Reframing At-Risk to High Potential:
Supporting the Achievement and Success
of Multicultural, First Generation and
Underprepared College Students
Monterey Peninsula College
January 25, 2012
Thomas Brown
tom@tbrownassociates.com
A good workshop provides
information with which you agree.
A better one offers information
you can use.
Knowledge is not power….
Saber
Entender
Sentir
Escoger
y Hacer!
ThinkingFeelingDOING!
Fulfilling the Promise of the
Community College
Co-editors
 Thomas Brown
 Margaret C. King
 Patricia Stanley
Co-sponsored by
4
Today’s session
 Examine challenges and successes in
increasing persistence of multicultural, first
generation, and underprepared community
college students
 Discuss barriers to students success
 Share effective theoretically based practices—
individual and institutional
 Solve the Mideast crisis!
The American formula for success
consists of five pillars:
The first pillar is providing public
education for more Americans.
That Used to Be Us
Tom Friedman &Michael Mandelbaum, 2011
Community colleges have gone
from being the stepchild
to being the golden child…
Dr. Frank Chong, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Community Colleges, 2011
The Challenge
Community colleges have a more
complicated and more difficult retention
pathway because they are likely to attract
students who are less-college ready than
those who attend the four-year sector….
Linda Serra Hagedorn, President
Iowa Association for the Study of Higher Education, 2010
Some at-risk groups in education
First-generation/Low SES students
Adult and re-entry students
Student with disabilities
Student-Athletes
First-year students
Undecided students
LGBTQ students
Students of Color
Underprepared students
Veterans
Transfer students
Multiple issues…
First-generation/Low SES AND ALSO…
Adult and re-entry students
Student with disabilities
Student-Athletes
First-year students
Undecided students
LGBTQ students
Students of Color
Underprepared students
Veterans
Transfer students
Treating students the same may be
equal treatment,
Treating students the same may be
equal treatment,
but it is not equitable treatment.
Human beings seek to economize on
the energy required to make
distinctions.
Most houseplants die
because we treat them all
the same.
Context for this session…
Forty percent of new students are the
first in their families to attend college.
(National Center for Education Statistics, 1996, 1998, 2001)
Often, they are not as academically or
socially prepared as others and are
prone to drop out.
Watson Scott Swail, President
Educational Policy Institute
Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/19/04
Context for this session…
The majority of community
college students are academically
underprepared to achieve
success.
Schuetz & Bailey, 2008
Some Americans Are Much Less Likely
to Graduate From College:
Bachelor’s degree earned by age 24
Young People From
High SES Families
75%
Young People From
Low SES Families
9%
SES is a weighted variable developed by NCES, which includes parental education levels and
occupations and
family income. “High” and “low” refer to the highest and lowest quartiles of SES.
Source: “Family Income and Higher Education Opportunity 1970 to 2003,”
in Postsecondary Education Opportunity, Number 156, June 2005.
Context for this session…
National Graduation Rates
Community Colleges
28%
MPC Graduation & Transfer Rates*
50%
(2007 Entering cohort)
*National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
MPC Graduation & Transfer Rates
White
Hispanic/Latino
Asian/Pacific Islander
Black
27%
25
21
11
Source: NCES
Context for this session…
MPC Strategic Goals & Objectives, 2010-14
Goal 1: Promote academic excellence
and student success
Goal 2: Promote diversity throughout
the institution
Engagement Matters
The more contact students have with their
teachers [and peers], the more likely they are
to learn effectively and persist toward
achievement of their educational goals.
Through such interactions, faculty members
become role models, mentors, and guides
for continuous, lifelong learning.
Community College Survey of Student Engagement
(CCSSE)
Engagement Matters…
When community college students described
occasions when they considered dropping out
and didn’t, they typically referred to a strong early
connection to someone at the college.
Very often, they even offered a person’s name…
McClenney, 2011
Colleges are more likely to blame
student attrition on students….
What Works in Student Retention, 2004, 2010
 We build beautiful campuses,
 We hire excellent faculty and staff,
 We develop a challenging
curriculum…
then the “wrong” students show up!
What happens to students after
they enroll frequently has a more
powerful impact on whether they
stay and achieve their goals or
leave.
Leaving College
Vincent Tinto 1987, 1993
Community colleges care less about
who we enroll and more about what
happens to students as a result of their
having been with us….
Dr. Patricia Stanley
Past Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges
January 4, 2010
While students must accept
responsibility for their own success or
failure, institutional actors, particularly
faculty members, also bear individual
and collective responsibility for student
outcomes.
Achieving Equitable Outcome for All Students
AAC&U, 2005
Why do students leave college?
Isolation
Inability to connect with
significant members of the
campus community…
Attributes/calidades of an environment
that supports students who are at-risk:
Intentional
Structured
Proactive
Increasing engagement and persistence
Student success is not an accident – it is
the result of intentional activities taken by
individuals and institutions.
