Family Involvement for Latino Success in College: A Family-Centered and Community-
Based Approach to Latino Student Access, Persistence, and Retention
Mountain View College
Dallas County Community College District
Evaluation Plan
Revised
June 2007
Project Goal and Objectives. The goal of the 2006-2009 FIPSE grant is to increase
Latino student access, persistence, and retention through participating community
colleges. For clarity within the evaluation plan the following definitions will be applied.
Definition of Terms
Access means that students will demonstrate increased awareness of college services,
processes, and opportunities
Community-based refers to the enlistment of resources and opportunities offered by
community organizations to promote student academic success in college.
Family-centered refers to the integration of one or more key family members of Latino
students into student success initiatives throughout their academic experiences in college.
Family Involvement Model (FIM) is a replicable model that incorporates family
involvement within the instructional process of collegiate courses.
Key family member is a person in a Latino student’s family whose decisions affect the
successful achievement of that student’s academic goal.
Performance grade is a grade of A, B, C, D, or F awarded at the end of the course.
Persistence means the completion of course with a performance grade.
Retention means enrolling in and completing course work beyond the family
involvement course
Project Objectives and Their Measurement. Objectives of the “Family Involvement
for Latino Success in College” Project address Latino student access, retention, and
persistence as a result of key family involvement in courses,
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1) Latino students will demonstrate increased access of college services, processes,
and opportunities, measured by the results of their completion of pre-test and post-
test surveys.
2) Latino students will demonstrate retention by completing course work beyond the
family-involvement course at a higher level than those first-generation Latino
students not enrolled in the family involvement course.
3) Latino students will demonstrate persistence by the completion of the family-
involvement course at a higher level than those first-generation Latino students not
enrolled in other credit courses.
Evaluation Design. Project evaluation starts at the beginning of the program and will
illustrate effectiveness, implementation of the project, outcomes and performance levels,
and the extent and type of institutionalization of new practices that have taken place.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Family Involvement in Academic Courses.
Components of the Quasi Experimental Research Design. Information will be collected
about the Latino students enrolled in the credit classes involved in the Project and will be
extracted from the District’s Datatel’s Colleague system. Colleague is an integrated
information technology system incorporating student, staff, and financial data. It is
designed specifically for higher education and used by the DCCCD. The integration of
the systems provides the colleges with the capability to share information across the
District. Other institutions using Colleague or similar database systems will be able to
adapt this tracking model for their institutions. The evaluation of the project will measure
the retention of the students involved as evidenced by their enrollment in subsequent
college courses and their persistence in the supporting project courses.
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Non-Experimental Measures of Evaluation. Faculty, advisors, and staff will be
involved in the use of a variety of survey instruments, including: student satisfaction
assessments, classroom-based research techniques, and focus groups. Quantifiable
outcomes will include measures by pre- and post-comparisons and achievement of stated
goals. Student and instructor feedback and opinion will be used to monitor and track
satisfaction, provide feedback on workshops and activities, solicit ideas, and compile
results for program evaluation, improvement, and monitoring.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Colleges in Instituting the Program.
Formative evaluations of the Project will allow any areas identified as needing
improvement to be addressed immediately. Formative evaluation will allow for
adjustment of objectives and schedules, reallocation of resources, and revised managerial
decisions made by the Project Administrator and college administrators based on
preliminary evaluation results. Summative evaluations of the Project will be conducted
at the end of each grant year focusing on the accomplishments toward the specific
objectives for that year. Final summative evaluations of the Project will be conducted
at the end of the project and will focus on total accomplishments relevant to objectives
and institutional goals. It is projected that the evaluation process put in place will
continue after the formal termination of the project.
Project Evaluator. The Project Evaluator will serve throughout the duration of the
Project and work with the Project Administrator and other designated Project
members each semester for the improvement of instruction and student services.
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Responsibility of the Project Evaluator: (1) Meet each semester with the Project
Administrator to coordinate evaluation activities at the colleges. (2) With the
cooperation with the Project Administrator, select or design and develop the
instruments appropriate for evaluating student access, persistence, and retention. (3)
Compose periodic formative and summative reports of findings for use by the Project
Administrator and other college personnel in revising learning and support activities
and services. (4) Attend the national FIPSE Conferences, as required, with the Project
Administrator. (5) Participate with the Project Director and Project Administrator in
national conferences during the grant period. (6) Review data for and draft the final
summative project evaluation and submit it to the Project Director at the end of the
grant period.
Expected Outcomes: Likely Impact. With the successful completion of the "Family
Involvement for Latino Success in College Project," a model will be placed across the
colleges that address course-based approaches specifically including the family in the
instructional process. This model should speak powerfully to institutions enrolling large
numbers of Latino, first-generational college students. Although many institutions
include support programs that are included in the "Family Involvement for Latino Success
in College Project," this model is unique in the instructionally integrated family-centered
component. Colleges can replicate one or more components of the model. The
instructional approaches span traditional course credit structures and team-taught learning
communities. The appeal of this approach is that colleges may choose to replicate that
part of the model that they find most useful for their situation. The model may be
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implemented in one or a number of courses and make use of existing support programs
with little addition of new funding.
Dissemination of Findings. Throughout the grant’s tenure, the Project Administrator
will collate the project related data documenting cohort student access, persistence and
retention. Each college will disseminate periodically the results of the program elements
to 1) participating students and their families, 2) other colleges and universities
participating in this Project, and 3) additional colleges and universities serving large
urban Latino and other underserved student populations. These findings will be collated
and distributed through a variety of technologies and venues.
