ELAC Educational Master Plan - East Los Angeles College

36%. There appears to be no difference in the rate at which students delay taking the next course in the
sequence based on their previous grade. Although there have been suggestions that students delay taking
courses in their sequence, it appears that a large majority of students are entering directly into the next
course in the sequence without delay. The data suggests that delaying taking the next course in the
sequence lowers the success rate in the next course dramatically. This impact occurs regardless of the
grade in the previous course.
Grade in
Math 115
Took Math 125 Next
Semester (N = 1554)
Subsequent Success by Grade: Math 115
Took Math 125 Two
Semesters Later (N = 223)
Took Math 125 Three or
Four Semesters Later
(N = 66)
Retention Success Retention Success Retention Success
A 92.9% 82.8% 85.1% 63.8% 77.8% 55.6%
B 79.6% 53.9% 80.0% 35.7% 57.9% 26.3%
C 72.8% 38.4% 64.2% 26.4% 65.5% 13.8%
Total 80.1% 54.6% 73.5% 37.2% 66.7% 28.8%
The majority of students who passed English 26/57 attempted English 28 in the next semester (79.5%).
Students who received an A in English 26/57 were slightly more likely to take English 28 the next
semester compared to students who received a B or C in English 26/57. Very few students waited three or
four semesters to attempt English 28. Overall, both success and retention rates in English 28 showed a
positive approximately linear relationship to grades in English 26/57 (e.g., students who received an A in
English 26/57 had a higher success rate in English 28 than students who received a B in English 26/57).
Also, students who waited two or more semesters to attempt English 28 had lower success and retention
rates than those who took English 28 the next semester. This effect was most evident in students who
received a B or a C in English 26/57. There is a somewhat strange pattern for students who got an A in
English 26/57 and waited two or more semesters to take English 28. Their English 28 success rates were
86.5%, 75%, and 90%, if they took English 28 the next semester, two semesters later, or three to four
semesters later, respectively. This may be due to two reasons. First, there was a smaller sample size of
students who received an A in English 26/57 compared to those who received a B or C. Second, the vast
majority of students who got A’s in English 26/57 took English 28 the next semester. So, the number of A
students who waited two or more semesters to take English 28 may have been too small to accurately
measure retention and success rates.
English 26/57
Grade
Subsequent Success by Grade: English 26/57
Took English 28 Next
Took English 28
Semester Two Semesters Later
(N = 952)
(N = 171)
Took English 28 Three or
Four Semesters Later
(N = 74)
Retention Success Retention Success Retention Success
A 94.5% 86.5% 87.5% 75.0% 90.0% 90.0%
B 89.8% 74.0% 88.6% 68.6% 87.1% 51.6%
C 82.5% 61.1% 79.2% 58.4% 75.8% 57.6%
Total 87.4% 70.5% 84.2% 64.9% 82.4% 59.5%
14 Page Educational Master Plan 2012