Digital Bridge Academy is a program that helps underprepared community college students succeed. It uses a cohort model with intensive support over multiple semesters. Students take foundational courses to build skills in areas like numeracy and literacy. They also take self-management courses to develop behaviors for academic success. The goal is to help students earn an associate's degree and transfer to a four-year university in fields like IT, health, education and more. Studies show DBA students have much higher persistence and completion rates than similar students not in the program.
6. Community College Attendance
DBA Model
Digital
Bridge
Academy
Transfer to 4 Year
University
Prepare for
Knowledge-Based
Career Tracks
For example:
• IT / Engineering
• Business/Management
• Allied Health majors
• Lab technician careers
• Criminal Justice
• Teaching
• Precision Agriculture
• Green Construction
Traditional
Community
College
Courses
Under-Prepared
Students
Under-Served
Students / Students
from Poverty
College Ready
Students
Students with Multiple
Risk Factors
03/31/15
7. Other Courses
Towards their Major
at
Cabrillo College
(10.5 – 14.5 units/semester)
DBA Bridge to Cabrillo College
Optional DBA Seminars (1.5 Units)
First
Semester
Second
Semester
Third
Semester
Fourth
Semester
Fifth
Semester
03/31/15
DBA
Bridge
Semester
Cohort Themes
• Social Justice
Literacy/Numera
cy
• Contextualized
Math CTE
• Construction
Management
• Athletic
• Nursing
• Traditional
DBA
Second
Semester
Cohort Themes
• Science/Math
• CTE Strands
9. DBA Student-Centered Persistence Model
F
O
U
N
D
A
T
I
O
N
C
O
U
R
S
E
2 weeks
TIME
Cohort-Based
Academic
Program
Getting Students
To Believe they can
Do it
On a Regular-Basis:
• Monitor Student Progress
• Motivate Student
• Deal with Behaviors
• Help Student Solve Life Problems
03/31/15
12. DBA Student-Centered Persistence Model
F
O
U
N
D
A
T
I
O
N
C
O
U
R
S
E
2 weeks
TIME
Cohort-Based
Academic
Program
Getting Students
To Believe they can
Do it
On a Regular-Basis:
• Monitor Student Progress
• Motivate Student
• Deal with Behaviors
• Help Student Solve Life Problems
13 weeks
TEAM SELF-MANAGEMENT COURSES
Cohort-Based Behavior Management System
03/31/15
13. 13TSM Overview Draft-20090101.1
Team Self-Management
High Level Thematic Overview
Transitioning from the Foundation Course to the Integrated
Cohort-Based Bridge Semester. (Various exercises)
Reflecting on My Life (Lifeline and Family History Papers)
Conditioning My Brain (Mindfulness Awareness)
Organizing my Life and Work (Various exercises)
Making Conscious Choices (Strategic Planning Rubric)
Supporting my Peers; my Peers supporting me
Based on Reflection, Presentation and Student Stories
Seeing Things Anew (Stories and other media)
Communicating Consciously (Conversant Material refresh)
Learning to Learn (Learning to Learn curriculum)
14. DBA Student-Centered Persistence Model
F
O
U
N
D
A
T
I
O
N
C
O
U
R
S
E
2 weeks
TIME
Cohort-Based
Academic
Program
Getting Students
To Believe they can
Do it
On a Regular-Basis:
• Monitor Student Progress
• Motivate Student
• Deal with Behaviors
• Help Student Solve Life Problems
13 weeks
TEAM SELF-MANAGEMENT COURSES
Technician
Career &
Ed. Planning
Feeder
Courses
Project-Based
Course
(Social Justice
Primary Research)
Movement
Feeder
Course
IT Feeder
Course
Literacy
Feeder
Course
Cohort-Based Behavior Management System
03/31/15
15. 13 weeks: 13.5 creditsTwo weeks: 3 credits
Feeder Courses
Project-based Course
Team Self-Management Course
Foundation Course
Vital
ComponentsVital Components
19. DBA Student Outcomes
Columbia University CCRC Study
Two NSF-funded evaluations:
• Comparison of student outcomes
before DBA and after DBA
• Initial Longitudinal Study
20. • When students enter the DBA program they assess at one,
two or more levels below transfer course level (reading,
writing, and math).
• At Cabrillo College students who attempt a full-time semester
(12+ credits), and are not in the DBA, succeed in completing
the full-time semester at the following rates:
– Two levels below transfer course level, ~32% success
– One level below transfer course level, ~42% success
• DBA students average full-time semester completion rate
over 8 semesters is ~75%, which is double the college’s rate.
Student Success Rate Comparison
21. Columbia University CCRC DBA Evaluation
“In summary, this study found significant positive effects for
participation in both the accelerated and non-accelerated versions of
the DBA…To the extent that colleges are seeking strategies for
increasing the rate at which academically unprepared students
complete “gatekeeper” courses such as college-level English and
earn college credits, the accelerated version of the DBA program
seems to hold particular promise.”
