STC briefing document_v10-2011-07-14-jc2-tc-rj2-TO PRINT

From Program Innovation to Systemic Reform:
Ensuring Successful Transitions to South Texas College
July 15, 2011
A briefing document from
The Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin

Ensuring Successful Transitions to South Texas College July 2011
Ensuring Successful Transitions to South Texas College
Introduction
South Texas College, a prominent community college in the Rio Grande Valley, is a leader in
providing higher education opportunities to traditionally underserved students. Based in
McAllen, Texas, and serving more than 30,000 students on five campuses in McAllen, Weslaco,
and Rio Grande City, STC is a vibrant and rapidly growing institution.1
Over the past six years, student enrollment has increased more than 70 percent, and completion
rates have increased by 12 percentage points.2 STC maintains overwhelmingly positive
connections to its 52 feeder schools and is a willing and adaptive community partner that is
committed to supporting the successful matriculation of students into college.
STC administrators recognize the connection between attaining excellence and adhering to
evidence-based practices, and they have established partnerships within the community to
continually implement and improve such practices. Through this work, the college has become a
font of innovation in the Rio Grande Valley, and it is widely regarded as a leader among the
nation’s community colleges.
At the same time, much remains to be done so that STC can dramatically increase the likelihood
that all its students, especially those who begin in developmental courses, successfully complete
the license, degree, or certificate they seek. In 2011, three-year completion rates at STC were
26.7 percent. STC is working hard to meet this challenge head-on, initiating multiple reforms to
support a college-going culture in which the completion of higher education becomes an
expectation for students throughout the region.
This paper is part of STC’s commitment, not only to innovation, but to continuous improvement
of its programs and practices. With the generous support of the Communities Foundation of
Texas, a team from the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin conducted
surveys over the course of spring 2011 to gather data on STC’s personnel, policies, and
programs; visited STC and five of its feeder high schools; and conducted interviews at these
institutions.3
We examined the information gathered in light of its alignment with broadly accepted best
practices for supporting successful community college student matriculation. From this study,
1 See the section entitled “About South Texas College” in South Texas College: Celebrating Our Achievements:
Changing Lives, Changing Communities (2010), retrieved July 2011 from www.southtexascollege.edu/about/pdf/
AchievementsWebLayout.pdf.
2 According to statistics from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, 2011.
3 The Dana Center would like to thank the administrators, faculty, and staff of South Texas College whom we
interviewed for this report. We also appreciate the willingness of administrators, faculty, and counselors at Mercedes
High School, Roma High School, McAllen ISD Achieve Early College High School, Memorial High School
(McAllen), Pharr–San Juan–Alamo North High School (Pharr), and El Paso Community College to participate in
our interviews and focus groups.
The Charles A. Dana Center at
The University of Texas at Austin 1

July 2011 Ensuring Successful Transitions to South Texas College
the team identified institutional strengths and issues for STC to consider as it continues to
strengthen its current programmatic efforts and guide future innovations.
During the course of this study, the team was impressed by the overwhelmingly positive
feedback it received from STC’s feeder high schools. We found that STC is in a good position to
build upon its many strengths to enhance and systematize services in support of successful
student transitions from high school to college.
This report aims to inform STC’s improvement plans in three areas:4
This report outlines some opportunities to enhance the strategic use of human and financial
resources to support institutional enrollment goals as well as goals of enhancing quality and
education outcomes. Our hope in writing this report is to provide STC with insight and advice
from critical friends that will help STC build the most effective programs while making the most
efficient use of increasingly scarce resources.
Institutional Strengths
Interviews with STC staff and with personnel from feeder high schools revealed a number of
institutional strengths centered around STC’s commitment to improving the quality of life in the
Rio Grande Valley. These strengths serve as a foundation upon which more systematic
improvement efforts can be built. Some of STC’s most notable strengths include:
• Responding to the community and creating strong partnerships with public schools
Responding to the community and creating strong partnerships
STC’s commitment to the community is evident in its stated vision and core values. The college
is committed to providing its community with a route to a better quality of life. STC is a pillar of
the local community. Administrators internalize this mission: “We are all part of a family, so it is
our obligation to give students the best opportunity for a successful future.”
STC proactively partners with local public schools, other institutions of higher education, and
community organizations to implement programs that increase college-going and college-success
rates among potential, current, and future students. The college provides strong levels of support
for incoming students to support them in completing a degree.
Partnerships with STC’s 52 feeder schools enable students to (variously) take college placement
exams in high school, simultaneously earn high school and college credit through dual-
4 STC and Dana Center personnel arrived at these three areas of focus through discussions in fall 2010 and
• Enhancing the effectiveness of its dual enrollment program,
• Employing deliberate college placement practices, and
• Aligning its curricula with that of local K–12 districts.
and community organizations;
• Committing to data-driven change and transparency; and
• Pursuing innovation.
spring 2011.
2 The University of Texas at Austin

