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EDUCATION PHILANTHROPY DIVISION OF ASCENDIUM EDUCATION GROUP

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Sharing knowledge is at the heart of our mission. Explore Ascendium’s growing library of publications that examine the complex challenges facing postsecondary learners, and how we’re helping our partners address them.

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MDRC ISP today
MDRC

Informed Self-Placement Today: An Exploratory Study of Student Outcomes and Placement Practices

June 2022
Informed Self-Placement is a placement system in which students decide their math and English placement level based on information provided by colleges. This report from CAPR provides an opportunity for institutions to evaluate their placement systems relative to the degree of choice and guidance provided, and to consider changes that may boost student progression and success.
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Community College Research Center

Research Evidence on Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan Onboarding Practices

May 2022
New research behind a framework aimed at enriching learners’ experiences as they choose and plan a program of study has been shared by the Community College Research Center (CCRC). This brief describes the motivation, research evidence and equity implications that allow CCRC’s Ask-Connect-Inspire-Plan framework to serve as a useful strategy for colleges to engage learners and encourage completion.
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New America

Evaluating the Student Experience at Community College Baccalaureate Programs

May 2022
Community college baccalaureate programs can be an invaluable resource for students who otherwise lack avenues for obtaining a four-year degree. In this brief, New America profiles three students who describe what it was like to work toward a bachelor’s degree and why they chose to enroll at a community college to do so.
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mdrc resource 05 03 2022

College Completion Strategy Guide

April 2022
The College Completion Strategy Guide — a collaboration among MDRC, the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, The Education Trust and The Institute for College Access and Success — offers guidance on evidence-based strategies to increase college completion. The briefs in this guide summarize the research evidence on important topics in postsecondary education and provide direction to policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to advance student success and equity.
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2021 annual report

2021 Education Philanthropy Report: Stronger Together

March 2022
In 2021, we saw the impact partnership and collaboration can make in helping transform the lives of learners from low-income backgrounds. Our report tells the story of our philanthropy during 2021 and what can be achieved when organizations work together.
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Community College Baccalaureate Programs as an Equity Strategy

March 2022
This brief from New America looks at the emergence of community college baccalaureate (CCB) programs and how students are faring in these relatively new programs through an equity lens. The brief presents compelling evidence that CCBs can reduce the need for community college students to transfer to a university to complete a bachelor’s degree — a common barrier to timely degree completion.
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TLA Artboard 6

Teaching-Learning-Assessment (TLA) Framework

March 2022
The American Association of Colleges and Universities has developed a practical, web-based tool to help campuses engaged in the guided pathways model of student success. This framework centers student success and equity and recommends measurable steps that faculty, staff and institutional leaders can take to address persisting gaps in student learning outcomes.
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Placing a Hold on Posts

Placing a Hold on Postsecondary Student Success

January 2022
This new Ascendium-supported brief by Education Commission of the States analyzes administrative holds, offering policy examples and considerations for postsecondary leaders working to ensure holds don’t impede learner progress. Evidence is mounting that such holds can negatively impact institution and state graduation and workforce goals. They also disproportionally affect students who are underrepresented in postsecondary education, namely students from low-income backgrounds and students of color.
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Lessons From Two Experimental

Lessons From Two Experimental Studies of Multiple Measures Assessment

January 2022
This research brief summarizes the results of two rigorous studies on multiple measures assessments, one in New York and one funded by Ascendium in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Conducted by MDRC and Community College Research Center, both studies found that using multiple measures assessments to place students in introductory college-level English and math courses substantially improved completion rates. Ascendium supports efforts to validate and scale strategies like multiple measures that increase completion rates and reduce time to degree.
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Increasing Gatekeeper

Increasing Gatekeeper Course Completion

December 2021
This rigorous three-semester study of community college students in Minnesota and Wisconsin found a higher percentage of students who were placed using multiple measures assessments finished college-level English and math courses, compared to those who were placed in remedial courses using traditional methods. MDRC and Community College Research Center collaborated on the study. Ascendium supported this effort in keeping with its strategy to validate promising practices that improve outcomes for learners from low-income backgrounds.
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LASS

The Latino Adult Student Success Academy

December 2021
The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) collaborated with Excelencia in Education and Strada to create the Latino Adult Student Success (LASS) Academy, the first cohort in CAEL’s Adult Learner Academy model. The LASS Academy brought 15 Hispanic-serving institutions together to learn, collaborate and use data to guide decision-making about how they can best serve students. Ascendium supports efforts to increase data-driven decision-making to drive more equitable student outcomes.
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IEBC Six Behavioral

Caring Campus Faculty Top Six Behavioral Commitments

December 2021
The Institute for Evidence-Based Change’s Caring Campus approach is based on faculty identifying behavioral commitments to implement intentionally and campus-wide at their colleges. This summary presents the six most common behavioral commitments among institutions adopting the Caring Campus approach. Ascendium supported development of this guide for in-person and virtual environments.
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