Development of a Measure of Career Skills-Building Students

KC Greaney, Santa Rosa Junior CollegeAlice van Ommeren, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office Ryan Fuller, California Community Colleges Chancellor’s OfficeKathy Booth, WestEd

RP Conference | April 2015

BackgroundShow the value of Career & Technical Education• Early college efforts: – Completer/Leaver Surveys

• Initial Statewide collaboration:– CTE Outcomes Survey– CCCCO “Salary Surfer” and “Wage Tracker”– Student Success Scorecard “CTE Completion Rate”

Challenge

How best to capture the successes of “Skills Builders” (not just Completers), showing the data for all colleges and statewide

• VERATAC (Vocational Research and Accountability Committee)– Statewide CCCCO advisory committee

Purpose• Identify a methodology for identifying Skills

Building students.• Establish Skills Building as a common pathway

for Career Technical Education (CTE) students.• Develop a Skills Builder metric to be added to

the Student Success Scorecard.• Also, provide a more detailed Skills Builder

tools in the DataMart.

Skills Builders Research• Classifying Community College Students (Bahr) • Identified in other studies (VanDerLinden) • CTE Outcome Survey (Greaney)• Analysis of Goal H students (Fuller)• The Missing Piece: Quantifying Non-Completion

Pathways to Success (Bahr & Booth)• Analysis of Skills-Builder students (VERATAC)

What do we know• Skills builders are a substantial proportion of

our student college population. • They do not always have traditional outcomes,

such as awards or transfer.• CTE (Career Technical Education) students are

a challenge to identify.• Wages have not been used as an outcome in

statewide accountability.

CTE Metric Challenges • Identifying a CTE /Vocational student – Student stated goal is not reliable– Inability to determine student behavior

• Defining success/completion– 1-2 vocational courses, leave college– Not capturing employment/licensing

• Students are not tied to Programs– Courses (CCN) are tied to programs (PCN)

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Student Educational Goal • On application, and updated during matriculation• There are 15 choices, including unknown• At matriculation (informed) more reliable • Traditionally not been used for creating cohorts:– Students often change their mind on goal– Exaggerate their goals for a variety of reasons– Counselor (updated) does not make it to CCC MIS

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Scorecard • Accountability framework for the CCCs– 2015 Scorecard, developed from ARCC (2007) –Original purpose, legislators and policymakers– Today, used for planning and effectiveness

• Characteristics of the metrics– Same students at each college, fair comparison– Developed to be “indicators,” not all students– Student identified by course taking behaviors

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Cohort Development• Student course taking patterns, based on units

and types of courses:– Transfer students – first time student, 6 units in

system, attempted transfer-level math or English– Remedial students – first time a student attempts

a remedial course

CTE Metric Cohort• More than 8 units during first three years of

enrollment at a college and/or anywhere in the system in a single discipline (2-digit vocational TOP code where at least one of the qualifying courses is occupational SAM A, B or C).

CTE Metric Outcome• Associate of Arts or Sciences Degree (AA/AS)• Credit Certificate (Chancellor’s Office approved)• Transfer Prepared (60 Units)• Transferred to 4-Year Institution (NSC Match)• Apprenticeship Completion (DAS/DIR Match)

Developing CTE Metrics• Reported student Education Goal not reliable

indicator for determining CTE students• Some threshold of CTE course taking should

be established to determine definition• Perkins CTE Core Indicators report used a

definition to develop cohorts• CTE metric was the first to be used in

statewide accountability system (scorecard)

Scorecard & Course Behavior• Scorecard cohorts based solely on past course

behavior.• Look back to determine inclusion into cohort

(example: completion cohort, look back 6 years, determine who had at least 6 units and attempted any Math or English).

• Those meeting criteria would then be included in cohort. How many completed outcome definition in some time period?

Skill Building Cohort and Outcomes

Skills Builders Cohort• Students completes at least one course (.5

units). Some number of these units must be a SAM A, B, or C course

• No longer enrolled after 1 year • Did subsequently not earn an award or

transfer to a four-year institution• Did not fail a course during the academic year• Wages in both time points

(1 year before & 1 year after cohort year)

Skills Builders Cohort

• N=86,3284% of total 11-12 enrollment

• Median Age —31• Median units earned (11-12 year) —4• 43% female/57% male• 12% Asian, 6% African American, 31% Hispanic,

42% White• % Vocational courses taken in 11-12 — 71%

Skills Builders Outcomes (Wages)

• Each time point (1 year before & 1 year after medians)

• % change between each time point median• Individual median change (change 1 year

before compared to 1 year after for every individual student)

• Individual median % change

Skills Builders Outcome (Wages)

Median Wages 1 year before enrollment (2010-11) compared to wages 1 year after (2012-13) inflation adjusted

$28,400 to $34,900 (22.8%)$5,100 median increase in earnings for individuals (15.1%)