enrollment programs, and attend summer bridge programs to ease their transition from high
school to higher education.
Through these partnerships, STC has also established 12 Early College High Schools. Early
College High School students take college courses as part of their general high school curriculum
and have the opportunity to earn an associate’s degree by the time they graduate from high
school. Early College High School primarily targets first-generation college students.
STC is committed to graduating students with associates’ degrees and certificates and to
supporting students who wish to further their education at four-year institutions. For this reason,
STC committed to making that transition as seamless as possible by establishing more than 60
articulation agreements with other institutions of higher education in the United States and
Mexico. As a testament to the ease with which students move between institutions, more than
11,000 students who had previously attended STC enrolled at the University of Texas–Pan
American in Fall 2009.5
Committing to data-driven change and transparency
STC has opened its doors to outside advisors with an understanding that critical evaluation is key
to successful growth and greater efficiency and effectiveness. The college’s internal research
office is focused both on compliance responsibilities and on using data to improve practices on
campus. This openness and commitment to improvement has enabled researchers to identify
areas for potential growth and to assess innovations. Collaborating with Achieving the Dream, a
nonprofit that helps community college students succeed, has particularly contributed to STC’s
achievements in data transparency and continual improvement.
The Achieving the Dream initiative aims to help colleges use data and evidence to develop a
culture that supports students in attaining postsecondary credentials. Participation in this
initiative was a major impetus for STC’s improvement efforts and provided a framework for the
college to use in systematically reviewing its policies and programs and their effects on student
success.6 One example of this work is the rigorous external evaluation that nonprofit research
organization MDRC conducted on STC’s Beacon Mentoring Program.
Pursuing innovation
STC has an unparalleled drive to learn about—and apply on its campuses—the best practices in
community college education. Toward this end, STC has taken a proactive role in improving
education opportunities for the community by participating in state and national initiatives (such
as the Achieving the Dream work described above) as well as by conducting ongoing dialogue
with high schools and identifying and responding to issues within the system.
5 See page 6 in South Texas College: Celebrating Our Achievements: Changing Lives, Changing Communities
(2010), retrieved July 2011, from http://www.southtexascollege.edu/about/pdf/AchievementsWebLayout.pdf.
6 For a general description of some of the processes STC underwent as part of its work with Achieving the
Dream, see the Achieving the Dream Field Guide for Improving Student Success (2009), available at
http://www.achievingthedream.org/docs/Field_Guide_for_Improving_Student_Success.pdf.