“While the results of this analysis show that participation in the DBA
program is correlated with better outcomes on most measures for
students…DBA students are very likely more at-risk than are
Cabrillo students with similar levels of academic preparation…To the
extent that the DBA students in the sample were substantially more
disadvantaged than other students, it may be that the estimates
produced through this analysis understate the effect of participating
in DBA.
[Smile] Show your heart Lead with heart on your sleeve – I do this because I care about the students]
I’m Diego, Founder of DBA. DBA was created at Cabrillo College.
The DBA helps unprepared students prepare for knowledge-based professions through civic participation.
Full time attendance is important for success in student completion.
I’d like to share one student outcome statistic to start this presentation:
Students at Cabrillo one to two levels below transfer: 32% and 42%
[Pause and emphasis]
The DBA students’ average full-time completion rate is ~75%.
This is double the college’s typical rate for students at the same academic level. I’d like to tell you today how we’ve done that.
How do we do it?
Transformation of instructors through teacher education and development
Transformation of CC leaders and staff through leadership development HP Curric.
Transformation of CC to effectively serve unprepared students
The essence of the program is best described by William Butler Yeats famous quote
We believe we can light this fire in every student.
The DBA is giving the students the key to succeed at college level.
DBA provides unprepared students with structures and resources carefully designed to rapidly transform them into college ready students.
Theory/Research Based:
Theory of self-regulation
Neuro-Plasticity
Self-Efficacy
Language Immersion Theory
DBA is a front-end solution for unprepared students.
We capture them when they are vulnerable to giving up and catapult them to college-readiness in its full dimensions.
Far too many who attempt community college fail. The most vulnerable often fail to progress almost immediately.
That’s why DBA focuses on students before and during their first semester to quickly prepare vulnerable students for later success.
The DBA early-warning system identifies and supports students before they get into class
Bridge student from where they are to community college educational model
Three core components of the program:
First – WILL
Help students Believe They Can Learn At College-Level
Desire To Transform Themselves To Become Successful Full-Time College Students
Understand Their Strengths In Learning and Communicating
Develop Strategies For Maximizing Their Learning In A Classroom
WHAT PROGRAMS ADDRESS THESE ISSUES? HOW DO THEY DO IT?
Second – MOTIVATION
On A Regular Basis, we
Monitor Their Progress And Maintain Their Motivation
Identify Behaviors, Distractions and Circumstances That Keep Them From Success
Change Those Unsuccessful Behaviors, Distractions and Circumstances
Solve Life Problems
WHAT PROGRAMS ADDRESS THESE ISSUES? HOW DO THEY DO IT?
Third – ACADEMIC SUCCESS
This is a lasting experience Over A Semester:
Become Successful College-Level, Full-Time Students
Learn The Skills And Culture Of Knowledge Work
USE THESE TALKING POINTS BEFORE SHOWING VIDEO
We’re helping them learn their strengths as individuals
Strengths based = learn their working and learning styles
They are PhDs in Social Injustice – utilizing their strength in knowledge
We focus on social justice issues which lights the fire for learning
We help them leverage that knowledge and experience to quickly gain skills needed for the digital age
Poverty’s impact on the students of Watsonville
Impact of war on violence in our community
Understanding child abuse in our community
Understanding domestic violence in our community
Youth and Drugs
What our community thinks about government spending on military versus education.
Why youth join gangs.
Helping gang members assimilate back into society
Set Up for Student Video:
Celia – child abuse background;
wanted medical assisting program;
saw that she could do more…
Helps the students see how they can improve the world around them and more importantly themselves
Set Up for Student Video:
Michelle – from Oakland Merritt College cohort; was lost; didn’t know her potential…
After the Video:
By learning how to become more disciplined she knows that she can become more successful
The DBA Does it differently
• Helps unprepared students get past incremental and sequential remedial programs focused on course, classroom and faculty utilization
to create the best learning environment for producing results by rethinking how we use teaching resources and
by better utilizing scarce community college resources.
This is the basic structure of the DBA, which allows students to jump start their community college experience.
How big are the programs we discussed earlier?
Do they meet the demand that currently exists?
Do they require extra funding?
Are they funded through regular FTES generated in the classroom?
Sustainable Approach
Use of student cohort as support structure
Classroom embedded support model - Team Self Management course to maintain and coordinate support
Behavior system
They get a full-semester of college-level credit
We’re helping them learn their strengths as individuals, and we focus on the whole student
Strengths based = learn their working and learning styles
They are PhDs in Social Injustice – utilizing their strength in knowledge
We focus on social justice issues which lights the fire for learning
We help them leverage that knowledge and experience to quickly gain skills needed for the digital age
Poverty’s impact on the students of Watsonville
Impact of war on violence in our community
Understanding child abuse in our community
Understanding domestic violence in our community
Youth and Drugs
What our community thinks about government spending on military versus education.
Why youth join gangs.
