Learn how to use the Postsecondary Data Partnership Outcomes Institution-Level dashboard to measure the relationship between preparedness and six-year completion rates.
Transcript
In this tutorial, we demonstrate how to use the PDP Outcomes institution level dashboard to measure the relationship between preparedness and six-year completion rates.
The Outcomes Institution-Level dashboard reports the completion rates and other outcomes for students by the cohort year in which they first enrolled Outcomes include students who earned either a certificate, associate degree, or bachelor’s degree or are still enrolled in college.
Let’s use this dashboard to answer this research question: What is the difference in 6-year completion rates between students who were prepared for college-level courses and those who weren’t?
Because we want to compare students based on their preparedness for college-level coursework, there are two metrics that we should study.
The first metric is Math Preparedness, or Math Prep, for short. Student data are coded as either ready for college-level Math courses or not. If students’ level of math preparedness is not known, they are coded as unknown. The second dashboard metric is English Preparedness which has similar codes.
Now, let’s navigate to the PDP Outcomes Institution-level dashboard. Since we’re interested in six-year outcomes, let’s change our Outcomes timeframe to six years and use Chart Settings to remove the five most recent cohorts from the report.
First, let’s look at math preparedness. To understand differences in completion rates between student groups prepared, we need to add a dimension. To do that, click on “Edit” which opens Chart Settings. Select “Math Prep” from the Dimension drop down and click "Apply Settings".
Now the line chart has a line representing the completion rates for students who were not ready for college-level math, one for students who were ready for college-level math, and one for students whose status was unknown.
Let’s remove the data for those whose status is unknown since it won’t help us understand the impact of preparedness. To do that, click on “Edit” which opens Chart Settings. Click on “Math Prep” and deselect “Unknown” then click "Apply Settings".
Now we’re ready to review the results. The six-year completion rate for students ready for college-level math was 10.8% compared to 2.1% for students who were not prepared for college-level math. We also find that both completion rates have declined over time.
In addition, the gap in completion rates has widened from 7-percentage points in 2015-16 to 9-percentage points in 2017-18.
Now, let’s explore English Prep. We need to remove the Math Prep filter, change the dimension to English Prep, and remove those students whose English preparedness is unknown.
The six-year completion rate for students ready for college-level English was 13% compared to 1.0% for students who were not prepared for college-level English.
We also find that the gap in completion rates has narrowed from 14-percentage points in 2015-16 to 12-percentage points in 2017-18.
Let’s summarize what we learned through this exploration. We found that students who enter college prepared for college-level work are more likely to complete a credential within six years compared to students who are not ready for college-level work. And second, the difference in completion rates between these student groups is greater for English preparedness compared to math preparedness.
How could this information be helpful? You could share this information with those responsible for developing support systems for students who are underprepared for college level work to start conversations about ways to better support these students. We hope you use your institution’s dashboards to better understand your most vulnerable student populations.
Thank you for joining us.