Dialogue with high schools: Outreach program
STC has built a robust infrastructure for reaching out to the public schools within its service area.
High school administrators and staff speak highly of their relationships—and their students’
relationships—with the STC “outreach specialists.” These specialists are assigned to all high
schools in STC’s service area and provide information to students and to campus staff about STC
programs. STC outreach specialists also help students apply for financial aid and enroll in
programs, and generally support them in transitioning from high school to higher education.
The outreach specialists work with community agencies and high school staff, such as counselors
and advisors, to provide these services to prospective students. The specialists serve as an
invaluable conduit for information, creating and maintaining partnerships between STC and the
community, and providing STC with a presence on local high school campuses. As one high
school counselor remarked, the outreach specialists enable STC to be “plugged in with students”
and provide critical information to students and parents on a personal level.
Dialogue with high schools: Hidalgo Independent School District
STC’s work with Hidalgo Independent School District is a strong exemplar of a meaningful
partnership with the local community. STC works with the Hidalgo district on a variety of
reform efforts, including early placing of students in college courses, expanding dual-enrollment
opportunities for all students, and aligning high school curriculum with college courses.
The district begins curriculum alignment in the elementary grades to foster seamless college-going
expectations that continue through high school. Administrators from the Hidalgo Early
College High School laud STC’s effective and timely communication. STC has proven
responsive to their needs and is willing to attempt new projects in the spirit of helping students
succeed.
Identifying and responding to issues within the system: Developmental education
STC’s ability to diagnose and address barriers to student success is exemplified by its effort to
reform its developmental education programs. STC identified student placement in
developmental education courses as a major impediment to degree and certificate completion.
STC’s data analysis revealed that over a two-year period, 2006 to 2008, only 19 percent of
students enrolled in a developmental math sequence completed it, only 42 percent enrolled in the
English developmental sequence completed it, and just under half (49 percent) enrolled in the
reading sequence completed it.7 These findings led STC to make accurate student placement in
developmental education courses a priority—and to provide students with multiple opportunities
(even mid-semester) to progress through the developmental sequence, or move out of it entirely,
by demonstrating adequate skill attainment.
STC is working on several supplemental programs designed both to inform students of the
importance of appropriate placement and to enable students to accelerate developmental
7 See page 1 in Spring 2009 Historical Summary of Student Achievement Data of the South Texas College
Factbook, retrieved April 2011 from isp.southtexascollege.edu/ras/factbooks/factbook.html.

education courses. For example, STC offers summer bridge programs that include
ACCUPLACER test-preparation workshops, and STC also offers condensed versions of
developmental courses, which enable students to pass more quickly through the sequence.
While there has been much enthusiasm in response to these programs, administrators understand
the importance of using caution when deciding which projects to scale up. “We want to start on a
smaller scale,” said an STC administrator. “If it is successful, we will offer it to everyone in the
second phase. And if that is successful, we’ll make it a requirement.”
Issues to Consider
STC has made great strides by sparking innovations within itself and neighboring high schools.
In a brief period, STC has fostered high levels of trust among its feeder schools. STC outreach
specialists are viewed as valuable members of the high school communities they serve. STC’s
dual-enrollment programs have helped many students graduate from high school with college
credit and with greater overall academic preparation and knowledge of the rigors of
postsecondary education. STC’s proven commitment to the prosperity of the Rio Grande Valley
community has also attracted the support of numerous funders willing to seed the school’s
ambitions.
From this strong foundation, STC has the opportunity to systematize successful innovations to
increase efficiency and effectiveness so that the college can meet its objective of serving more
students.
Despite its many innovations and accomplishments, the success of STC’s high school outreach
programs has been uneven. While some high school outreach programs stand out as “islands of
excellence,” others fall short of achieving STC’s ambitious community mission. Thus we
recommend that STC identify key characteristics of their most successful programs to then scale
up and apply to all partnering high schools.
Feeder high schools are hungry for more direction and better advice for administering dual
enrollment programs. Along the way, STC could leverage economies of scale that will help the
college deliver its services in a cost-effective manner. In this section, we focus on three areas in
particular:
• Maximizing dual-enrollment programs to increase student completion of a college
degree, by improving course offerings, enhancing instructional quality, and broadening
outreach services;
• Improving the coherence of policies around college placement testing by
strengthening test preparation and the dissemination of information about the
consequences of placement testing, establishing a recommended placement test, and
sharing data on student performance; and
• Taking a more active role in aligning all local high school curricula with STC’s
expectations by learning from past successes and using regional P–16 councils.

