Student Success - Success of Developmental Students in Gateway Courses

Success of Developmental Students in Gateway Math measures students who successfully completed developmental math in the given fall semester and subsequently successfully completed college-level math before the end of the following fall semester. Harper’s success rate increased to a high of 92.7% in fall 2016, but since then has decreased to 82.1% in fall 2019. The current success rate remains higher than earlier rates and well above the improvement target of 73.0-74.0%.

A large percentage of students enter Harper college-ready in math, which leads to smaller numbers of students enrolling in developmental math and then enrolling in gateway math (151 students in fall 2018). Smaller numbers of students contribute to increased variability in results from year to year.

Success of Developmental Students in Gateway English measures students who successfully completed developmental writing in the given fall semester and subsequently successfully completed a college-level English course before the end of the following fall semester. While Harper’s success rate has fluctuated, in fall 2018 it increased to 75.4% which was above the 64.5% success rate for fall 2017. This percentage however is still below the improvement target of 77.0-78.0%.

A relatively small number of students enroll in developmental writing each year, leading to a smaller number of students enrolling in developmental writing and then enrolling in gateway English (134 students in fall 2018). Smaller numbers of students contribute to increased variability in results from year to year.

Success in 0-15 Courses measures success rates (C or higher) of students enrolled in the identified high enrollment and lower than average success rate courses, known as the 0-15 courses, during the given fall semester. Success in these courses increased in fall 2019 to 70.6% and is above the improvement target of 68.0-69.0%.

In early 2018, the success rates in large enrollment courses were analyzed to determine if new courses need focused attention. As a result, an updated 0-15 course list was created, allowing Harper to focus on the current high-enrollment, lower than average success courses. The 2020 target has been set for the “original” 0-15 courses, however the “updated” 0-15 courses has been included since 2018.