Dear LACCD Colleagues,
Greetings on behalf of the Board of Trustees, the nine College Presidents, and our District Office Executive Team. As we begin the Spring 2020 Semester, I want to communicate and briefly update you on three important matters:
- Spring 2020 Enrollments
- AB 705 Implementation
- Emergency Preparedness and Campus Safety
Thank you for everything you do to help our students succeed. Have a great Spring Semester!
Sincerely,
Francisco C. Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Chancellor
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Spring 2020 Enrollments
Enrollments are up at all nine colleges
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Now near the end of the second week of instruction, enrollments at all nine colleges are up about 1% compared to last year. The Colleges have redoubled their efforts to enroll L.A. College Promise students, bolster dual enrollment opportunities, increase online education courses, and strengthen adult education.
The Colleges have improved their scheduling and have bolstered student support services, aiding in the retention and persistence of students, and the results are beginning to show. These efforts were also being augmented by the enrollment outreach campaigns under our new districtwide advertising program that ran December 10, 2019 to February 10, 2020.
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AB 705 Implementation
Preliminary Findings for LACCD’s Colleges in Fall Semester 2019 Show Progress
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After two years of planning, the nine colleges of the Los Angeles Community College District completed the first cycle of teaching transfer-level English and math classes to thousands of students under state law AB 705 in Fall 2019. Each college has made additional investments to increase the funding for student support services to assist students. While research is still be compiled and evaluated, the data suggest that:
- The total number of new, incoming students completing college transfer-level English increased by 2,566 (19.6%) and transfer-level math increased by 2,417 (29.4%).
- Access to transfer-level coursework increased significantly. From Fall 2018 to Fall 2019, there was a 31% increase in enrollments in transfer-level English classes, representing 6,423 additional students gaining direct access to transfer-level English. There was an even greater increase in enrollments in transfer-level math, representing a 48% increase with 7,331 additional students gaining direct access to transfer-level math.
- Access to transfer-level English increased significantly for historically underrepresented groups. There were increases in access to transfer-level English by African American students by 30% and by 37% for Latino students.
- For transfer-level math, African American students increased their access by 98% and by 57% for Latino students.
The increased numbers for students of color completing transfer-level English and math classes directly translates into more of these students having equitable access to complete the requirements for certificates, degrees and transfer to four-year institutions in a timely and efficient manner.
You may recall that AB 705 is the transformative legislation originally passed in 2017 to reverse decades of high-impact assessment testing and mandatory remedial classes that ignored students’ preferred choices and higher education goals. AB 705 has enabled LACCD and all of California’s community colleges to increase student success and equitable access to education with direct placement in transfer-level coursework and comprehensive support services.
Not all of the data was positive, however, and more work needs to be done to better understand what occurred. Preliminary data for this first semester indicated a decrease in the percentages of some success rates. For example, from Fall 2018 to Fall 2019, the course success rate of English 101 declined from 59.5% to 53.1%. In math, the course success rate for Math 227, transfer-level statistics, decreased from 52.2% to 44.1%.
The preliminary data from Fall 2019 is the starting point for building additional supports and for identifying what worked and what should be scaled to meet our students’ needs. The District will engage in thorough and robust dialog to build context around the new data reporting on student access, in-course success and the ultimate completion of required math and English courses, commonly referred to as “throughput.”
The District is committed to taking actions—including implementing best practices, curricular redesign, increasing professional development and bolstering student support systems—to ensure that the decline in course success rates is reversed. To see more detailed information, go to the presentation made February 19 to the Board’s Institutional Effectiveness & Student Success Committee.
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Emergency Preparedness and Campus Safety
Campus safety needs to be a priority for us all
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The safety of our students, faculty, staff and visitors continues to be of the upmost importance for the Los Angeles Community College District. Working together with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the District is making progress to increase the overall security and safety of LACCD’s colleges and facilities.
Each campus has an updated Emergency Preparedness Plan, which includes responses for a variety of natural disasters, biological and human-caused incidents. The plans are available for download with the newly created public safety app listed under each college name at both Google Play and Apple App stores. You will notice an increase in active shooter trainings, drills and exercises throughout the District. Your support and participation in these drills will help ensure our campuses are prepared to respond to emergencies. These drills validate our emergency plans and help familiarize everyone on campus emergency procedures. Together, we can create and maintain safe campuses that allow us to carry forward with our educational mission. Always be aware of your surroundings and, remember, if you see something that causes you concern, say something to Sheriff’s Department personnel or other on-site safety officers. We must remain aware and vigilant.
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2019–2020 Board of Trustees
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Andra Hoffman, President
Steven F. Veres, 1st Vice President
Gabriel Buelna, Ph.D, 2nd Vice President
Mike Fong
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Ernest H. Moreno
Scott J. Svonkin
David Vela
Alfredo Gama Salmeron, Student Trustee
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