Maximizing dual enrollment programs
Dual-enrollment high school students make up nearly a third of STC’s total enrollment of
roughly 30,000. Community college tuition for public high school students participating in dual-enrollment
programs is subsidized by the state. As such, an efficient dual-enrollment program
provides students with a cost-effective pathway to obtain an associate’s degree, a certificate, or
credits in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.
In fact, the number of college credits a student has earned prior to graduating high school and
enrolling in higher education is highly predictive of future success. Dual-enrollment programs
could be leveraged as a more deliberate strategy for improving STC’s outreach and preparation
programs for students. For the dual-enrollment strategy to be most effective, STC should align
and improve dual-enrollment course offerings, invest in teacher development, and broaden
outreach efforts.
Improving course offerings
In many local high schools served by STC’s dual-enrollment programs, we found that the dual-enrollment
course offerings lacked coherent alignment to a college degree program—and,
further, that the process of selecting which courses would be offered at which high school
appeared haphazard. Course offerings appeared more likely to have been determined by the
availability of faculty and/or financial resources than by a model that outlines a cogent course
sequence designed to lead students to a degree.
We identified several opportunities to enhance and improve the consistency of how dual-enrollment
courses were provided, so that the accident of where students live and attend school
does not determine their opportunities to improve their lives through education.
Design dual-enrollment course pathways that lead to a degree
While the number of students enrolled in dual-enrollment courses continues to increase, not all
high schools offer a sequence that explicitly creates a pathway toward an associate’s degree or a
certificate. Thus, dual-enrollment programs should make it a priority to provide basic gateway
courses—such as College Algebra or College Writing—that are well-known barriers to student
success.
Dual enrollment should serve as a launching pad toward a college degree, provide opportunities
for early successes that build confidence and acclimate students to college culture, provide clear
signposts so that students see the path to completion, and minimize the number of additional
courses a student must take upon reaching college. Deliberate dual-enrollment course sequencing
could help STC operate more efficiently by steering students into relevant course sequences and
thus raising long-term completion rates.
Models already exist for such program pathways. The Texas Education Agency, for example,
offers recommendations for early college high schools about dual-enrollment course patterns and
activities that are particularly important for students to experience, such as registering for class,
acquiring books, and other college experiences.

STC, too, has experience in establishing clear program pathways for high school students. STC’s
Career and Technology Education (CATE) program provides students with a clearly defined
course sequence that applies to the long-term objectives of the degree program. One high school
official remarked that CATE students have higher success rates than other dual-enrollment
students because, “all of the grading and coursework in the courses are applied and the students
can understand the process.” STC could adapt and extend these models to dual-enrollment
programs more broadly as well.
Focus dual-enrollment course offerings to improve their availability
We observed that some dual-enrollment courses were not offered at all partnering high schools
because the schools lacked access to credentialed staff. Dual-enrollment courses are typically
delivered using one of three models:
• Students take a college course that is taught by a college faculty member at the college.
• Students take a college course that is taught by a visiting college faculty member at their
high school.
• Students take a college course at their high school that is taught by a high school
instructor who is a certified adjunct faculty member of the college.
In many cases, use of the first model proves too expensive. Often the second model is not used
due to uncertainty about how to contact the college to obtain a certified faculty member.
Generally, the third model is the easiest for high schools to implement when the high school
instructors qualified to teach particular classes are available (but often they are not).
Focusing dual enrollment on a small number of relevant, high-impact courses, then, could help
high schools hire or develop high school teachers who are qualified to teach these courses. To
guarantee provision of core courses that lead to a degree, STC could devote additional resources
to providing high school teachers the opportunity to become adjunct faculty at STC through
teacher development and training programs.
Enhancing instructional quality
Our interviews with high school and STC faculty revealed that each group had a unique set of
instructional strengths. The high school faculty have greater command of pedagogical techniques
that are effective at reaching high school students. They also have deeper relationships with the
students, which enables more personalized, differentiated instruction. By contrast, STC faculty
have command of the rigor of the college classroom and possess a certain gravitas as college
professors. We identified the following opportunities to create greater instructional alignment
between high school and STC classrooms.
Recognize the opportunity for high school and STC faculty to learn from each other
Teachers and administrators recognize that a successful dual-enrollment program should attempt
to merge the skill sets of both high school faculty and college faculty. One teacher said, “You
have to have that right person who can balance rigor and pedagogy. A teacher who has only
taught in high school isn’t necessarily familiar with college courses, and STC teachers don’t
necessarily know how to connect with high school students.”

