AN ANALYSIS OF VIRGINIA TRANSFER POLICY AND ARTICULATION AGREEMEN

Virginia Commonwealth University VCU Scholars Compass Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 2012 AN ANALYSIS OF VIRGINIA TRANSFER POLICY AND ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER AND NATIVE STUDENTS-ENROLLMENTS AND OUTCOMES IN A TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM Michael C Huffman Virginia Commonwealth University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd Part of the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons © The Author Downloaded from https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2687 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at VCU Scholars Compass It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of VCU Scholars Compass For more information, please contact libcompass@vcu.edu ©Michael Conway Huffman All Rights Reserved 2012 AN ANALYSIS OF VIRGINIA TRANSFER POLICY AND ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER AND NATIVE STUDENTS—ENROLLMENTS AND OUTCOMES IN A TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillments of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University by Michael Conway Huffman B.A., History, Virginia Military Institute, 1986 M.B.A., Business Management, Pepperdine University, 1990 M.S., Sport Leadership, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2002 Director: Dr William C Bosher, Jr Distinguished Professor of Public Policy L Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia May, 2012 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study is truly the result of the incredible support of many colleagues, faculty, friends, and foremost, my family It would be impossible for me to list everyone who has been involved and supported me in some way during this journey, so please know if you are not personally identified here, you will always have my gratitude I want to thank my wife, Jennifer, for her love and enduring support over the years, and my children, Jacob and Karlie, and soon to be born third child, for understanding all the time Daddy had to be away working on this paper I love all of you My parents, Anna and William Huffman, and sister, Shelly, thank you all for your unwavering love and support over the years Much gratitude goes to a former professor and mentor, Dr Brad Zehner, who provided an early “spark” for furthering my academic curiosity during my pursuit of an MBA, and has continued to provide guidance and sage wisdom over the years Many thanks and much gratitude goes to my dissertation chair, Dr Bill Bosher, who provided incredible insight to my topic and has supported me every step of the way—Bill, I will always be grateful for your commitment to me; Dr Ken Magill, who was responsible for getting Dr Bosher to actually agree to chair my committee, your friendship and guidance is cherished Ken, our regular lunch dates are not bad either! Dr Richard Huff, our frequent conversations over coffee always challenged me to look deeper into my study, and I’m very grateful to call you my friend; Dr Steven Peterson, you have been an incredible methodologist and loyal friend and I iii simply could not have accomplished an empirical study without your tremendous guidance with the data and statistics I also want to thank Dr Michael Pratt for his counsel during his leadership of the Public Policy and Administration doctoral program, and Ms Betty Moran and Ms Beth Dannenbrink for ensuring deadlines and paperwork were always in order I am also thankful for the support of my many colleagues in the School of Education: Dr Michael Davis, Dr Diane Simon, Mr Ed Blanks, Dr Ed Acevedo, Ms Geri McInerney, and so many more who have prodded me to complete this work over the years I also want to thank Dr Jack Schiltz and Dr Joe Marolla who provided great inspiration and support for my pursuit of a Ph.D very early on Many thanks to Mrs Carole Harwell who diligently assisted with the final editing of the paper Finally, I want to thank my loyal feline companions of the last 17 years, Clark and Gable, who faithfully stayed at my feet and on my desk during the many late nights and early mornings iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii ABSTRACT viii INTRODUCTION Conceptual Framework Statement of the Problem 10 Purpose of the Study 11 Central Research Questions 12 Research Hypotheses 12 Methodology 14 Secondary Data Sources 15 Significance of the Study 15 Delimitations 18 Limitations 18 Key Terms and Definitions 19 Summary 20 LITERATURE REVIEW 22 The Community College in Virginia 24 State Level Transfer Policy 26 Student Tracking and Transfer Rate 30 Policy, Legislation, and Budgets 33 SCHEV and Transfer Policy 38 VCU/VCCS Articulation Agreements 49 Studies Related to Student Transfer 49 The Future of Transfer 56 Summary 60 v Page METHODOLOGY 62 Central Research Questions 63 Research Hypotheses 63 Procedures 66 Population and Sample 67 Study Design 68 Analysis of Data 68 Institutional Review Board 69 ANALYSIS OF DATA 70 Introduction 70 Research Questions and Related Hypotheses 74 Research Question 74 Research Question 75 Summary 86 FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS 87 Introduction 87 Summary of the Study 87 Findings 89 Conclusions and Recommendations 92 Research Question 92 Research Question 94 Suggestions for Further Research 97 Conclusion 99 REFERENCES 102 APPENDIXES A Overview of State Policy and Legislation 114 B 2009 VCU/VCCS Guaranteed Admission Agreement 115 C 2004 Teacher Education Provisional Admission Agreement 119 D Preteacher Education Curriculum Agreement 124 E Master File Descriptive Statistics 131 VITA 134 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Comparison of 2011 Tuition and Fees for Virginia Public Universities vs Virginia Community Colleges 58 Master File Variables 71 Cross-tabulation – Hypothesis 76 Logistic Regression – Hypothesis 76 Ordinary Least Squares Regression – Hypothesis 2a 78 Ordinary Least Squares Regression – Hypothesis 2b (White) 79 Ordinary Least Squares Regression – Hypothesis 2b (Nonwhite) 79 Ordinary Least Squares Regression – Hypothesis 3a 80 Logistic Regression – Hypothesis 3b 81 10 Logistic Regression – Hypothesis 4a 82 11 Logistic Regression – Hypothesis 4b 83 12 Logistic Regression – Hypothesis 4c 84 13 Logistic Regression – Hypothesis 4d 85 14 Ordinary Least Squares Regression – Hypothesis 86 15 Hypotheses