SF Instructor studied SLS coursework and graduation rates over 35 year period

October 2, 2014

Last spring, Bruce Tucker, associate professor and coordinator of SF's leadership Institute, conducted a study at Santa Fe College about SLS coursework and graduation rates over a 35 year period. The study and results were summarized in a short article, published below. For more information, contact Bruce Tucker at bruce.tucker@sfcollege.edu.

Study of the Impact of SLS, Life Skills Classes, on Graduation Rates

Bruce Tucker                                                                    Poorya Shidfar

Ph. D. - Purdue University                                             M.S. - University of Florida

Instructional Research and Development                   Mechanical Engineering

Professor of Student Development Instruction          Assessment Coordinator of Institutional Research

Santa Fe College                                                                 Santa Fe College

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to see if the graduation rates were higher for students who successfully completed SLS, Student Development Instruction, classes when compared to students who never completed a SLS, Student Development Instruction, class. The results indicate this to be true.

Purpose of the Study:

An ongoing discussion in many colleges concerns the relevance and effectiveness at the college level of life skills courses, often described as "soft skills classes". Many people hold the perspective that these courses provide little academic benefit, and are often easy classes used by students to boost their GPA's, but should not be emphasized in the college curriculum. A significant issue at this time in academics is the success and retention of students in college. Those who teach life skills classes are confident that these courses do benefit students in more ways than just succeeding in college, but also are very relevant to a student's ability to successfully engage in lifelong learning, a priority and value in education today, as well as function more successfully in their careers. Those who view such courses with a more negative view often claim that these courses cannot be justified with anecdotal stories from individual students and from those who teach these classes. Solid statistical proof is demanded. In the past such research was done demonstrating academic success followed students who successfully completed life skills classes, but those studies are often set aside as outdated. While one could make the case that longitudinal studies have showed continued success, and that there is no reason why this pattern would drastically change in the last few years, the need for more current data has often been cited as a reason to set aside those earlier studies. The purpose of this study is to see if life skills courses do have a positive impact on the graduation rates of college students at the community college level.

A Brief Review of the Research:

There are several examples that support the benefit of college students completing life skills coursework. Let me highlight just a few. Sung-Woo Chi and Melinda Karp published a study in 2013 that demonstrated that, "Students who enrolled in a student success course in the first semester were more likely to earn any college level credits within the first year and were more likely to persist to the second year. The study also finds that students who were referred to developmental education were more likely to earn any college-level credits within the first year if they enrolled in a student success course in their first term."[i]

Schnell and Doetkott discovered that students who completed a freshman seminar persisted in greater numbers than those who did not take the seminar.[ii]

A. Michael Williford, Laura Cross Chapman, and Tammy Kahrig conducted a longitudinal study covering ten years at Ohio University to evaluate the effects of orientation classes on student performance, retention and graduation. "In most years of the study, participating students' year-end GPAs were higher than nonparticipants, retention rates were higher, and four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates were higher."[iii]

Dr. Patricia Windham at the Florida Department of Education studied the impact of life skills classes, SLS courses, on students. This study is one of the more relevant studies in determining the benefit of SLS classes on student success in college, and similar to the study that I conducted. Those students who completed a SLS course were compared to those students who did not. Those who completed the SLS courses were more likely 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.[iv]

A report released in 2005 by the Division of Community College's and Workforce Education and the Office of Student and Academic Success indicated that the academic success rates for students who had completed life skills coursework, identified as SLS classes, when compared to students who had not taken life skills classes, were more successful. The study was based upon 36,000 community college students, 1,300 were Santa Fe College students. Academic success was determined by continued enrollment, transfer to other colleges, and student awards.