Addressing this concern, we found high school teachers who work as adjunct professors for STC
use multiple strategies to create a college environment within the familiar high school support
systems. Some high school teachers serving as adjuncts wear their STC ID cards as an attempt to
distinguish the STC courses from standard high school courses. Some teachers establish college-level
classroom norms and make explicit the differences between high school–level and college-level
expectations.
Still, many high school teachers who serve as adjunct STC faculty worry about the differences
their students will experience when they enter the actual college for the first time; this concern
led one teacher to describe a student’s experience upon arriving in an STC classroom as “culture
shock.”
Our interviews with high school and college faculty indicate that both groups would like to work
collaboratively to create a clearly defined dual-enrollment pedagogy. High school faculty
expressed a desire to receive greater support from STC and to form stronger connections with
college faculty.
Currently, high school teachers seeking help must either request it from STC or rely on informal
relationships among colleagues. Neither of these strategies is particularly effective for spreading
best practices among other, often isolated, dual-enrollment high school faculty or among visiting
STC faculty, who usually drop in to high schools with a certain amount of anonymity, teach a
course, then leave.
Required collaboration, such as regularly scheduled meetings between high school and college
faculty, could greatly enhance the effectiveness of dual-enrollment instruction. A clearly defined
consistent pedagogical approach would benefit both teachers and students.
Leverage existing professional development opportunities
Once a semester, STC gathers all the dual-enrollment math teachers for a Saturday professional
development day. We heard some concerns about how this time is used and what should be
emphasized in these sessions. Several teachers noted that the sessions emphasized compliance
issues rather than instructional strategies. (Both are important.) Excitingly, the professional
development structure is in place and could be used as a venue for improving professional
development opportunities in the math department and beyond.
Additional professional development opportunities could be added at little cost. Currently, STC
conducts summer professional development for its adjunct faculty. While adjunct faculty,
including those who are high school dual-enrollment instructors, are eligible to participate, a first
step would be to investigate whether the high school faculty attend and whether their increased
participation might be encouraged. The college could target dual-enrollment adjunct faculty for
these summer development opportunities, both in how the college spreads the word and in how it
ensures that sessions address the concerns of dual-enrollment adjunct faculty.
Furthermore, many Rio Grande Valley public school districts pay for professional development
at the Region 1 Education Service Center in Edinburg. STC could work with this ESC to provide
professional development offerings that could be attended by dual-enrollment high school
faculty and college faculty alike. STC should work toward expanding opportunities for dual-

enrollment college and high school faculty to interact and collaborate on formulating clearly
defined instructional pedagogy for high school students in college-level courses.
Facilitate better information-sharing between high schools and STC
In Texas, most college faculty are not required to post grades regularly or use the online system
that all public high school teachers must use. For this reason, high school students and
counselors are not always aware of their STC grades. Further, STC faculty are not required to
communicate this information to the high school administrator. To update a high school
transcript to reflect STC courses, students must bring their STC transcript to their high school
counselor, who then merges the high school and STC transcripts. Feeder schools and STC should
find a way to better integrate this data.
The Syracuse University dual-enrollment model, which includes specific recommendations for
college-faculty oversight, monitoring, and alignment of course syllabi, assignments, textbooks,
and assessment methods and frequency, is a promising model that is worthy of further study.
This model suggests possible actions STC might take to reduce variation between high school
dual-enrollment courses and campus-based STC courses.8
Broadening outreach services
Our interviews indicate that STC outreach specialists serve as beloved and appreciated
connections between STC and partnering high schools. The only critique we heard is that high
schools wish they could have more time with their outreach specialists and more access to them
via cell phone. Outreach specialists provide valuable information to high school administrators,
counselors, teachers, and students about dual-enrollment programs as well as about traditional
STC enrollment after high school.
Although our focus was on dual enrollment, due to the outreach specialists’ responsibilities
around both dual enrollment and traditional college enrollment, many of our findings are relevant
to both student populations. The information below is provided in light of dual enrollment, but
we believe that it should be carefully considered for all of STC’s outreach efforts.
Some interviewees voiced concern that outreach for dual enrollment is aimed largely at high-achieving
students. One school official remarked that, “There’s no concerted effort to reach the
kids who really need the outreach. The program only serves the best.” High-achieving students
are more likely to already be on a college track. By establishing a strategy for targeting all
students, STC could expand enrollment and increase opportunity for upward mobility for
students who might not otherwise consider themselves college bound. We offer the following
suggestions for broadening dual-enrollment outreach in this area.
Direct outreach specialists to speak to all high school students
Presently, partnering high schools determine which students should be targeted by STC outreach
specialists. Some schools direct STC to target the top tier of the class, while others ask that STC
reach out to broader cross-sections of the population. This issue should not be left to the sole
discretion of high school administrators. STC should direct outreach specialists to request that
8 See the Syracuse University website for Project Advance, available at supa.syr.edu/index.php.

