Service Learning,School Community Relationship,Educational Attitudes,Teacher Characteristics

Over a decade ago, Barr and Tagg (1995) declared that a shift had occurred in higher education from an instruction paradigm to a learning paradigm. A central element in this new paradigm is learner-centered assessment. While a growing body of literature suggests that this approach to assessment is a best practice in higher education pedagogy, it is still unclear whether faculty members have embraced it fully. Using data from the 1993 and 2004 &quot;National Study of Postsecondary Faculty&quot;, this study examines the extent to which faculty members employ learner-centered assessments in postsecondary classrooms and compares use of select assessments from 1993 to 2004. Findings show stable to increased use of some assessment techniques over the decade as well as differences by faculty gender, discipline, and institution type. Implications for faculty members, student learning, and institutional policy are discussed. A list of NSOPF Teaching Field Variables to Biglan Categories is appended. (Contains 5 tables.)
Forming and Using Peer Groups Based on Nearest Neighbors with IPEDS Data
Author: McLaughlin, Gerald
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Higher Education,Institutional Characteristics,Institutional Research,Institutional Evaluation,Institutions,Peer Evaluation,Evaluation Methods,Statistics,Benchmarking,Research Design

Institutional performance benchmarking requires identifying a set of reference or comparator institutions. This paper describes a method by which an institution can identify other institutions that are most similar to itself using a methodology that identifies the nearest institutional neighbors based on a balanced set of metrics accessed from IPEDS [Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System] data. The Nearest Neighbor methodology is robust and flexible; it is easy to understand and to explain to others; and it is a hybrid method integrating judgment and analytical techniques. Use of the method is discussed, and it is compared to other methodologies such as Cluster Analysis. (Contains 1 table, 6 figures and 3 footnotes.)
SAIR and NCAIR Best Paper: Academic Confidence and the Impact of a Living-Learning Community on Persistence
Author: Allen, David F.
Date: 2011-05-24
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Black Colleges,College Freshmen,Student Educational Objectives,Intention,College Transfer Students,Academic Achievement,Academic Persistence,Grade Point Average,Structural Equation Models,Summer Programs,Transitional Programs,Program Effectiveness,Educational Attainment,Educational Research

Academic confidence cultivated within the context of learning communities may be an important key to student success. This study examined the structural relationships of four constructs on academic performance and persistence for summer bridge learning community (SBLC) and non-SBLC members. Constructs included (1) student background, (2) academic confidence, (3) desire to finish college, and (4) intent to transfer. SBLC participants ended their freshman year with significantly higher GPAs and returned the following year at greater rates than non-SBLC members. Even though it was found that none of the constructs directly influenced persistence for either group, a significant direct effect of academic confidence on academic performance was found for SBLC members. This study demonstrates clearly that in spite of budgetary constraints, learning community models work; students in SBLCs generally show more positive outcomes (i.e., first year GPA and persistence to year two) than non-SBLC students. The statistical power of structural equation modeling is demonstrated and policy implications are discussed. (Contains 2 figures and 6 tables.)
Analyzing Multilevel Data: An Empirical Comparison of Parameter Estimates of Hierarchical Linear Modeling and Ordinary Least Squares Regression
Author: Rocconi, Louis M.
Date: 2011-05-23
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Regression (Statistics),Models,Least Squares Statistics,Data Analysis,Comparative Analysis,Computation,College Seniors,Student Characteristics,Institutional Characteristics,Majors (Students),Critical Thinking,Thinking Skills

