Student Services Program Review-Spring 2010 - Shasta College

4. Retention and SuccessWe examined retention and success of students across the three comparisongroups as an additional outcome subject to the Early Alert program. Students whowere identified for an alert had lower retention and lower success rates than theircounterparts. Interestingly, students who were alerted but remained in the classhad lower success rates than other students. Students in classes of instructorswho participated in the Early Alert program but who were not identified as needingan alert, had success rates generally higher than those of students in courseswhere the instructor did not participate in the alert. This finding suggests that oneof the criteria instructors used to identify students for an alert was poorperformance in class and/or on assignments.One difference between the 5 th and 10 th week cycles is that students alerted in the10 th week cycle had higher retention rates than those alerted in the 5 th week cycle.This finding is simply due to timing; if the student stayed in class until the 10 thweek, s/he generally stayed in the course until the end of the term.Table 12A: Student Retention and Success by Alert Cycle – 5 th WeekNone07-08 08-09Fall Spring Fall SpringWeek5Week5 Alert NoneWeek5Week5 Alert NoneWeek5Week5 Alert NoneWeek5Week5 AlertAll N 31,808 2,469 400 32,618 1,214 141 32,814 3,966 376 34,804 3,078 493Retained Mean 84.9% 85.1% 59.7% 86.5% 87.2% 67.6% 83.6% 82.8% 53.4% 87.5% 86.4% 58.2%Success Mean 67.4% 70.3% 17.7% 68.7% 72.2% 32.4% 68.5% 69.7% 21.0% 69.5% 73.9% 18.8%Table 12B: Student Retention and Success by Alert Cycle – 10 th WeekNone07-08 08-09Fall Spring Fall SpringWeek10Week10AlertNoneWeek10Week10AlertNoneWeek10Week10AlertNoneWeek10Week10AlertAll N 34,215 397 65 30,799 2,661 513 34,206 2,470 480 34,670 3,109 596Retained Mean 84.6% 88.8% 70.3% 87.1% 84.3% 60.6% 83.4% 86.0% 60.0% 87.4% 86.3% 71.8%Success Mean 66.8% 81.1% 32.8% 69.3% 72.2% 18.0% 68.1% 78.2% 21.8% 69.5% 76.8% 15.6%5. SummaryThis preliminary analysis of the Early Alert program suggests that the program isregarded by students as a signal that they are not performing well, and aninducement to drop the problematic course. Yet, because the success rates forthose alerted students who do not drop is not 0, some students are taking the alertas a signal to work harder in class.- 36 -