In 2004, Assemblyman Rod Pacheco passed AB 1417, requiring each California community college to prepare an annual accountability report measuring their progress against a peer group of similar colleges.

The key metrics that the report measures include:

• How many students progressed and achieved their certificate, degree or transfer goal?
• How many earned 30 units or more?
• What was the persistence rate (still in school a year later)?
• How many vocational students completed their courses?
• How many students were successful in a Basic Skills course?
• How many Basic Skills students completed two courses in a row (demonstrating improvement)?

The interesting thing is that Sierra College was upgraded into the top tier peer group and was compared to some of the top-tier community colleges in the state. This was driven by a variety of factors, primarily a similar number of bachelor degrees per capita.

And our team is doing a fantastic job hitting the ball out of the park.

The most impressive result was in our Basic Skills program, which serves the 48% of students who come to us needing remediation. 58% of the Sierra College students who succeed in a single Basic Skills class move on and succeed in a second class…the average across our peer group is only 42%.

You can check out the complete PowerPoint presentation here.