high schools connect them with all students—particularly students who typically would not
participate in dual enrollment—early in the first years of high school, when intervention can
have the greatest impact.
In our interviews, outreach specialists indicated that early outreach was not a common practice.
STC could make it a systemwide strategy to conduct early outreach to the entire student
population. In this way, STC could reach, as one teacher put it, “the ‘bubble’ kids [who] are most
likely to enter developmental courses.”
Create alumni networks to ease the transition to college
To broaden its outreach efforts, STC should engage alumni in outreach. Our interviews found
that the outreach specialists are already spread thin. Fortunately, by cultivating relationships with
recent alumni, STC has in place a ready network to help encourage students to pursue dual
enrollment and to explain what it means to be college ready.
STC should consider creating an alumni network with the mission of easing the transition of new
students to college. One high school counselor emphasized the importance of such a program,
asking “Why aren’t students successful? It’s not academic. It’s the feeling of helplessness of not
knowing where to go for help, how to talk to a professor, how to navigate the system.” Peers are
ideal vehicles to transmit this information.
We found that teachers and schools, particularly at Pharr–San Juan–Alamo North High School,
are already doing this informally with former students, highlighting them as “high school
heroes”— current or former STC students who come back and talk to the current high school
students. Systematizing these efforts could provide wide benefits at very little cost to STC. Our
conversations suggest that such an initiative would garner widespread enthusiasm among
community members who are eager to help the next generation.
Improving the coherence of policies around college placement testing
Our interviews confirmed a growing research consensus that multiple factors influence student
failure rates on college placement tests. Opportunities to practice, counseling on the test’s
significance, the form of the test, and the ability to retest all vary from college to college. At
STC, we found a tremendous amount of policy incoherence surrounding placement testing,
which we believe contributes to very high rate of developmental education enrollment. For
students who enrolled for the first time in 2008, 80 percent did not meet the state standard of
college readiness in at least one subject.9 We believe that STC can work with high schools to
streamline the placement testing process and, we hope, to improve passing rates—by
strengthening test preparation and the dissemination of information about the consequences of
placement testing, establishing a recommended placement test, and sharing data on student
performance.
9 Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. (2008). Developmental Education Accountability Measures
Data: South Texas College. Retrieved April 2011 from www.txhighereddata.org/reports/performance/deved.

Strengthening test preparation and the dissemination of information about the consequences of
placement testing
Access to adequate preparation materials varies widely both within and across STC’s feeder high
schools. Some schools offer test-preparation materials or courses to all students, others offer
them only to high-achieving students, and still others did not have the resources to offer much
assistance at all. Additionally, many students, particularly lower-achieving students, signed up
for the test right before the dual-enrollment deadline or just before STC course registration
began.
STC could use its website to provide greater access to test-preparation materials. Presently, STC
links to ACCUPLACER’s site, but this link is deeply embedded in the STC website—that is, it
takes many clicks to reach the actual practice problems. A student would need to know the
problems were available and be very motivated to find them; a student would not accidentally
run across them.
More direct access to practice problems could help students both assess their readiness for testing
and prepare for the test’s content and structure. In addition to improving access to these
resources on its website, STC could also be more proactive in disseminating preparation
materials, along with a recommended practice and testing schedule, to its feeder high schools.
This would help alleviate ill-planned or repeated test-taking.
In fact, many students, particularly those not in dual-enrollment courses, do not fully understand
the significance of the placement test. They do not understand that developmental education
courses will prolong their college career, cost them money without yielding college credit, and
profoundly reduce their chances of graduation.
In response, STC could create a one-page handout for high schools to share widely with students
that explains the significance of the test, the testing procedures, and the resources available to
prepare for the test. This information could be featured on STC’s website under the “Future
Students” tab. Outreach specialists could work with guidance counselors to disseminate the
document and to streamline messaging around the significance of the test.
Establishing a recommended placement test
The reasons for choosing a particular placement test vary greatly by feeder high school. Some
schools use the computerized ACCUPLACER test because it provides immediate results. Other
schools prefer THEA (the Texas Higher Education Assessment) because the paper-and-pencil
version is a more familiar format for most students. Even though state law allows the use of
multiple assessments, STC could establish an informal preference among districts. This would
also simplify the development of practice materials. Over the long term, establishing a common
placement test would enable STC to offer the test to students at reduced cost or to pursue funding
to let students take the test at no cost.
Sharing data on student performance
An additional strategy for improving student performance on placement tests would be to share
the student performance data from these tests with high school teachers. One official complained
of a lack of “structured feedback” for teachers, and noted that teachers are becoming increasingly

