Tulsa Community College Concurrent Enrollment Programs EXCELerate Pilot Project: Final Analysis Abstract This report presents a final overview and analysis of the EXCELerate Pilot, a Tulsa Community College (TCC) concurrent enrollment program conducted in conjunction with Tulsa Public Schools and Union Public Schools. Incorporating data from academic year (AY) 2010‐2011 through AY 2014‐2015, the report highlights broad student demographics as well as data for each pilot exception granted for the study. Tulsa Community College offers recommendations that are based on the data and that target student success, persistence, retention, and graduation. The report identifies costs incurred, best practices learned, and modifications desired. TCC also includes data and narrations from the participating high school districts. Additionally, the report contains related topics including a synopsis of the grant‐funded student support projects, the pilot’s possible effects on first‐time entering freshmen and financial aid, and an overview of concurrent enrollment’s impact on developmental education. 1 Contents Background ............................................................................................................................ 1 Universal Student Findings .................................................................................................... 4 Participation ........................................................................................................................ 4 Persistence and Matriculation .............................................................................................. 5 Demographics ...................................................................................................................... 7 Free and Reduced Lunch ...................................................................................................... 9 Analysis of the EXCELerate Pilot Exceptions ......................................................................... 9 Pilot exception 1: Broadened Admissions ............................................................................ 10 GPA Admissions ................................................................................................................. 17 ACT Admissions .................................................................................................................. 21 Plan Test Admissions ......................................................................................................... 22 Pilot exception 2: Sophomore admissions ........................................................................... 24 Pilot Exception 4: Academic Probation Semester ............................................................... 26 Pilot exception 5: High School Faculty ................................................................................. 31 Pilot exception 6: Remediation ............................................................................................. 33 Financial Analysis ................................................................................................................. 40 Limitations of the Study ...................................................................................................... 42 Union Public Schools Narrative .............................................................................................43 Benefits ..............................................................................................................................43 Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 44 Lessons Learned / Future Recommendations ..................................................................... 45 Tulsa Public Schools Narrative ............................................................................................... 46 Timeline............................................................................................................................. 46 Benefits .............................................................................................................................. 47 Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 48 Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................ 49 Future Recommendations .................................................................................................. 49 Course History ................................................................................................................... 50 Best Practices ..................................................................................................................... 51 Additional Documents added to the enrollment packet ...................................................... 51 Tulsa Community College Narrative .................................................................................... 54 Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 54 2 Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................ 54 Future Plans ....................................................................................................................... 56 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 58 Appendix A TCC Concurrent Enrollment Programs (CEP) Guidelines ................................. 59 Appendix B Concurrent Enrollment Site Visit ....................................................................... 67 Appendix C Student Support Projects ................................................................................. 68 Appendix D College Algebra Learning Communities ............................................................ 75 Appendix E Tulsa Achieves.................................................................................................... 79 Appendix G High School Teacher Credentials ..................................................................... 84 3 Background In early 2010 the Tulsa P‐20 Council, an action committee composed of a cross section of community, non‐profit, public school, technology center, and higher education leaders, examined the high dropout rates in the Tulsa Public School (TPS) system. During the discussions, many public school superintendents in Tulsa County noted the positive impact that concurrent enrollment had on the performance and persistence of their students. The Council, therefore, advanced an objective to increase accessibility to higher education for all students, including students enrolled in concurrent and dual enrollment programs. The Council agreed that removing transportation, financial, and policy barriers was necessary to broaden student access to higher education through concurrent enrollment. One of the Council’s strategies was to request that the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education (OSRHE) broaden the concurrent enrollment admissions policies to reach a wider range of students. Dr. Ric Baser, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of TCC, developed and proposed policy exceptions, which were approved by the TCC Board of Regents and submitted the request to the OSRHE for consideration. Although requested in April 2010, the exceptions were not approved until September 2010, which delayed the implementation of the EXCELerate pilot at Tulsa Public Schools and Union Public Schools (UPS) until spring 2011. Because the fall 2010 student cohort had already been admitted under normal concurrent enrollment policy, OSHRE subsequently approved a one‐semester extension to allow the collection of data for four full semesters. OSRHE approved an additional policy exception in April 2012 to allow the use of the ACT Plan for admission. Additionally, a one‐ semester term extension was granted to prevent “stranding” student participants in the middle of an academic year, resulting in a five‐semester pilot. Subsequently, in April 2014, the State Regents approved a request to continue the pilot for a period of two years to conclude spring 2016. In the summer of 2015, Tulsa Community College requested that data collection cease with the spring 2015 semester to allow ample time to analyze the data and submit the outcomes to the State Regents. While the P‐20 Council and TCC supported the expansion of the concurrent program, it was fully understood that further study was required prior to considering OSRHE policy implications. Each institution collected data for analysis at the end of the pilot in order to determine program success. Dr. Juanita Gamez Vargas, Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma’s Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department was asked to provide assistance with all research components including: research design, data collection, and data analysis. Dr. Vargas submitted a pilot review and conclusions in the “Concurrent Enrollment: Impact Study of EXCELerate Pilot Project” submitted to the Oklahoma State Regents in November 2013. Approval of the policy exceptions and a financial agreement between TCC, TPS, and UPS created an unprecedented opportunity for students to enroll in a dual‐credit college course(s) delivered on high school campuses during the regular school day for