Do Student Success Courses Actually Help Community College Students Succeed

Abstract

Many first-time college students arrive on campus unprepared to succeed in college. This is especially the case at community colleges, which pursue an “open door” mission of serving all students, regardless of prior educational background. According to a survey of degree-granting institutions by the National Center for Education Statistics (2003), 42 percent of entering first-time students at public two-year colleges in fall 2000 took at least one remedial course (or one “developmental” course; we use these terms interchangeably), compared to 20 percent of entering students at public four-year institutions. Among recent high school graduates who entered higher education through community colleges in the mid-1990s, over 60 percent took at least one remedial course (authors’ calculations based on the National Education Longitudinal Survey of 1988 [NELS: 88]). Underpreparation is typically viewed in terms of deficiencies in students’ basic academic skills, specifically in those skills integral to the reading, writing, and mathematics subject areas. Community college educators maintain, however, that many entering students are also unprepared in other important ways. It is widely believed that many students have poor study habits and lack clear goals for college and careers. Some experts contend that helping students address these non-academic deficiencies is just as important as helping them acquire basic academic skills through remedial classes, which typically do not address issues such as study skills, goal setting, and the like (Boylan, 2002; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991). In response to this increasingly acknowledged need, community colleges now offer “student success” courses that teach students how to write notes, take tests, and manage their time; that help students explore their learning styles; and that encourage students to develop plans for college and careers (Derby & Smith, 2004). A wide spectrum of students may find these courses useful. Although such courses are not themselves considered to be remedial, sometimes colleges require that they be taken by students who need academic remediation. Student success courses have certainly become wellestablished. Indeed, several publishers offer textbooks for these courses, in some cases allowing colleges to customize the course material with institution-specific information such as support services available on a given campus. Student success courses, and their effectiveness, are the focus of this Brief. Despite the prevalence of these courses at community colleges, little research has been conducted on their effectiveness. Recently a research team headed by Dr. Patricia Windham at the Florida Department of Education compared the outcomes of students who completed a student success course — which in Florida is known as a “student life skills,” or “SLS,” course — with those of students who did not take or complete such a course (Florida Department of Education, 2006). They found that SLS course completers were more likely than non-completers to achieve one of the following three indicators of success: earning a community college credential, transferring to the state university system, or remaining enrolled in college after five years. Results of this study are shown in Figure 1. Among students who needed at least one remedial course, those who passed an SLS course were more likely to achieve these milestones than were those who did not take or complete an SLS course. The same pattern holds for students who were required to take remedial courses in all three subject areas — students who are generally plagued by high rates of failure. In Florida’s 28 community colleges, SLS courses are open to all students, but some of the colleges require that certain students take them. According to an earlier study (Florida Department of Education, 2005), 13 colleges have no requirement that any particular students take an SLS course; it is, rather, an elective course. Most of the other colleges tie a requirement to enroll in SLS to enrollment in developmental courses, although the rule varies in terms of which, and how many, developmental courses students need to enroll in before they are required to take SLS. One college requires all students NUMBER 36 JUNE 2007 ISSN 1526-2049