StudentTracker Helps Shasta County Increase Enrollment by 46% at Top Colleges Graduates Attend
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Tara Schwerdt, School Counseling Coordinator at Shasta County Office of Education, and James Crandall, Regional Director – Data Strategies at North State Together, participated in a webinar about how StudentTracker for High Schools helped them reduce barriers to student enrollment success.
A Collaborative Effort
The Shasta County Office of Education wanted to strengthen the postsecondary culture in the county. In 2020, StudentTracker’s Top 25 Postsecondary Institutions First Attended Report revealed the postsecondary trends among Shasta students — which colleges they were attending and their persistence rates. As a rural county, they were able to confirm Shasta College topped the list, so that was their starting point.
The Shasta County Office of Education partnered with North State Together, combining their additional data to identify students who had not completed certain activities required to enroll successfully at Shasta College. With this information, school counselors were able to hold tier 2 intervention workshops to help students overcome barriers to successful enrollment (e.g., did not complete orientation, entered school email vs. personal email).
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Yields Results
Two years after starting the collaborative project, enrollment for the cohort grew 46% at the top postsecondary colleges that Shasta County graduates attend. This includes Shasta College, University of California, Davis and California State University, Chico.
“Because we’re having more connected conversations about a postsecondary plan in general and really making sure that our students are getting all of the things done that they need, it’s building a culture of postsecondary awareness for our students,” said Schwerdt.
This year, their collaborative efforts were recognized by the California School Boards Association with a Golden Bell Award, a recognition that celebrates excellence in education in the Equity and Access category.
Learn more about Shasta County’s StudentTracker use. Register to watch “How Shasta Reduced Barriers to College Enrollment Success” on demand.