Evidence-Based Decision Making in Community Colleges: Findings from a Survey of Faculty and Administrator Data Use at Achieving the Dream Colleges

The study reported on here, conducted by researchers from the Community College Research Center and MDRC, examines what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design and improve the impact of programs and services. This study is based on a survey of faculty and administrators at 41 community colleges participating in Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count. Achieving the Dream is a major national initiative designed to improve educational outcomes for community college students, particularly students of color, low-income students, and others who face barriers to success in college. In addition to the surveys, structured telephone interviews were conducted with administrators and faculty at four of the colleges that participated in the survey, to explore in greater detail key findings from the survey.