A recent article from Insider Higher Ed tells the story of an institutional researcher at the Community College of Beaver County and the effects of his exploration into CCBC’s courses with the highest failure rates. By identifying these courses Brian Hayden started a campus-wide discussion that resulted in a number of policy changes that have positively influenced the educational outcomes of numerous students. You can read the details here (and they are worth reading!) but what really makes me happy is seeing a great example of how the work we do in insitutional research really does make a difference 🙂
I thought this was a great example of trying to use data to help students.
On a side note, it’s entertaining to see how on the web, the comments quickly turn to semi-irrelevant, soapbox attacks on one thing or another. In this case: feminism, ethnic studies, liberals, conservatives…..
But the main thing is, this article is food for thought for me. Tthanks for posting, Betty.
This should be rephrased into one of our commandments:
Joe D. Forrester, president of the college, said that it is important for presidents “to share the data” but not to try to explain to faculty what they mean, or to impose an immediate solution to any problems identified by the data. He said that faculty members will come up with good policies, as they did at Beaver County, if data are shared in ways that are not accusatory and do not lead to micromanaging.
Of course, if you’re invited to try to explain what’s going on, that’s another story.