adept at analyzing data and adjusting instruction. In addition, teachers should be made aware of
STC’s data on initial placement and subsequent student success in courses taken during the first
year of college. Understanding this data will enable teachers to better understand—and
address—any gaps in the preparation of their students for success on the placement test and in
subsequent coursework.
General data regarding student performance in coursework at the college level should be made
readily available to all levels of high school staff—from district administrators to teachers. We
found that this data was available at the district level or principal level, but rarely trickled down
to department chairs or individual teachers. Teachers were not aware of mechanisms (other than
maintaining individual relationships with students) through which they could find out how well
they had prepared their students for college. Teachers, principals, and district leaders need more
systematic and regularly updated information so that schools can adjust their instruction,
policies, and curriculum to support successful student matriculation to STC.
Fortunately, this issue is perfectly suited for inclusion at STC’s annual College Readiness
Summit. We found the sessions at this year’s Summit to be interesting and insightful, but also
felt that they lacked a coherent message or objective. At least some time during this all-day
meeting could be spent working with high schools to analyze their student performance data as it
relates to dual enrollment and to subsequent student success in college. STC could recommend
that cross-functional high school teams attend the Summit, or STC could recommend ways that
district or school representatives could share the data with principals and department chairs.
Taking a more active role in aligning all local high school curricula with STC’s
expectations
We found many issues to consider related to curriculum alignment. Our interviews with STC and
high school staff revealed some genuine islands of excellence in curriculum alignment, but the
more common experience was captured by an administrator who lamented, “there was not much
going on here at all.” We suggest STC build upon the achievements of its feeder districts that
have been successful with curriculum alignment and, using P–16 councils, adapt and scale the
strategies to be used with all partnering high schools.
Learning from past successes
Hidalgo Independent School District serves as a beacon of curriculum alignment among high
schools in the Valley. The district has worked at aligning its mathematics program with that of
STC, and has synchronized STC requirements with those of regular-track high school courses so
that all students are taught the skills needed for success in college. Additionally, STC received a
grant to work with a district on curriculum alignment in English language arts. Reviewing the
curriculum alignment process employed for this grant could be a very valuable way for STC to
identify lessons to systematize for a more proactive approach to curriculum alignment with
feeder high schools.
STC plays a valuable role in disseminating to partnering high schools the lessons learned from
successful curriculum alignment efforts and in encouraging districts to implement similar
alignment efforts. In seeking to align mathematics curriculum, the Hidalgo district, for example,
found that there are many gaps between the Texas high school mathematics curriculum standards

