Be Mindful of the Gap: Are Success Rate Gaps a Result of Student or Faculty Success?

R&E Project of the Year

Project Description:

California Assembly Bill AB705 provided De Anza College in Cupertino, California with an opportunity to mindfully scrutinize course success rates in order to maximize the probability that students entering university transfer-level coursework in English and math complete their coursework within one year. The College began to look at variability at the section level of the same course to begin to unpack how student, course, and instructor variables affect success rates. This new lens enabled the college to look deeper into student success rates and initiate conversations about faculty success as a factor in student success. Facilitating conversations about instructor-level success rates requires the college to collaborate with faculty to build an environment where faculty feel safe and supported and to help the college best understand the myriad of factors affecting course success rates.

This video describes some of the important elements and structure required to establish a shared vision for advancing student success and meeting state mandates associated with AB 705.