Evaluating minority retention programs: Problems encountered and lessons learned from the Ohio science and engineering alliance

White, Jeffry L.; Altschuld, James W.; Lee, Yi Fang

doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2008.03.006

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Although few methodologically rigorous assessments of STEM-specific opportunity and support programs in higher education have been published (Gándara and Maxwell-Jolly, 1999), a handful of studies assess these programs' impact on student outcomes. This section focuses on these programs that have been the focus of empirical literature while acknowledging that this list is not exhaustive and many other programs exist that have not been empirically evaluated using rigorous research methods (see, for example, Institute for Higher Education Policy, 2009;White, Altschuld, and Lee, 2008). We caution again that these studies are limited, as they do not assess which aspects of these programs are or are not effective.…”

Section: The Impact Of Stem-specific Opportunity and Support Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

2011

ASHE Higher Education Report

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The primary purpose of this monograph is to provide educational researchers, policymakers, and practitioners with an overview of existing knowledge regarding factors that influence success among racial and ethnic minority students in the STEM circuit. To accomplish this task, we reviewed more than four hundred books, book chapters, journal articles, and policy reports related to this topic. The remainder of this opening chapter discusses the current condition of racial and ethnic minorities in STEM education, paying particular attention to racial disparities throughout the circuit. It also discusses the role of race in the experiences of racial and ethnic minorities in STEM. The following two chapters provide a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of the literature on the precollege and college-level factors that influence the success of students of color in the STEM circuit. The final chapter presents the Racial and Ethnic Minorities in STEM (REM STEM) model, which emerged from our review of the literature, to serve as a framework to guide future research, policy, and practice. This concluding chapter also offers implications for future research, policy, and practice. Key Concepts and DefinitionsBefore we begin our analysis and synthesis of existing literature on racial and ethnic minority students in STEM education, it is critical to define key concepts and note important limitations of the volume. This section delineates and defines terms related to race, ethnicity, and STEM education. In defining these concepts, we aim to establish clarity and consistency in our word choices and the meanings that we attach to them.

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Section: The Impact Of Stem-specific Opportunity and Support Programsmentioning

confidence: 99%

2011

ASHE Higher Education Report

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Section: A Program Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…6,[10][11][12] The influence of different characteristics on URM student success is of interest to institutions and programs that support the increased recruitment and retention of minority engineers. 6,[13][14][15] Within retention studies, summer bridge programs are a popular focus for their potential to positively influence persistence and degree completion goals. Published evaluation efforts of bridge programs provide useful descriptive information, [16][17][18][19] and more research-oriented studies introduce experimental designs 9,20,21 to explore the impact of these initiatives.…”

Section: A Program Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 In addition, minority retention issues in STEM are complex phenomena, compounding the research and evaluation challenge. 6 While the need for more qualitative studies to understand these complex nuances is evident, there is also a need for more rigorous quantitative work. For example, in a review of 28 Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) projects, although studies were primarily quantitative or mixed methods designs, the focus was on participation numbers and graduation rates of URMs in STEM with no experimental designs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in a review of 28 Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) projects, although studies were primarily quantitative or mixed methods designs, the focus was on participation numbers and graduation rates of URMs in STEM with no experimental designs. 6 Tinto 7 argues for improved assessment and evaluation efforts so that program staff can translate retention impact data to other audiences for broader program growth and institutional support. Staff being unable to produce empirical evidence and experimental designs supporting the fact that investment in their programs leads to achievement of long-term institutional outcomes "undermines their ability to generate the sorts of long-term funding that is essential to program institutionalization" (p. 10) However, for the general staff member or practitioner with budget and time restrictions, producing internal reports or publishable studies of the relevant and needed work they are doing can prove to be a daunting task.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Description of the Statistics Behind Analyzing Performance Data: A Five-year Study of a Summer Bridge Program for Incoming URM Freshmen

Stwalley

Zephirin

Dickerson

et al.

2015 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Proceedings

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during which time the organization experienced membership growth and strong metric focus towards goal attainment. ). This program was designed to address transition issues experienced by URM students entering a majority institution through a rigorous simulation of the first semester engineering experience, in part by providing these students with a core of support from their peers to prevent the social isolation that often hinders URM success. A five-year analysis was performed on the incoming F'08 -F'12 cohorts of the program to determine its value to incoming students (n=90). The paramount success metric of this program was the improvement of the first year retention rate of the URM population, thus removing the previously observed disparity. A potential secondary benefit would be increased academic performance in the gateway courses presented in the camps, thus improving their first term GPA. This paper will explain the two methods of statistical analysis that were used to compare first year retention rates and first term GPAs of the three populations: URM students who took the ABC, non-attending URM students, and majority students who did not take the ABC. The Independent Population Method took all students from each population to determine statistical differences between the retention and GPAs. These determiners of student success were also compared using a Matched Pair Method, where each ABC student was matched with one student in the other two populations. This allowed comparisons of similar students with regard to demographics; incoming metrics from Core GPA and test scores; and first semester courses.The Independent Population Method was able to show some significance when comparing the Academic Boot Camp against the other populations. The Matched Pair Method removed differences generated by comparing populations of greatly differing sizes. This method resulted in an improved comparison between the ABC and URM populations for retention comparisons and removed the significance of the majority and ABC first-term GPA comparison. The authors hope to aid program administrators in conducting similar analyses of their programs by providing a detailed walk-through of how results were reached.

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The assessment cycle: Insights from a systematic literature review on broadening participation in engineering and computer science

Holloman

Lee

London

et al. 2021

J of Engineering Edu

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Background: In the field of engineering education, assessment and evaluation have been given insufficient attention as they relate to broadening participation. We posit that this lack of attention negatively impacts our ability to develop and implement sustainable solutions at scale. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore the presence of an assessment cycle in the literature related to broadening participation in engineering. The assessment cycle refers to the process by which assessment/ evaluation is planned, enacted, and used to improve educational processes.Scope/Method: The scope of this study was influenced by it being situated in a larger study focused on broadening participation of Black Americans in engineering and computer science. We completed a literature map that illuminated a subset of literature broadly related to assessment/evaluation, and subsequently conducted a systematic literature review of 33 publications reporting on assessment/evaluation efforts. Our analysis of these efforts was grounded in a six-stage assessment cycle. Results:The results of this study highlight common publishing practices related to the assessment cycle in the context of broadening participation. We find that assessment/evaluation is generally published at the program level, focused on student development or academic success as a proxy for program effectiveness, and concentrated on positive claims. Conclusion:There is room to significantly improve how assessment/evaluation information is published. By highlighting productive and unproductive publishing practices related to assessment/evaluation, this research has important implications for the use and publishing of assessment/evaluation, particularly as it relates to broadening participation in engineering.

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Evaluating minority retention programs: Problems encountered and lessons learned from the Ohio science and engineering alliance

Cited by 11 publications

References 10 publications

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Table of Contents

A Description of the Statistics Behind Analyzing Performance Data: A Five-year Study of a Summer Bridge Program for Incoming URM Freshmen

The assessment cycle: Insights from a systematic literature review on broadening participation in engineering and computer science

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