Supported 90 16 Hypotheses Not Supported 91 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page Public FTE Enrollment, Educational Appropriations and Total Educational Revenue Per FTE, United States—Fiscal 1984-2009 36 Public FTE Enrollment, Educational Appropriations and Total Educational Revenue Per FTE, Virginia—Fiscal 1984-2009 37 Growth in Number of VCCS Graduates Who Transfer to 4-year Institutions 39 Abstract AN ANALYSIS OF VIRGINIA TRANSFER POLICY AND ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER AND NATIVE STUDENTS—ENROLLMENTS AND OUTCOMES IN A TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAM By Michael Conway Huffman, Ph.D A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University, 2012 Major Director: Dr William C Bosher, Jr Distinguished Professor of Public Policy L Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs Transfer articulation is an important policy issue in Virginia With increasing economic strains on federal and state budgets, pressure on key actors in higher education, and critical teacher shortages, an opportunity presented itself to investigate state transfer policy and articulation agreements designed to facilitate student transfer Articulation agreements are policy instruments designed to facilitate a seamless transfer of both students and credits from the community college system into senior institutions Over the last decade increased articulation activity has taken place in the Commonwealth of Virginia driven by higher education costs and articulation specific to teacher preparation due to teacher shortages This study is an effort to add to the literature by linking the presence of one articulation agreement to increased 120 121 122 123 APPENDIX D PRE-TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM AGREEMENT 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 APPENDIX E MASTER FILE DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS Abbr stu id mat_score gre_verbal~e gre_quanti~e gre_total_~e transfer_c~_ transfer_c~s graduation~e tpadmityn admit_seme~r tpadmitdt month day year tpsocsc~1uni tpsocsc~2uni Variables Student records Miller analogy test score Graduate record exam verbal score Graduate record exam quantitative score Graduate record exam total score Transfer credit y/n? Transfer credit hours Graduation Admitted to teacher preparation y/n? Admission semester Admit date to teacher preparation Admit month to teacher preparation Admit day to teacher preparation Admit year to teacher preparation Social science credit earned university-1st course Social science credit earned Obs 2349 Mean Std Dev Min Max 859 110.1444 144.3698 459 509 357.4067 199.6255 770 508 411.8701 232.0585 780 507 770.0789 422.3827 1470 5.022727 3.053695 13635 13635 12 13635 44 0 1731 15742.71 3998.299 -19920 18078 1731 6.3316 1731 16.52629 3.72227 12 7.56901 31 1993 2009 2056 2003.594 3.806377 131 0 tpeng1uni tpeng2uni tpmathuni tpsciencec~i tplabscien~i tpedu300uni satscores tppraxisic~e reading710~1 reading711~1 reading710~2 reading711~2 writing720~1 writing721~1 writing720~2 writing721~2 math730sco~1 math731sco~1 math730sco~2 math731sco~2 merge1 term concentrat~n university-2nd course English credit earned university1st course English credit earned university2nd course Math credit earned university Science credit earned university1st course Science lab credit earned university Foundations course earned university SAT score PRAXIS score Reading 710 score Reading 711 score Reading 710 score-2nd attempt Reading 711 score-2nd attempt Writing 720 score Writing 721 score Writing 720 score2nd attempt Writing 721 score2nd attempt Math 730 score Math 731 score Math 730 score2nd attempt Math 731 score2nd attempt First data merge Graduation term Concentration of 0 0 0 0 1360 181.2904 13.39364 175 331.0629 3.353081 161 319 655 335 150 3.12682 167 185 22 328.4091 3.500464 1356 177.5715 13.34863 186 326.4409 3.80032 323 165 314 334 652 335 172 175.5698 2.566271 169 182 29 323.5172 3.8879 1358 180.4381 14.01873 198 326.2778 11.75808 315 161 181 332 659 335 163 167 185 173 322 10 2350 0 132 179.1467 177.5399 3.562918 304.5 2.08 46.28475 0.775025 cum_gpa earned_hours entry_term merge2 year_licen~d merge3 study Cumulative grade point average Total earned hours at graduation Entry term into university Second data merge Year of teacher licensure Third data merge 1089 3.752151 0.306873 1089 36.35414 9.687739 145 1996 2009 2675 1.845981 0.924718 1479 2994 133 2001.41 1.88143 4.61961 0.937917 VITA Michael Conway Huffman was born on January 2, 1964 in Newport News, Virginia He graduated from Benedictine High School in Richmond, Virginia in 1982 He received a Bachelor of Arts in History from the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia in 1986 He received a Masters in Business Administration from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California in 1990 He received a Masters of Science with a concentration in Sport Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in 2002 Mr Huffman spent the first half of his business career in university development, investment banking and venture capital in Los Angeles, California, New York, New York, Richmond, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina He entered higher education in 2002 and has spent the last 10 years at Virginia Commonwealth University in varied roles including teaching, internship coordination, advising, and administration He held previous teaching roles in both the Center for Sport Leadership and the Recreation, Parks and Sport Management department, and advising and internship coordination roles in the latter He spent years as the Director of the Student Services Center in the School of Education and has been the Director of the Center for Professional Growth in the School of Education since July, 2011 134 ... Conway Huffman All Rights Reserved 2012 AN ANALYSIS OF VIRGINIA TRANSFER POLICY AND ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER AND NATIVE STUDENTS—ENROLLMENTS AND OUTCOMES... with articulation agreements and public policy entered, 135 records when articulation agreements and transfer policy were searched, 16 records when articulation agreements and Virginia and community... Policy, Legislation, and Budgets; SCHEV and Transfer Policy; Articulation Agreements; VCU/VCCS Articulation Agreements; Studies Related to Student Transfer; The Future of Transfer; and Summary The