Helping gang members assimilate back into society
Set Up for Student Video:
Felicitas – met her when she was 26 burnt out
Came to U.S. when she was 12 years old…
She is now ready for the nursing program at Cabrillo
After the Video:
Felicitas was not prepared for college – she never went to high school
She wanted to be a roll model for her children
She did not want her children to repeat not continuing school
She was afraid she could not do it
With support she succeeded
Set Up for Student Video:
Wendy – she was severally overweight had operation to shrink intestines, was scared of school, it wasn’t relevant to her life…
After the Video:
Wendy changed her attitude towards school
She became a team leader of her SJ research project & was very effective
She saw a brighter future
She changed from not liking school to feeling good about school
She was supported to learn and know that she can do it
DBA is data hungry and evaluation-driven.
We are constantly studying feedback to revise and improve the program,
Engaging in constant evaluation and revision of the curriculum
methodical, stepwise system of prototyping, data gathering, feedback loops and revision, borrowed from the computer industry, to develop both the DBA and our training program.
allows us to know quickly what works and what doesn’t, and to respond accordingly.
It is a very data driven, adaptable system.
For Academic researchers, stress:
• DBA is a solid program that is measurable—you can put your theories into action here and test them with real students in real time;
• Our virtual network provides huge opportunities to aggregate data, experiences and mine research opportunities for dissertation material.
DBA is a front-end solution for unprepared students.
We capture them when they are vulnerable to giving up and catapult them to college-readiness in its full dimensions.
Far too many who attempt community college fail. The most vulnerable often fail to progress almost immediately.
That’s why DBA focuses on students before and during their first semester to quickly prepare vulnerable students for later success.
The DBA early-warning system identifies and supports students before they get into class
DBA requires changes to instructing students.
We help students through DBA curriculum and in the classroom to overcome negative experiences, change sense of self to college-ready students, and increase self-efficacy and self-regulation.
which means that faculty must learn to create a highly-efficient and effective learning environment.
Faculty need to learn to teach in new ways.
The bad news is that it takes time and professional development.
The good news is that DBA has workshops and institutes, curriculum, and pedagogy to assist in the process AND
DBA has proven to transform college instruction, culture and professional satisfaction in the process.
Set up Next Slide – Video:
Following video of faculty, administrators and staff who have participated in the DBA professional development workshops and seminars
The other challenge is that colleges need to meet the needs of unprepared students.
Need to break through the status quo.
Some CCs would rather focus on general enrollment and the status quo—despite increasing evidence of their lack of effectiveness.
Potential change agents isolated by a community college system that does not provide a collaborative professional learning environment
Support the goal of replacing traditional remediation with something that works
One challenge is to quickly build the supply to meet the demand.
There is interest in DBA among colleges throughout the system, particularly from colleges that are failing.
These administrators and teachers know they have to change but need mentors to help guide and assist in the process of change
But training and transformation are time consuming, because the administrators, staff and faculty who serve them must be guided through the transition to digital age learning.
At this point, there are not enough master teachers—faculty, administrators and staff versed in DBA—to meet the demand for the program.
Diego wants to make this a structured process (like the old pathway slide)
This is the ask slide
To bring the foundation course to your colleges, what are the requirements?
Learning community for student to enter (8-15 credits)
Attend FELI and Foundation Course practicum
Obtain DBA foundation course curriculum kit (MOU established relationship btwn your campus and DBA)
In preparation for that
Get fdn course approved thru your curric process
Get fdn course scheduled when you want to make it available to your students
We help build capacity for DBA at your college by training Master Mentors among your faculty, staff and administrators.
These colleagues will help build your college’s capacity to adopt the DBA.
Through discovery and collaboration, faculty, learn how to teach and implement DBA’s hands-on curriculum and pedagogy to make deeper, more educationally effective connections with students and each other.
Through professional development administrators and staff develop new and more effective ways of handling student assessment, risk assessment, resource referral and high engagement intake through student ambassadors.
Together, they learn how to create and manage shared plans to achieve shared outcomes.
We train Master Mentors on each campus, creating a network of mentors who can train others and quickly build capacity for DBA replication.
we’re increasing the number of Master Mentors who can train and mentor others;
helping colleges assess and build readiness;
adapting models into customized programs
DBA can mentor you to better connect with unprepared students
Prompts to get people talking if needed:
What issues does this raise?
What clarification questions do you have about the DBA?
What do you like?
What are your concerns?
How does the results and approach of the DBA apply to your research interests?
What are the potential implications of these ideas to community colleges and their students?
Our students need to be prepared for Knowledge-based organization where the job of the future reside.
Community college’s need to model the types of organizations they’ll be working in.
NEED TO CLAIFY MESSAGE HERE (and insert image to match – ie teachers being taught)
DBA professional development helps college faculty and administrators change the way they work together.
We provide models and tools to help colleges change the way they work.
DBA fights against one-size-fits all education
Building the DBA at your college requires us to take into consideration the unique needs of individual colleges and their students.
However, that does not preclude the creation of tools:
curriculum kits, training materials
Recruiting and intake processes
Faculty Development workshops
Administrative leadership development workshops
Staff professional development workshops
Information support
—to aid scaling and
standardize wherever possible our curriculum, workshops and trainings.