Design, Sites, and Data Sources
The SSPIRE Initiative included the following nine community colleges from California:
- American River College (Sacramento County)
- College of Alameda (Alameda County)
- De Anza College (Santa Clara County)
- Merced College (Merced County)
- Mt. San Antonio College (Los Angeles County)
- Pasadena City College (Los Angeles County)
- Santa Ana College (Orange County)
- Taft College (Kern County)
- Victor Valley College (San Bernardino County)
These nine colleges created a variety of different and innovative methods for integrating academics and student services (often in complementary combinations), such as providing more personalized, targeted counseling and tutoring services; revising curricula and training faculty to increase student engagement; providing students with book vouchers and other incentives to help them succeed and persist in their classes; offering summer bridge courses to give new students an introduction to college life; and creating a single place where students can come to study, meet with peers and student leaders, and approach faculty in an informal setting. In five of the colleges, these approaches were associated with or embedded in “learning communities” — cohorts of students who take several linked courses together.
As part of the evaluation of SSPIRE, MDRC conducted annual visits to each of the colleges to interview administrators, faculty, staff, and students, and to observe classrooms and other campus activities. The qualitative data gathered during these field visits supplemented outcome data (such as enrollment rates, grades, and rates of certificate or degree completion) that the colleges each collect and report to Cal-PASS, a student data-sharing system used by K-16 institutions across California. The nine SSPIRE colleges also participated in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) and a faculty survey in order to better understand college practices and student behaviors and experiences and to compare faculty perceptions with those of students. (The CCSSE is administered at many community colleges nationwide to assess student learning experiences.)
