STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Measuring and Fostering Students Non-Cognitive Skills (GRIT) to Advance Student Success and Completion
Patti Nakao, Counselor/COUNS 20 Leader Eric Oifer, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science/GRIT Faculty Leader Hannah Lawler, Ed.D., Dean of Institutional Research
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Background of GRIT Initiative at Santa Monica College

Paul Toughs article in the NY Times Adopted as strategic initiative in the five year Master Plan for Education in 2012 Role of 2013 ETS pilot study using SuccessNavigator to assess students noncognitive skills
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Background of ETS Pilot Study

Social Support
Conscientiousness Metacognition

Teamwork

Self Efficacy
Worry

Anything outside of academic ability or academic intelligence that contributes to or is part of student learning
Institutional Commitment Perseverance

Study Skills
Motivation

Goal Setting

Test Taking Strategies

What are non-cognitive skills?

STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Background of ETS Pilot Study

Why focus on non-cognitive skills? Others value them: More employers rated non-cognitive skills, such as teamwork/collaboration and professionalism/work ethic, as being more important than cognitive skills, such as English language, math, and science skills (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006). They work: Numerous studies have found that, when controlling for academic ability, noncognitive skills are positively associated with (and predict) GPA, retention, and other metrics of student success (Poropat, 2009; Robbins, Lauver, Le, Davis, Langley, & Carlstrom, 2004).
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

The Tool: SuccessNavigator

Non-cognitive domains measured
Academic Skills
Tools and strategies for academic success Drive toward and perceived importance of academic success

Motivation/
Commitment

Self-Management

Reactions to academic stressors

Connecting with people and resources for success
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Social Support

STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

The Sample
Fall 2012 Credit Population Size Race/Ethnicity Gender Age 30,260 36% Hispanic/Latino 10% African American 53% Female 31% 19 and younger 41% 20-24 28% 25 and older 20% enrolled in at least one math or English developmental course Fall 2012 ETS Pilot Study (enrolled in COUNS 20) 1,738 54% Hispanic/Latino 13% African American 54% Female 57% 19 and younger 37% 20-24 6% 25 and older 92% enrolled in at least one math or English developmental course
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Remediation Needs

STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Study Results
Sample average domain scores

STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Study Results
Does non-cognitive domains predict GPA and credit success?
GPA Change Statistics Credit Success* Change Statistics

R2
Model 1. Gender, Race/Ethnicity 2. Parental Education 3. Test Score 4. H.S. GPA .031 .039 .060 .096

R Change .031 .008 .021 .036

R2
Sig. .000 .001 .000 .000 .018 .022 .075 .079

R2 Change .018 .003 .054 .004

Sig. .001 .027 .000 .010

5. SuccessNavigator Scores

.131

.035

.000

.098

.019

.001
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Using SuccessNavigator Results

Yeager & Walton (2011)
Small interventions can lead to significant outcomes, even months and years later However, they must be:
Psychologically sound Interactive Hidden

How COUNS 20 faculty have used the results in their practice

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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

The Larger Picture

Different Components of Initiative
Integrate into Planning/Classroom: Assessment of Institutional Learning Outcome #5

Dialogue:
Reflection Question Banners

Programmatic:

College Coaching

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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Integrate into Planning/Classroom: Assessment of Institutional Learning Outcome #5

ILO

#5: Authentic Engagement

Core Competency

1) Value 2) Interest 3) Self-Efficacy

Course SLO

Course SLO
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Dialogue: Reflection Banner Questions

bit.ly/smcGRIT
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

Thank You!
Patti Nakao: nakao_patricia@smc.edu Eric Oifer: oifer_eric@smc.edu Hannah Lawler: lawler_hannah@smc.edu

Special thanks to Dr. Ross Markle at ETS for his support on the SuccessNavigator project
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STRENGTHENING STUDENT SUCCESS - GRIT - SANTA MONICA COLLEGE

References
Casner-Lotto, J., & Barrington, L. (2006). Are they really ready to work? Unites States: The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills and Society for Human Resource Management. Retrieved from: http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/FINAL_REPORT_PDF09-29-06.pdf. Poropat. A.E. (2009). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135(2), 322-338. Robbins, S., Lauver, K., Le, H., Davis, D., Langley, R., & Carlstrom, A. (2004). Do psychosocial and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130(2), 261-288. Yeager, D.S., & Walton, G.M. (2011). Social-psychological interventions in education: Theyre not magic. Review of Educational Research, 81 (2), 267301.

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