Skills Builder Metric Display

Skills Builder Metric Display

Highest wages ‘1 year after’ by TOP Code

TOP Code 1 Year before 1 year after

Police Academy $87,119 $92,849

Fire Academy 81,991 87,660

Other Business and Management 77,034 81,144

Administration of Justice 75,152 80,906

Corrections 71,663 72,006

Surveying 64,262 70,534

Industrial Quality Control 75,545 67,900

Fire Technology 60,375 67,866

Educational Technology 64,876 67,201

Diagnostic Medical Sonography 47,126 61,772

Highest wages ‘1 year after’ by TOP CodeTOP Code % Change Median Median Change

Individuals

Police Academy 7% $8,359

Fire Academy 7 8,245

Other Business and Management 5 8,576

Administration of Justice 8 7,067

Corrections 0 4,321

Surveying 10 8,465

Industrial Quality Control -10 -3,801

Fire Technology 12 7,779

Educational Technology 4 4,376

Diagnostic Medical Sonography 31 9,541

Wages by CollegeCollege 1 Year before

Median1 Year After

MedianMedian Change

Individuals

Alameda $17,631 $24,388 $5,893

Allan Hancock 31,658 39,307 5,639

American River 46,490 53,562 6,332

Antelope Valley 15,230 20,763 2,778

Bakersfield 23,172 30,170 5,431

Barstow 18,151 24,039 4,876

Berkeley City 15,395 23,422 3,631

Butte 12,750 18,480 4,199

Cabrillo 18,144 25,265 4,274

Canada 24,833 28,685 3,245

How many skills-builders are there, by sector?Sector Skills-Builders

Public Safety & Protective Services 23,964

Small Business 19,426

Information & Comm. Technologies / Digital Media 13,362

Health 9,237Advanced Manufacturing & Advanced Technology 8,656Retail/Hospitality/Tourism 4,631

Agriculture, Water & Environmental Technologies 3,127

Advanced Transportation & Renewable Energy 2,555

Energy (Efficiency) & Utilities 813

Global Trade & Logistics 222

Life Sciences / Biotechnology 158

How many skills-builders are there, compared to completers?

Sector Skills-Builders Completers

Public Safety & Protective Services 23,964 8,185

Small Business 19,426 18,731

ICT/ Digital Media 13,362 6,803

Health 9,237 16,179Advanced Manufacturing & Advanced Technology 8,656 5,429Retail/Hospitality/Tourism 4,631 5,410

Ag, Water & Environmental Technologies 3,127 2,203

Advanced Transportation & Renewable Energy 2,555 4,222

Energy (Efficiency) & Utilities 813 1,285

Global Trade & Logistics 222 286

Life Sciences / Biotechnology 158 217

Are skills-builders earning more?Sector Earnings

ChangePercent

Gain

Global Trade & Logistics $ 6,034 27%Energy (Efficiency) & Utilities $ 6,694 27%Adv. Manufacturing & Advanced Technology $ 6,953 25%Health $ 4,517 25%Life Sciences / Biotechnology $ 7,579 24%Advanced Transportation & Renewable Energy $ 5,077 24%Retail/Hospitality/Tourism $ 3,839 19%

ICT/Digital Media $ 4,302 17%Small Business $ 3,624 17%

Ag, Water & Environmental Technologies $ 4,899 16%

Public Safety & Protective Services $ 7,305 11%

Are skills-builders earning enough?

Did skills-building courses made a difference in attaining a living wage?

• Insight Center for Community Economic Development living wages, calculated by region (for a single individual)

• Before coursework, skills-builders made a living wage in 31% of regional sectors

• After coursework, 65% of regional sectors made a living wage

Are skills-builders earning enough?Sector Median

earnings before

Median earnings

after

Public Safety & Protective Services $77,698 $83,325

Adv. Manufacturing & Advanced Technology $27,779 $36,227

Energy (Efficiency) & Utilities $24,652 $34,647

Ag, Water & Environmental Technologies $25,055 $32,319

Life Sciences / Biotechnology * $19,454 $31,960

Global Trade & Logistics $18,486 $29,683

ICT/ Digital Media $20,230 $26,729

Advanced Transportation & Renewable Energy $18,389 $25,176

Small Business $18,225 $23,140

Health $15,922 $22,932

Retail/Hospitality/Tourism $16,735 $22,205

What happens next?1) Download the statewide and regional guides with skills-builder figures from

the Doing What Matters website at http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/ForCollegeLeadership/Skills-builders.aspx

2) Connect with your regional Center of Excellence director to find out about

opportunities to participate in a multi-college conversation. 3) Read more about skills-builder research and view videos that explain skills-

builder pathways at http://doingwhatmatters.cccco.edu/ForCollegeLeadership/Skills-builders.aspx

4) Share the results of your conversations with Chancellor’s Office deans Gary

Adams (gadams@cccco.edu ) and Alice van Ommeren (avanommeren@CCCCO.edu)