and the STC mathematics course requirements. One STC math professor remarked that the
current TEKS for high school algebra consist of a hodgepodge of topics that seemed to jump
around, taking bits from each chapter of the textbook instead of making up a cogent course.
Addressing these gaps in the curriculum and conducting other alignment activities could help
ensure that all students entering STC from its feeder high schools are ready for college.
Using regional P–16 councils
P–16 councils could be instrumental in evaluating curriculum-alignment needs. Local P–16
councils consist of representatives from K–12 education and higher education, and these councils
constitute an existing platform for engaging all parties to work on curriculum alignment. STC
has made some efforts to use these councils, but our interviewees mentioned that council
meetings on curriculum alignment have been ad hoc at best, and that curriculum alignment is not
seen as a primary responsibility of the council members. The net result has been, according to
one STC official, “A bunch of different strands running independently of each other. We’re
helping kids but could be helping many more.”
El Paso Community College exemplifies an effective use of P–16 councils. Since 2000, EPCC
has partnered with working groups of teachers, principals, counselors, and administrators to
design a matrix of learning demands and cognitive objectives in mathematics that starts with the
“college ready” standard and works backwards to kindergarten. It has been a long, deliberative
process that has received considerable acclaim.
Creating curriculum alignment initiatives like that at Hidalgo and working with P–16 councils
can help streamline the alignment system and provide multiple and, we hope, mutually
reinforcing, vehicles for change. A final factor in this process is the introduction of the state’s
new STAAR (State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness) end-of-course exams. Some
interviewees suggested that more work will take place on alignment once these tests have been
introduced. However, curriculum alignment is time-consuming work, so it will be important to
consider carefully the timing of when to begin this process.
Conclusion
South Texas College has energetically embarked on the enormously complex process of
strengthening relationships with local public schools to facilitate their students’ transition to
college and thus create more opportunities for degree attainment. STC has created a space for
fruitful innovation, and, more importantly, has demonstrated a committed investment in
improving the quality of life for students from the Rio Grande Valley. These efforts have been
recognized by many involved parties and have begun to make a difference.
STC has made substantial progress, but there is still more work to do. Building on its strengths,
STC can now move toward systemic institutionalization of known improvements in dual
enrollment, college placement, and curriculum alignment and begin the process of creating short-term
and longer-term action plans in areas that have received less attention. STC is well
positioned to benefit from its leaders’ systemic thinking and priority-setting to maximize
increasingly scarce resources and serve even greater numbers of students.

Acknowledgments
This paper was developed at the request of South Texas College by Dana Center research and program staff, with
support from students in Professor Uri Treisman’s 2010–2011 Education Policy Research Practicum graduate course
in the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Development of this
paper was funded by the Texas High School Project Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas.
Charles A Dana Center Staff
Jenna Cullinane, project lead, doctoral student, and research scientist
Dr. Kristen Bishop, director of higher education projects
Dr. Uri Treisman, director, professor of mathematics, and professor of public affairs
Rachel Jenkins, editor
Members of the Education Policy Research Practicum graduate course
All students listed here are participating in graduate programs at the University of Texas at Austin.
Elizabeth Barkowski, doctoral student, education administration
Lynn Brabender, graduate student, public affairs
Sydney Alexis Chandler, graduate student, public affairs
Temitope Eletu-Odibo, graduate student, public affairs
Micheal Franco, graduate student, public affairs
Joel Goering, graduate student, business administration
Kori Hattemer, graduate student, public affairs
Katherine McIntosh, graduate student, mathematics education
Nahed Aaed Mubarak Abdelrah, graduate student, public affairs
Caitlin Sharp, graduate student, public affairs
Daniel Spikes, doctoral student, education administration
Stephen Sweeney, graduate student, business administration
Daniel Tesfay, graduate student, public affairs
Michael Volonnino, doctoral student, education administration
Interviewees
Dr. Ali Esmaeili, Dean, Bachelor Programs and University Relations; Dean, Developmental Studies (interim); Dean,
Dr. Mahmoud M. Fath El-Den, Chair, Mathematics Department, South Texas College
Dr. Wallace D. Johnson, Instructor, American Government, Public Service Administration, South Texas College
Corina Lopez-Garcia, Coordinator of Dual Enrollment, South Texas College
Kimberly McKay, Dean, Enrollment Services (interim); Director of Outreach, Orientation, and Welcome Centers;
Lucy Michal, Director, El Paso Community College Mathematics and Science Partnership; Professor of
Mario J. Morin, Director, CCRAA (College Cost Reduction and Access Act) team; Instructor of Mathematics, South
Dr. Luzelma G. Canales, Director of Grant Development, Accountability, and Management Services; Associate
Dean, Community Engagement and Workforce Development (interim), South Texas College
Reviewers
Dr. Thomas J. Connolly, Project Lead, Statway, Charles A. Dana Center, the University of Texas at Austin
Alma Garcia, Program Officer, Communities Foundation of Texas
With special thanks to the individuals who participated in additional interviews and focus groups …
El Paso Community College
McAllen ISD Achieve Early College High School
Memorial High School, McAllen, Texas
Mercedes High School, Mercedes, Texas
Pharr–San Juan–Alamo North High School, Pharr, Texas
Roma High School, Roma, Texas
Math and Sciences (interim), South Texas College
South Texas College
Mathematics, El Paso Community College
Texas College

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