A Model for Ensuring Student Success
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year and beyond
Need for Information
Changing
Needs
Creamer, 2000;
Need for Consultation
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year and beyond
Need for Information
Changing
Needs
Moving In
PRESCRIPTIVE
Need for Consultation
Moving Through
Moving On
DEVELOPMENTAL
Lynch, 1989; Brown& Rivas, 1994; Creamer, 2000
Changing Environment & Changing Students
1st Year
2nd Year
3rd Year and beyond
Need for Information
Changing
Needs
Need for Consultation
Moving In
MPC
Moving Through
MPC/S
MPC/S
Moving On
S/MPC
S
MPC = Faculty, counselors, academic advisors, etc.
S = Student
PRESCRIPTIVE
DEVELOPMENTAL
Lynch, 1989; Brown& Rivas, 1994; Creamer, 2000; Brown, 2006
Students usually have a realistic
understanding about the demands of
academic work and what is required to
be successful in their classes. (n = 1587)
Strongly agree/agree
13%
Disagree/strongly disagree
69%
Brown Survey of Faculty
Do students understand what is
required to be successful in college?
I am rolling on the floor!!!
Brown Survey
How much time do community college
students spend preparing for class?
21 or more hours per week
12%
10 hours or less
66%
CCSSE, 2007
I have to teach students how
to study before I can get to
course content…
Faculty Member
Odessa Community College
Chapter 4: Reframing At-Risk to High
Potential: Supporting the Achievement and
Success of Underprepared Students
Thomas Brown, Managing Principal
Thomas Brown & Associates, LLC
Dr. Mario Rivas, Professor of Psychology
Merritt College
There are within each of us
the seeds of who we might
become.
Thich Nhat Hanh
The task of the excellent teacher is
to stimulate "apparently ordinary"
people to unusual effort. The
tough problem is not identifying
winners: it is in making winners
out of ordinary people.
K. Patricia Cross,
Professor of Higher Education Emerita
University of California, Berkeley
Community colleges are on the
frontlines of US higher education,
providing opportunities to countless
Americans who would otherwise be
denied access….
Dr. Mario Rivas & Tom Brown
New Directions for Community Colleges, 1993
Community colleges make
winners out of ordinary people.
Leslie Koltai, 1993
The mission of the community college
presupposes that in order for students
to succeed, they must be engaged with
educators who believe in the capacity
of all students to develop and learn!
Rivas and Brown, 2011
While faculty and staff may be
committed to student success, most
institutions have a fragmented
approach to responding to student
needs.
Sperling, 2009
They are more likely to blame student attrition on
students!
Professional development is critical
to faculty and student success
Today’s teachers have more pressure
on them than ever before. They need
the most comprehensive and relevant
training available to enhance their own
skills and their students’ abilities
Dr. Richard Malena, Director of Education
Mesa Community College
From a psychological perspective,
under-preparedness may stem from
low-self efficacy, or the sense that
one has little control over thoughts,
feeling, and actions conducive to
success.
Bandura, 1985
Educators need to create
trusting relationships with
students.
Vasti Torres, et al., 2006
Stereotype Threat
Arises when students are in
situations where their performance
could result in their being reduced to
a stereotype, where they could be
judged by a stereotype, or where
judgments about them could be
made based on a stereotype.
Professor Claude M. Steele
Stanford University, 1995
Stereotype Threat
Black students can be reticent in
the classroom because if they
make a mistake, it can be taken
as a stereotype and confirm their
being academically inferior.
Steele 2010
Example: Lupe’s reason for not speaking
up in class even when she feels that she
knows answer and wants to speak.
“If I answer wrong, they’ll all laugh at
me…and think I’m stupid.”
“Soy
estupida!”
“ I start getting nervous because all the eyes are on me!”
Stereotype threat has also
emerged as a possible cause of
the inequalities women face upon
entering majors and careers
dominated by men, such as
science, math and engineering
Steele, James, & Barnett, 2002
Schools can eliminate some of the
stereotype tension by building
trust between teachers and
students and protecting student
identities and confidence in the
classroom.
see: http://reducingstereotypethreat.org
Many non-traditional students want
their doubts [dudas] erased about
their being capable of learning….
This is especially true for first
generation students, Hispanic and
African American students….
Laura Rendon
Transforming Students Through Validation
Success appears to be
contingent on whether [faculty
and staff] can validate
students in an academic or
interpersonal way.
Laura Rendon, 1994, 2001
Optimism is a better predictor of first-year
college grades than SAT scores or high
school grades.
Martin Seligman
University of Pennsylvania
OPTIMISM…
Having a strong expectation that things will
turn out all right, despite setbacks and
frustrations.
Optimism can be learned.
I scored 700 on my SATs and I
have a Ph.D. in Biology from the
University of California….
Dr. Robert Urtecho
College of the Sequoias (CA)
Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral
Barriers to Student Success
 Low ability attributions
 Ego vs. Task involvement
 Reluctance to seek assistance
Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral
Barriers to Student Success
 Low ability attributions
 Ego vs. Task involvement
 Reluctance to seek assistance
Attributions
1.
2.
Explain reasons for successes or
failures,
Influence expectations, future
efforts, persistence on educational
tasks, etc..
Brown & Rivas, 1997, 2004, 2011
Attributions are beliefs
1.
2.
