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THE STUDENT-LEVEL QUESTION

The terms "data" and "assessment" don't generally tie to concepts of equity, but ISSAQ actually links them closely. This all starts by using data to better understand students, their experiences, and their rates of success at a given institution. In doing so, we can guide tailored supports - based on local data - for students from traditionally underserved populations. Some of the ISSAQ components that support this goal are:

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• A holistic assessment plan doesn't just identify students as coming from a traditionally underserved population, but seeks to understand the challenges and strengths that students from these various populations bring. Holistic assessment uses noncognitive skills to articulate student strengths and challenges and accompanying data to develop a localized understanding of what students bring to college.

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• Predictive analytics provide a second tool to understanding the experiences of students from various backgrounds. A "strengths and challenges" approach to equity can identify differences in the attributes of students from traditionally underserved populations. For example, "do first-generation students have lower levels of academic self-efficacy when entering college?" However, questions such as these are not the entire story when it comes to equity and student success. A second and important question might be, "does self-efficacy relate to success more for first-generation college students?" In this way, predictive analytics help us to see what factors matter more or less to students from varying backgrounds.

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• Training staff, faculty, and administrators in holistic support is really about building a process by which we better connect with students to help them succeed. This is where the rubber of data meets the road of practice. By working with faculty, staff, and administrators, the ISSAQ helps to build touch-points where the lessons from holistic assessment and predictive analytics can help not only identify strengths and challenges, but discuss those with students and connect them with the supports necessary for success.

 

THE INSTITUTION-LEVEL QUESTION

Certainly, there are times when we can identify skills or strategies that students need in order to be more successful (e.g., study skills, goal commitment, social connection), and this is where the student-level approach is helpful. However, as we seek to address equity, one of the challenges becomes avoiding a "deficit approach" to student success. In other words, when possible, we should look at our institutions, their cultures, and their practices to identify a system of higher education that better fosters success. ISSAQ seeks to address this process through:

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• Holistic support is as much an institutional shift in culture and practice as it is an intervention for supporting students. By providing training to those individuals who will be working with students, the ISSAQ provides operational support to a strategic mission of equity.

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• Mapping strategy and process is what makes aspirational goals reality. For example, when institutions want to engage in better student support through coaching or advising, it is vital (and often overlooked) to understand practical steps such as when that will take place, who needs to be involved, and how that will be communicated to students. This also fosters communication with faculty and staff so that they can understand how holistic support will come to life.

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• Building a culture of inquiry is directly aligned with DIA's commitment to continuous improvement. While data provide the capacity to understand students, by asking questions about students' experiences and our impact upon them we can continually strive to meet our goals. ISSAQ provides regular and transparent reviews of data that allow all faculty and staff to engage in the conversation about continuous improvement.

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While equity is something to which we should all strive, we also need a strategy for how to get there. ISSAQ addresses this through many practices, and seeks to build institutional strategies and cultures that meet students where they are, regardless of where they come from. 

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