ACTIVITY ONE PERFORMANCE REPORT June 6, 2001

The first half of the Grant year has been a period of substantial progress for the Bridge Program (Activity One).

Note that most of the following evaluation is based on Fall 2000 data only because Spring 2001 data were unavailable. Also, note that objective wording has been abbreviated from the original. See Grant Proposal, page 67 for full text.

1. Increase retention by 20%.

We have partially met this objective. Retention rates for the 74 Fall Bridge Learning Community students was 83.8% compared to the Non-Bridge sample of 92 students whose retention rate was 77.1%. Retention rates were higher for Bridge students in all six of the Learning Community classes which comprised the sample. We did not meet the formal goal of a 20% better rate of retention, but the consistently better retention performance of the Bridge classes points to success.
2. Improve writing test scores by 10%.

This objective was met. Bridge students showed a dramatic 114.7% greater improvement from pre-test to post-test in writing compared to a similar cohort of non-Bridge students!.

3. Achieve higher grades in content area classes.

We have not achieved the program objective. Bridge students did not appear to achieve better grades in Content Area classes than their non- Bridge counterparts. Several factors unrelated to actual student achievement may explain the results. For example, Bridge students are exposed to a variety of retention strategies and therefore may tend to persist in classes despite low grades. In contrast, their non-Bridge counterparts may become discouraged with low grades and drop out-a situation which would lead to illusory higher level grades for non-Bridge students at semester's end. We will look for more valid data types while continuing to monitor grade related performance related to Objective 3.

    4. Acquire 200 items related to Spanish language or Chicano culture, for the West Hills College library.

We are making progress toward achieving this objective. So far, over 170 items related to Spanish Language and Hispanic culture have been acquired for the Library using Title V funds.

    5. Revise four course offerings to reflect student needs.

This objective was met. A total of 14 classes have been revised for inclusion in the Bridge Learning Communities Program. Class offerings have been improved with regard to specific lesson plans, content, assignments and/or processes.

In conclusion, we believe that there has been good progress toward meeting all of this year's objectives except objective three. The concerns raised with regard to our progress toward achieving objective three relate mainly to the validity of the data rather than to actual student progress. We propose to look for better data and continue monitoring progress toward meeting that objective.
 

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