Design of the Study:

All students who matriculated in the fall semester of 2008 at Santa Fe College and who were not transferring into Santa Fe College from another institution were followed for five years through the spring of 2013 to determine their graduation rates. Students were not randomly assigned to this study, but every student in the college meeting the requirements of the population being studied were included in the study. A five year span was chosen because of the varying characteristics of community college students, many of whom attend college part time because of their ages, backgrounds and employment situations. The specific dates for this five year span were chosen because the study ended before the change initiated by the Florida legislature affecting developmental education coursework was implemented. The number of students in this study who met the criteria was 2,135 individuals. One cohort was comprised of all students who never enrolled in a life skills course at Santa Fe College. The courses identified for the purpose of this study were from the department of Student Development Instruction. Those courses were: SLS1101 – College Success, SLS1260 – Basic Leadership Skills, SLS 1269 –Introduction to Personal Leadership, SLS1301 – Life and Career Development, SLS1531 – Standards of Academic Progress, SLS1601 – Living Effectively, and SLS2261 – Leadership Development Studies. A second cohort comprised those students who had successfully completed one SLS course, and a third cohort were those students who successfully completed two or more SLS courses. Successful completion was defined by the student earning a grade of "C" or better. This study also reviewed the impact of students who were taking college preparatory classes as well.  The graduation rates of the various groups were determined and compared with each other. While many factors may affect graduation rates, keeping the primary variable single and simple over the entire population would minimize the effects of those other potential confounding variables.

The Results of the Study:

The graduation rates of these cohorts demonstrated that those who successfully completed SLS classes had a much higher graduation rate than those who did not.  The graduation percentages are listed as follows:

                        Without an          With one          With one or more         With two or more

                                    SLS class             SLS class         SLS classes                 SLS classes

 

Total Students                  1,166                      703                     969                                 266

Number Graduating       374                        290                    436                                 146

Percent graduating         32.08%                 41.25%             44.99%                            54.89%

Comparisons were also made with those students in developmental education classes, and the impact of SLS courses on their graduation rates. This is particularly relevant because many students in what are called prep classes also take SLS courses. Of the 2,135 students in the study 810 graduated. What impact did those SLS classes have on graduation rates of prep students? Those prep students in each cohort who completed SLS coursework comprised a greater percent of the graduates in each cohort.

       Students without    Students with    Students with    Students with

       SLS class               one SLS class    one or more       two or more

SLS classes       SLS classes

 

The percent of students                     34.21%                   36.69%              39.73%              47.74%             

who were prep students

 

Total number of students                  374                                    290                   436                   146

who graduated

 

Students who were in                        47                          57                     106                   49

prep classes who graduated       

 

Percentage of the graduates                12.56%                   19.65%              24.31%              33.56%

who were prep students

Percentage of prep students               11.78%                   22.09%              27.53%              38.58%             

who graduated from the

population of prep students

 

Conclusions:

The two cohorts comprising students who took one or more SLS classes had much higher graduation rates than the cohort where students took no SLS classes. While the percentage of students who completed one SLS class was 9.17% greater than students who did not complete any SLS classes, the statistical increase for students completing one SLS class was 28.58%. While the percentage of students who completed two or more SLS classes was 22.81% greater than students who did not complete any SLS classes, the statistical increase for students completing two or more SLS classes was 71.10%. These numbers are very significant. Even more significant is the fact that the cohort where students took two or more SLS classes had a much higher percentage of students who were enrolled in prep classes, and yet still had much higher graduation rates. This was in spite of their initial educational deficit. Furthermore, the more SLS classes one completed, the higher the graduation rate. I once heard it said that SLS classes should be few and limited because students may take more SLS classes as electives, and not take a more "academic" curriculum. However, the evidence indicates that taking more than one SLS class will actually increase graduation rates even further. Therefore, providing multiple, attractive, and varied course offerings in Student Development Instruction is not a negative practice, but quite the contrary, a significant benefit to the student success and graduation rates. Moreover, SLS classes had a very positive effect on students in developmental education classes. In the cohort where students enrolled in no SLS classes, the percentage of those students who were in prep classes, and who graduated in that cohort was much less than the percentages of prep students who graduated in the two cohorts who did take SLS classes, demonstrating that one, and more importantly, more than one SLS class produced better graduation rates for those students in developmental education programs.