Achievements

Strategies at Achieving the Dream Colleges Each Achieving the Dream college develops strategies based on its analysis of institutional strengths, problem areas, and achievement gaps. Strategies that are being pursued by achieving the Dream colleges include the following:
	Improving courses
	Improving student's first-year experience through closer advising, learning communities, orientation programs, student success courses, and other approaches
	Piloting or expansion of learning communities
	Providing better academic and personal advising for at-risk students
	Improving or enhancing student support services
	Tutoring and supplemental instruction
	Strengthening and improve community college students’ successful transfer to four-year institutions
	Engaging the community in developing strategies and providing support for student success
	Using data more effectively to monitor student outcomes and improve college practices.

ACHIEVEMENT MEASURES

The college system has been able to identify key academic benchmarks that students must meet to successfully complete degrees and certificates. These Achievement points are meaningful for all students across demographic characteristics (race, age, income, employment status), academic program or entering skill levels (basic skills, remedial, workforce education, academic transfer), intensity of enrollment (part-time or full-time enrollment), and type of institution attended (urban, rural, large, small, community college, technical college). There are four categories of Achievement measures:

Building towards college level skills (basic skills gains, passing pre-college writing or maths)
First year retention (earning 15 then 30 college level credits)
Completing college level maths (passing maths courses required for either technical or academic associate degrees)
Completions (degrees, certificates, apprenticeship training)

These measures focus students and institutions on shorter term, intermediate outcomes that provide meaningful momentum towards degree and certificate completion for all students no matter where they start. Colleges can track student progress towards these Achievement points each quarter, providing immediate feedback and opportunities for intervention strategies.