Credit ESL Level View Methodology and Definitions

Methodology

In order to meet credit ESL compliance requirements under title 5, §55522.5, colleges must demonstrate that their credit ESL completion rate by starting level meets or exceeds the statewide benchmark. To set a benchmark for continuous improvement, we calculated a statewide rate based on a three-year average of ESL completion rates, by starting level. The statewide benchmark is set at the 25th percentile of statewide credit ESL completion rates (the three-year average for the bottom quarter of colleges).

Cohorts were created in compliance with title 5, §55522.5 (b)(2): exclude dual enrolled students; include students enrolled in their first credit ESL course; and include students with an educational goal of degree, transfer and undecided.

Cohort: All views includes credit ESL students who first enrolled in a credit ESL course. Excludes dual enrolled students; Includes students with an educational goal of degree, transfer and undecided (SB14 = A, B, C, M*).

Successful Transfer-Level Completion Counts

Students successfully completing transfer-level English (TLE) composition course or an ESL course equivalent to transfer-level English composition (TLEE) with a passing grade. Passing grades include A, B, C (including +/- grades where allowable), P, and CR grades, as well as incomplete grades equivalent to a passing grade (e.g., IA, IB, IC, IPP). Enrollments with grade codes of ID, IF, XX, DR, MW, RD, UD, UG, RD0, RD1, RD2, RD3, RD4, RD5, RD6, RD8, IX, INP and IP were not included in the analysis, as they do not represent valid enrollments or letter grades. Non-successful completions were defined as letter grades F, D (including +/- grades where allowable), W, EW, and NP (see COMIS for definitions of letter grades). Excused withdrawals (EW) count as a valid enrollment and are considered a non-successful attempt.

Starting Level

A student’s first enrollment in a credit ESL course by starting level. Starting levels are based on the number of levels below TLE or TLEE. Starting levels of six levels below or lower are not allowed due to a student being unlikely to complete five ESL levels plus transfer level within the three-year timeframe. For example, 1 Level Below indicates the student’s first course of enrollment in credit ESL was at one-level below transfer level.

Disaggregated (PPG-1 methodology, 3-Year Rolling Average)

Users can disaggregate transfer-level completion rates for credit ESL based on student characteristics to determine if disproportionate impact (DI) is present for the selected subgroup. Student groups who significantly perform below the average rate of all other groups are identified as DI with the Percentage Point Gap (PPG) method. PPG uses the average (excluding the group of interest i.e., PPG-1 method) as a reference taking sample sizes into account. Learn more about the calculation of the PPG-1.

See additional information below on the different disaggregations available in the dashboard.

Completion Rates by Starting Level (3-Year Rolling Average)

The one year average success transfer-level completion rate for credit ESL by starting level for each year displayed.

Reference Rate (Benchmark)

The statewide reference rate is set at the 25th percentile (bottom quarter of colleges) of statewide credit ESL completion rates based on the three-year average completion rate of credit ESL students who first enrolled between 2019-20 and 2021-22 and given three years to complete TLE or TLEE.

Definitions/Filters

Selected Timeframe

Displays the timeframe that can be fully observed (e.g., completed) within the timeframe selected (e.g., one term, one year, two years).

Method

There are two available methods to calculate the completion rates. The “1-Year Average” shows the completion rates of the stated cohort while “3-Year Rolling Average” uses a rolling three-year average and therefore includes the two preceding years of the stated cohort.

For example, if the 2021-22 cohort is selected, and the method selected is the 1-Year Average, the display shows students starting in a credit ESL course sequence in 2021-.22. If the 3-Year Rolling Average is selected, the display shows students starting in a credit ESL sequence in 2021-22, 2020-21 and 2019-20. The 3-Year Rolling Average was added to add stability when a college has a small ESL population when disaggregating by starting level or student demographics.

College

Students are assigned to a college based on their first course enrollment in credit ESL and include completion anywhere in the system. Completion is attributed to the starting college. The “Statewide” option aggregates this information across all colleges in the system.

Time Horizon

The timeframe to completion represents the period over which the starting cohort is tracked to successful completion of transfer-level English or ESL equivalent course. One-term is completion within the first term of enrollment in the discipline. The one-year timeframe includes students who completed a transfer-level class within one year (365 days) of their initial attempt in the sequence (e.g., Fall-[Winter]-Spring-Summer; Spring-Summer-Fall-[Winter]; etc.). Two- and three-year timeframes extend this logic for two or three years.

First Attempt Term

This filter allows users to look at students whose first enrollment in the discipline was either in the fall term or to look at all starting terms combined.

Disaggregation

This filter allows users to select different student variables to determine the presence of disproportionate impact (see Methodology above). Only student variables available in the COMIS system may be reported in the dashboard. Based on the student variable selected, a set of included subgroups will appear. If disproportionate impact is present for a subgroup, a circle will appear in the visualization around the specific data point. See an outline of student variables below.,