June 2021 - Assessing Student Academic Progress Before and After Executive Order 1110
In August 2017, the California State University system issued Executive Order 1110 (EO 1110), which revised policies for first-year student placement in General Education (GE) courses for Written Communication and Mathematics / Quantitative Reasoning. Among the central goals of this policy was ending the placement of students into noncredit “remedial” courses in these areas, so that students could earn more units and make better progress towards degree completion, while also improving academic supports for completion of GE requirements in the first year. Now that EO 1110 has been in effect for two academic years, this month’s By the Numbers(opens in new window) report will compare changes in relevant student outcomes for first-time freshmen cohorts in the pre-EO 1110 period (2017) and after implementation of the policy (2018 – 2019). For the sake of brevity, the report will focus solely on these outcomes with regards to Quantitative Reasoning (QR) eligibility categories; comparable data and figures on Written Communication eligibility-based outcomes are available upon request from the Office of Institutional Research(opens in new window).
These data demonstrate that while EO 1110 appears to have benefited freshmen students by contributing to increases in completion of GE QR requirements in the first year, as well as increases in mean units attempted and earned, one-year retention rates decreased slightly for first-time freshmen requiring GE support during this period. Furthermore, differences in these outcomes within GE eligibility categories suggest the need for enhanced academic supports for GE completion in the first year.
CSU, Chico By the Numbers
Read a short report (PDF)that further explores the relationship between GE Quantitative Reasoning eligibility categories and academic outcomes for freshmen between 2017 and 2019.
Further Reading:
General Education Requirements: A Comparative Analysis (The Journal of General Education, 2009)