Formalized Early Intervention for Struggling Students: Preliminary Findings at One Completely Online University
Abstract: At one completely online institution, evidence suggested that students’ performance on the first assignment in the first course might be an indicator of their potential future success. As reported in mid-2018, nearly 80% of students who earned a failing grade on the first assignment were no longer active 20 weeks later. Results of a formal needs assessment indicated that students’ working with an academic coach early in their program might be associated with a greater likelihood of persistence. The shared goal of this early intervention was to provide personalized co-curricular learning support to students who struggled to meet academic performance expectations at the start of their program. Overall, even though they failed their first assignment, there were few significant differences between students who accepted and those who declined learning support on the one hand and those in a matched sample on the other hand, including their first course final grades. From a persistence/retention standpoint, this early intervention initiative can be deemed as mostly successful so far, as a similar proportion of students met the requirement of the first course, regardless of their grade on their first assignment. The findings of this pilot study offer insights into the perspectives and experiences of students who struggle at the start of their program that can inform ongoing continuous improvement efforts focusing on student learning and retention at the university and beyond.