Explain reasons for successes or
failures,
Influence expectations, future
efforts, persistence on educational
tasks, etc..
Brown & Rivas, 1997, 2004, 2011
Ability Attributions…
By the time students reach high
school, they generally believe that
ability is a relatively fixed,
unchangeable capacity.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1983
Ability Attributions…
By the time students reach high
school, they generally believe
ability is a relatively fixed,
unchangeable capacity.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 1983
Undermining Attributions
Negative thoughts about ability
& task difficulty that can inhibit
students’ “direction, strength,
and persistence of behavior
toward a goal.”
Attribution Theory of Achievement and Emotion
Ability
Perception
Feeling
Low
Shame &
Doubt
Task-Difficulty Goal Expectancy
High
Helpless
Hopeless
Low
Give up
(Drop out)
Weiner, 1972 & 1977
“I am not smart and don’t belong in
college!” “No soy inteligente.” “Soy bruta!
The Power of Emotions
Emotions have a powerful effect on
the student achievement behaviors:
“ Siempre estoy nervioso/a en clase y
no quiero participar!”
“ I’m always nervous in class and I don’t
want to participate!”
Latina community college student
African American men report
being stereotyped based on the
styles they wear, such as baggy
jeans, braided hairstyles, or gold
jewelry.
Terms of Engagement: Men of Color Discuss Their
Experiences in Community College. MDRC, 2010
But they did not allow these
negative attitudes and racial
stereotypes to hinder their pursuit
of higher education and career
goals.
MDRC, 2010
A critical element in increasing
student success:
Help examine and challenge low
ability and high task-difficulty
attributions (beliefs)—ours and theirs.
“I can’t do Calculus….”
“Those students
can’t do Calculus….”
Is there “Math DNA?”
A “Calculus gene?”
What Background is required
for success in Calculus
Pre-Calculus
Algebra/Trig
Algebra
Basic Math
What Background is required
for success in
Reading
Writing
Accounting
Biology, Chemistry, etc.
Other developmental or
Gateway courses
Shift attributions (beliefs)
from ability to background
preparedness.
Students’ attributions and those
of faculty and staff.
It’s not enough to change
what we do,
we must also change what we
believe.
The fixed mindset limits achievement
 It makes effort disagreeable
 Leads to inferior learning
strategies
 Makes other people into judges
instead of allies.
Carol Dweck, 2008
Cognitive, Emotional, and Behavioral
Barriers to Student Success
 Low ability attributions
 Ego vs. Task involvement
 Reluctance to seek assistance
Task versus Ego-Involvement
Ego involvement- negative emotions
occur and undermine achievement
because students are focused on
comparing themselves to others
rather than task of developing
competence.
Compare and despair….
The Challenge
SHIFT students from
Ego-Involvement
to Task-Involvement…
Rivas 0-100% Competence Method
100
Break the Task Into
Do-able Components
0
Task versus Ego Involvement
100
100
95 Ideal others
40 Shame, despair, anger
frustration, fear, etc.
0
0
Ego Involvement
(Focus on Comparison to Others)
“Compare and Despair”
Task versus Ego Involvement
100
100
95 Ideal others
80
40
0
Task Involvement
(Focus on Task)
Shame, despair, anger
40 frustration, fear, etc.
0
Ego Involvement
(Focus on Comparison to Others)
“Compare and Despair”
Task versus Ego Involvement
100
100
95 Ideal others
80
40
0
Shame, despair, anger
40 frustration, fear, etc.
0
Task Involvement
Ego Involvement
Task-involvement creates hope and confidence (belief
in self) as progress is made toward competence goal!
Change meaning of “failure”
 Human
 Natural
 A critical part of learning and
development
 A test of resilience
Help students see faculty as resources
for learning rather than punishing judges.
Carol Dweck, 2008
The 0-100% Teaching and Advising
Method to support students to share
the responsibility for learning and to
shift from a focus on grades to a
focus on mastery.
0-100% Learning Model
100
Sedulous
0
0-100% Learning Model
100
Sedulous
Adjective:
Painstakingly
persevering
0
0-100% Learning Model
100
Sedulous
Adjective:
Painstakingly
persevering
Maria was sedulous: she
never gave up despite
the frustration and pain
often associated with
becoming an
0 effective/successful
learner.
Breaking Calculus into Do-Able
Components
100
80
0
Identify a level of
competence that the
student wants to achieve,
(e.g. “80”) and then break
the task into “ do-able
component parts…”
0-100% Learning Model
Focus on the Task
100
Competence Goal
85
Calculus 1
45
Current Performance
Level
0
0-100% Learning Model
Focus on the Task
100
Competence Goal
85
Gap
45
Current Performance
Level
0
0-100% Learning Model
Focus on the Task
100
Competence Goal
85
Not 0-100
45
Current Performance
Level
0
Breaking Basic Writing Into
Do-able Components
100
80
40
}
Paragraphs
Vocabulary
Sentence
Structure
Grammar
Reading prompts
Spelling
0
When student sees task in do-able steps which can be mastered with effort, there
is increased hope because the goal is do-able and achievable.
Comments?
Questions?
Challenges?
Successes?