Ray Kaupp, Ed.D., MBA
Director, Workforce Development 2.0
Cabrillo College
Frebruary 22, 2012
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Online Penalty: The Gap Between
Latino and White Student
Achievement in Online Classes
• Latino sociocultural perspective
• Equivalency
• Online outcomes
• Methodology
• Findings
• Discussion and implications
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Genesis of the study
• Relevant literature
Frebruary 22, 2012
Agenda
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Technology executive, second career in post-secondary
education, experienced applying technology to solve
problems
• California community college student success rate in
online is 5 points lower than face-to-face
(Nather, 2007)
• Costanza study of 12 transfer classes revealed
broadening of achievement gap in online classes
(Kaupp, 2009)
Frebruary 22, 2012
Genesis of the Study
Frebruary 22, 2012
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Achievement Gap Exacerbated in
Online Classes
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Motivation: “willingness to ‘show up’ online makes
a huge difference”
• Technology: “it probably has to do with familiarity of
the technology”
• Language: “online students need to be able to
read . . . written text better”
• In other words . . . student deficits, rather than
institutional deficits!
Frebruary 22, 2012
Institutional Response?
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Sociocultural construct of educación central to Latino
student success (Bartolomé, 2009; Valenzuela, 1999;
Rendón, 2002)
• Web 2.0 can support the relational approach (O’Reilly,
2005)
• Equivalence has been operationalized as equivalence of
elements, not outcomes
• Online classes are “as good (or as bad) as face-to-face
education.” (Zhao, Lei, Yan, Lai, & Tan, 2005)
Frebruary 22, 2012
Review of the Literature
• May 2005 to July 2009
• Only classes offered online and face-to-face, same semester,
same campus, where the student was enrolled
• Only Latino and White students
• Student attributes: Ethnicity, gender, goal, age, education level
• Course attributes: Transfer, vocational, basic skills
• 4.5 million records of grade earned
• Qualitative
• Interviews with 10 Latino students enrolled in online classes Fall
2010
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Quantitative
Frebruary 22, 2012
Methodology: Explanatory Mixed Methods
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Frebruary 22, 2012
Aggregated Data Confirms Other Studies
F2F Enrollment
Latino
White
OL Enrollment
Latino
White
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Example: Students with goal to update job skills had 2.33 average
grade in online, vs. 2.30 in face-to-face
Frebruary 22, 2012
Key finding: Enrollment skew
masked online penalty
• Transfer goal students, 14.3% of enrollments are not in transfer
level classes
• Vocational goal students, 63.6% of enrollments are not in
vocational classes
• Underprepared students, 96.8% of enrollments are not in basic
skills classes
• Analysis performed of outcomes for students in classes
that were aligned with their goals
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Misalignment varies by goal
Frebruary 22, 2012
Student Goal and Courses Not Always Aligned
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Frebruary 22, 2012
Key finding: Online transfer classes exacerbate LatinoWhite gap
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Frebruary 22, 2012
Key finding: Online penalty in vocational classes is
largest for Latinas
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Frebruary 22, 2012
Key finding: No gap, no online penalty for
GED/HS diploma students in basic skills classes
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• There was an online penalty that varied based on ethnicity, gender, goal,
and type of class
• Because the online penalty was more severe for Latinos, online classes
exacerbated the achievement gap
Frebruary 22, 2012
Summary of Quantitative Findings
because I have a computer. I also use my laptop on
a daily basis. I first used a computer in elementary
school.”
“I’ve played Playstation, the original Nintendo, then
Super Nintendo, then Play Station 1, and then from
there PS2, and then from there, Xbox 360, and I
haven’t gotten anything else since.”
“I’m always on the computer. I’m comfortable with
computers like I can play my own personal games, using
Word, Excel, a couple of other programs, Access, and
the Internet such as browsing and online courses,
shopping, social networks (Facebook).”
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
“I have email on my phone but I don’t use it
Frebruary 22, 2012
Qualitative finding: Participants were highly
capable with technology
nobody explained it to me, so in a way, yeah, more homework, but
since you’re kind of doing the homework, which is class work, it
kind of evens itself out in a way.”