Hierarchical linear models (HLM) solve the problems associated with the unit of analysis problem such as misestimated standard errors, heterogeneity of regression and aggregation bias by modeling all levels of interest simultaneously. Hierarchical linear modeling resolves the problem of misestimated standard errors by incorporating a unique random effect for each institution into the statistical model; moreover, the variability in these random effects is taken into account in estimating the standard errors. Until the advent of HLM, heterogeneity of regression had often been viewed as a methodological nuisance. However, the cause of heterogeneity of regression is often of substantive interest. HLMs enable a researcher to estimate a separate set of regression coefficients for each higher level organizational unit and then model variation among the higher level units in their sets of coefficients as multivariate outcomes to be explained by higher level factors. HLMs solve the problem of aggregation bias by modeling each level of the hierarchy with its own model. Today, many higher education scholars are rushing to use this new, sophisticated analytic procedure. This rush seems to be based on the assumption that HLM might yield substantively different findings than those from studies based on ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses. With this in mind, the current study investigates the different conclusions that may be drawn depending upon the type of analysis chosen. This paper focuses on the three types of analyses discussed above. The first analysis will be an OLS regression with the student as the unit of analysis, the second analysis will be an OLS regression with the student level variables aggregated to the institutional level with the institution as the unit of analysis, and the third analysis will be a three-level hierarchical linear model with student characteristics modeled at Level 1, characteristics about the major modeled at Level 2 and characteristics of the institution modeled at Level 3. Appended are: (1) Items comprising the variables used in the analyses and the construction of scales; and (2) List of Majors and Biglan (1973a, 1973b) classification. (Contains 8 tables.)
A First-Place Finish: The Use of Awards and Competition in Re-Energizing Your Retention Efforts
Author: Johnson, Mimi Evelyn
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Higher Education,School Holding Power,Change Strategies,Community Colleges,School Culture,Organizational Change,Competition,Awards,Technical Institutes,Ceremonies,School Personnel

According to the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (2010), the overall state average retention rate for fall 2009 was 65% for all institutions and 54% for two-year colleges in, particular. Trenholm State has a retention rate of 51% percent. Since 2002, the College's retention rate has increased from 37 to 51% percent as a result of its retention initiative. Throughout this eight-year process, it has been important to implement strategies for maintaining the momentum in retention. Several strategies were used to influence employees' commitment to retention initiatives, such as the Iron Grip Awards, modeled after the Oscars of the Academy Awards. The Iron Grip Ceremony was designed to recognize leaders in retention at the College. Several categories of awards were presented, such as &quot;The Superior Retainer Award,&quot; &quot;The Great Strides Awards,&quot; &quot;The Champion of Students Faculty Award,&quot; &quot;The Champion of Students Staff Award&quot; and &quot;The Keeper of the Students Award.&quot; Another strategy employed was the use of competition during the college-wide Noel-Levitz Connections Now: Customer Service web-based training. Teams were randomly created to compete for various prizes. Both of these strategies created a positive retention culture. The Iron Grip Ceremony is appended.
International Academic Success: Institutional Planning &amp; Analysis
Author: Hamilton, Kristen
Date: 2010-08-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Foreign Countries,Foreign Students,Academic Support Services,Program Effectiveness,School Holding Power,Academic Persistence,Prior Learning,Educational Experience,Grade Point Average,Predictor Variables

This study was requested by the Senate International Affairs Committee. The research questions included: (1) What factors affect the cumulative GPA (CGPA) of International students at TRU?; (2) What factors affect the retention of International students at TRU?; and (3) Are Student Success Courses among the significant factors for GPA and retention? The study included 6,051 International students who were enrolled at TRU from 1999/00 to 2009/10 (117 of whom took Student Success Courses). Participation in the Student Success Courses was not found to have a significant effect on either cumulative GPA or retention. The most significant factor affecting cumulative GPA was first term GPA; the most significant factor affecting student retention was cumulative GPA. Appended are: (1) Research Plan; and (2) Variables Included in the Analysis. (Contains 10 tables, 4 figures and 7 footnotes.) [This paper was prepared for the Senate International Affairs Committee.]
Student Swirl at a Single Institution: The Role of Timing and Student Characteristics
Author: Johnson, Iryna Y.
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Attendance,Dual Enrollment,Student Mobility,Instructional Effectiveness,Student Characteristics,Attendance Patterns,Enrollment Trends,Educational Finance,Politics of Education,Dropouts,Transfer Students,Stopouts,Classification,Student Attrition,Time to Degree