1) Project College Award Recipients: Each spring the Project Administrator and perhaps
other project team members will attend the National FIPSE Conference where they will
display the FIPSE Project with graphic aids, a short video, and printed project
descriptions and summaries.
2) Other Interested Colleges and Universities: Making use of a variety of technologies
available to most colleges and universities and the traditional venues through which
college staff communicate, the project team members will participate in a number of
professional activities for disseminating information about the project model and its
findings:
Community College National Conferences: The Project Administrator will submit
proposals for presentations at The League for Innovation in the Community College and
others.
Project Website: Research and program results will be updated and posted twice each
calendar year in downloadable PDF files. Additionally, the website will invite visitors’
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questions, allow them to post documents and will link to Title V sites at Hispanic Serving
Institutions to encourage inter-institutional conversation and sharing.
Web Conferencing: Web conferencing may be scheduled with interested two- and four-
year institutions. These web conferences may address lessons learned through the Project
as well as issues of interest to HSI’s and other audiences serving Latino student and
family populations.
Community College Publications: The Project Administrator and/or staff will submit
articles describing the family-centered concept, the Project, and its findings to
publications such as The Community College Journal, Innovation Abstracts, Community
College Journal of Research and Practice, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Evaluation Elements
To develop meaningful evaluations useful during the grant period, we will obtain
pertinent information from students and their records based on the following questions.
Data Needed to Evaluate the Program
Evaluation Questions Data Sources
1. Are student members of the cohort 1. Student enrollment records; grades in
completing courses and programs and courses; follow-up surveys and interviews
progressing at reasonable rates? with students.
2. Are student members of the cohort 2. Student enrollment records; grades in
progressing to and succeeding at the next courses; follow-up surveys and interviews;
level of education in college programs? results of comparisons of student members
of the cohort with the performance of
students in the general population.
3. Are student members of the cohort 3. Student enrollment records; indicators of
succeeding at comparable rates to other student success by program; student
subgroups? Are the success rates demographic data; first generation data.
comparable to the various college/district
programs for Hispanic students?
4. Are students, faculty, and family 4. Surveys, interviews, and focus groups
members satisfied with course and program with student, faculty, and steering
elements, methodologies, and support committee members.
services?
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Project Activities
The schedule of activities listed below is offered as a guide to activities offered
throughout the FIM project. It may be modified to meet the planning and program needs
of the colleges and individual courses offered.
Schedule of FIM Activities
Activities for Year 1 (2006 – 2007) Fall Spring Summer
Project Director selects Program Administrator and Staff X
Project Director plans an initial DCCCD FIM Team Conference X
Program Administrator convenes the FIM Project Steering X
Committee
Program Administrator issues consultant contracts * X
Project Director and Program Administrator hires the FIM project X
evaluator
Program Administrator hosts and facilitates the FIM Team X
Conference
Program Administrator identifies DCCCD staff who will design, X
develop, and disseminate FIM information
Colleges identify the specific initial course offerings and X
instructor teams for the spring semester
Instructors begin course development X
Program Administrator oversees the development of a FIM X
website and other FIPSE related media (publications, etc.)
Staff attend the National FIPSE Conference X
Credit courses begin ** X
Institutional research staff at each college identify student cohorts X
College steering committee initiate on/off campus family- X
supported activities *
Institutional research staff set up COLLEAGUE data profile for X
tracking students
Project Staff updates the FIM website X X
Evaluator meets with Program Administrator X
(*) On-going function or activity conducted throughout the grant period
(**) Some colleges may offer “flex-entry” or short-term courses and/or distance education
sections that function outside the traditional 16-week semester format
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Schedule of FIM Project Activities
Activities for Year 2 (2007 – 2008) Fall Spring Summer
Program Administrator convenes the FIM Project Steering X
Committee *
Program Administrator issues consultant contracts * X X X
Program Administrator oversees the FIM website and other FIM X X X
related media (publications, etc.) *
Staff attend the National FIPSE Conference * X
Credit courses offered */** X X
Instructors at each college identify student cohorts * X X X
Institutional research staff input cohort data into COLLEAGUE X X X
Program Administrator updates the FIM website * X X X
Evaluator visits each campus to conduct both formative and X X
summative evaluations */**
Schedule of Proposed FIM Project Activities
Activities for Year 3 (2008 – 2009) Fall Spring Summer
Program Administrator issues consultant contracts * X X X
Program Administrator oversees the FIM website and other FIM X X X
related media (publications, etc.) *
Staff the National FIPSE Conference * X
Credit courses begin */** X X
Instructors at each college identify student cohorts * X X X
Institutional research staff inputs cohort data into COLLEAGUE X X X
Evaluator visits each campus to conduct both X X
formative/summative evaluations */**
Project Administrator convenes the Project Steering Committee X
to review past work, note areas for development, and review
plans for dissemination of findings and the final summative
evaluation
Program Administrator announces the schedule for final activities X
in the last year of the grant cycle
Project Director and Program Administrator convene the Project X
Steering Committee and key college officials to draft plans for
institutionalizing the successful components of the FIM project
Program Administrator organizes and broadcasts a national X X
teleconference or Webinair to discuss the FIM model and
findings of the FIM project
Project Director and Program Administrator meet with evaluator X
to review plans for the final activities of the FIM project
evaluation
Program Administrator reviews final tracking data from courses X
and activities
Program Administrator will create PDF files of the final reports X
for posting on the FIM project website
Project Director and Program Administrator will process the X X
completion of all contracts
Project Director and Program Administrator will prepare and X
present the final FIM report
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