“I think I have way more interaction in the face to face class. Normally you
don’t really talk to other people when you take an online class.”
“I believe the material is equally as hard. It’s harder in the sense that
you have to be on top of yourself. You don’t have a set class time
with a teacher to tell you what your homework is. It’s your
responsibility to look it up and get it done with enough time. That
aspect is harder. It’s easier because you don’t have to worry about
being somewhere at a certain time.”
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
“I think it’s going to be a little more reading and stuff since
Frebruary 22, 2012
Qualitative finding: Participants were realistic in
their expectations of online classes
question and she would talk to you like an idiot for not knowing.”
“There was no relationship between the teacher and the students
in the bad class . . . He was trying to give us information. Not
necessarily teaching it. there’s a difference. There really is.”
“ . . . why do I need to think like him to know the answers? I
shouldn’t have to think like him to answer the correct answer, I
should have to think about what information that I know … not
what tricks is he going to use in the question. That was torture.”
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
“The teacher didn’t like answering questions. You would ask a
Frebruary 22, 2012
Qualitative finding: Prior bad classes characterized
by poor relationships with instructor
out . . . he was just a really good teacher and it seemed like he
liked what he was doing.”
“I literally got 100% and turned in all my homework and never
missed a class. Just because I had a really great teacher. I had his
class six years ago I don’t think anyone actually dropped that
class.”
“I enjoyed the conversations that we had in class it was just so
different [The instructor] would ask us stuff. He asked us to
participate. He asked us what we thought. I’ve had teachers, if
they thought that you weren’t paying attention, would ask you
what you thought. He wasn’t like that.”
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
“I felt like he was someone that I could easily open up to without
being judged . . . he engaged everyone, he didn’t single anyone
Frebruary 22, 2012
Qualitative finding: Prior good classes
characterized by good relationships with instructor
“I would submit things and I would feel like it was never enough.
And then when you tried to communicate, you would get really
small responses. I know he must be really busy, but I think that
was the only class online that I didn’t really have a relationship at
all in.”
“I think if there is going to be a person . . . grading and setting up
the syllabus and all of that for the class, I think they should have
more of a connection with their students, as opposed to setting it
up and just letting them go do it.”
“I never met the guy. I don’t know if he is a good teacher or not.”
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
“I feel like I don’t get to know the instructor as well as if I were in
a classroom situation.”
Frebruary 22, 2012
Qualitative finding: Online classes characterized
by bad/nonexistent relationships
“I just let her know [about missing a deadline], and I emailed it to
her and told her and she said just go ahead and do it . . . she’s
very understanding. We have a good relationship, I think, [even
though] we haven’t met in person.”
• If student expectations are not high
“ . . . we email back and forth, and just when we need to. I think
she has been sick for a while, but it’s not bad, from an online
instructor.”
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Based on a prior relationship online
Frebruary 22, 2012
Qualitative finding: Online instructor-student
relationships can be workable
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• There was no evidence of Latino student deficits,
previously cited by instructors and administrators
• Student participants validated the importance of mutually
respectful relationships to success in their education
• Relationships were largely absent in participants’ online
classes
Frebruary 22, 2012
Summary of Qualitative Findings
• Other ethnicities will likely have different findings
• No measure of SES available
• Use of grade as measure of outcome
• large standard deviations (~1.5 grade points)
• Broader issues around grading variations
• No data on quality of course or instructor
• We know quality of instruction is the greatest determinant of
student success
• Small self-selected sample for interview participants
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Focus on gender, goal, Latino and White students only
Frebruary 22, 2012
Limitation of the Study
• From “What is it about these students that makes them fail?” to
“What is it about our program this isn’t working for these
students?”
• Equivalence should be based on outcomes, not
elements
• Online instructor quality needs improvement
• Training, certification, community of practice
• Online classes should be part of an integrated program
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
• Institutions must reframe program evaluation questions
to explore equity implications
Frebruary 22, 2012
Discussion and Recommendations
Ray Kaupp
rakaupp@cabrillo.edu
(831) 295-2590 (txt & voice)
Frebruary 22, 2012
Foothill-DeAnza CCD
Thank you for your interest!