Back-and-forth enrollment at different institutions--student swirl--and concurrent enrollment at two or more institutions--double-dipping--have become common experiences for students in the United States. However, empirical studies explaining student mobility are rather rare. This study examines how student departures from and returns to a single institution are affected by college attendance elsewhere. The model presented here demonstrates that departure rates are higher for students concurrently attending another college. Return rates, on the other hand, are substantially lower for those students who attend other colleges after departure from the study institution. The effect of multi-institutional attendance differs by college type, with the effect of four-year out-of-state institution attendance being most pronounced. The simultaneous analysis of departures and returns provides the study institution with a more accurate and complete picture of student mobility. (Contains 5 tables and 5 figures.)
What Do We Measure? Methodological versus Institutional Validity in Student Surveys
Author: Johnson, Jeffrey Alan
Date: 2011-05-24
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Student Surveys,Graduate Surveys,Opinions,Universities,Construct Validity,Content Validity,Correlation,Factor Analysis,Scoring,Generalization,Statistical Inference

This paper examines the tension in the process of designing student surveys between the methodological requirements of good survey design and the institutional needs for survey data. Building on the commonly used argumentative approach to construct validity, I build an interpretive argument for student opinion surveys that allows assessment of the inferences and assumptions underlying the claim that an opinion survey item is a valid measure of a construct. I then evaluate the content validity of measures of program satisfaction and academic growth in Utah Valley University's 2010 Graduated Alumni Survey and 2009 Graduating Student Survey, surveys designed to maximize conformity with existing and legacy institutional priorities and demands. Using analytical assessment and empirical tests including response change across surveys, inter-item correlation, and factor analysis I show that UVU's surveys--and by implication, all surveys developed with primarily institutional validity in mind--are subject to grave challenges to the construct validity. I conclude by suggesting that effective operationalization of institutional priorities can bring together construct and institutional validity. AIR Forum Powerpoint Presentation is appended. (Contains 9 tables and 4 footnotes.)
Assessing a New Approach to Class-Based Affirmative Action
Author: Gaertner, Matthew N.
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Race,Universities,Income,Overachievement,Affirmative Action,Minority Groups,High Achievement,Identification,Barriers,Academic Achievement,Higher Education,Minority Group Students,College Admission,Disadvantaged,Program Implementation,College Applicants,Statistical Analysis,Public Colleges,Undergraduate Students,Socioeconomic Status

In November, 2008, Colorado and Nebraska voted on amendments that sought to end race-based affirmative action at public universities. In anticipation of the vote, Colorado's flagship public institution--The University of Colorado at Boulder (CU)--explored statistical approaches to support class-based affirmative action. This paper details CU's method of identifying disadvantaged and overachieving applicants in undergraduate admissions. Particular attention is devoted to the impact of putting this system into practice. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of implementing class-conscious admissions on the racial and socioeconomic diversity of accepted classes. In addition, historical data were examined to gauge the likelihood of college success for the beneficiaries of class-based affirmative action. Experimental results suggest low-income and minority students are more likely to be admitted to CU when class-conscious admissions criteria are used. Analyses of historical data suggest collegiate success for those admitted under class-based affirmative action is possible, although certainly not guaranteed. Such findings argue for the provision of robust academic support to these low-income, marginally qualified students once they arrive on campus. Appended are: (1) Visual Representation of the Disadvantage Index; (2) Visual Representation of the Overachievement Index (SAT); and (3) Parameter Estimates and Model Fit Statistics for the Disadvantage and Overachievement Indices. (Contains 5 tables and 7 footnotes.)
Exploration of Interstate College and Post-Graduation Migration in the United States
Author: Ishitani, Terry T.
Date: 2011-05-23
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: College Graduates,Education Work Relationship,Brain Drain,Migration Patterns,Occupational Mobility,Relocation,Student Mobility,Economic Impact,Institutional Characteristics,Cost Effectiveness,Educational Research,Economic Status,Student Financial Aid

Using national data, the present study first investigated interstate college migration. Unlike existing studies of interstate college migration, this study also tracked students to college graduation to explore their post-graduation migration, such as leaving to other states after graduating from in-state institutions and returning to home states after graduating from out-of-state institutions. While a single equation approach has been widely used in migration research, this study used multi-level logistic regression that is rather new in the area of institutional research. In addition to states' economic conditions, certain institutional characteristics were found to influence differently depending of types of migration. States by Region are appended. (Contains 5 tables.)