USM Building

Higher Student Retention and Stronger, More Equitable Outcomes Through Quality Teaching

11/01/2023 |

Higher Student Retention and Stronger, More Equitable Outcomes Through Quality Teaching

In 2016, The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) began an institution-wide commitment to its faculty, evidence-based teaching, and student success by launching the ACUE Faculty Development Institute. From the start, USM and ACUE worked closely to lead high-quality, large-scale research to evaluate student impact.

Today, more than 200 faculty have participated across USM and—with 1 out of every 4 full-time faculty ACUE-certified—the university is on track to ensure every student benefits from high-quality, evidence-based instruction in every class.

 

Stronger Achievement in First-Year Gateway Courses

 

First-year students see increased performance when taking gateway courses with ACUE instructors.

 • 6.4% pt increase in passing rates

 • 5.3% pt decrease in DFW rate

 • Impact on DFW rates was 6% pt larger for Black students relative to White students

Read The Research Brief
A group of faculty members walking around campus engaged in conversation

Stronger, More Equitable Student Achievement

11/01/2023 |

University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College Achieves Stronger, More Equitable Student Achievement Through Campus-Wide Investment in Quality Teaching

As a 2-year community college, the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College (UA-PTC) plays a key role in the education and workforce training pipeline in the Central Arkansas region. However, while many UA-PTC faculty are working professionals with direct industry experience, they had not previously been equipped with the practices needed to teach those vocations to students.

In 2017, the college began its partnership with ACUE to equip all of its instructors with evidence-based teaching practices. Today, 98% of all UA-PTC full-time faculty have become ACUE-certified.

 

Greater Impact for Black and Latino Students

 

Year 1 (2017-18):

Increase in students passing courses and receiving fewer DFW grades. The positive drop in DFW grades was greater for Black students, down 7 percentage points.

In this study alone, 120 additional students passed their courses and 145 fewer students received DFW grades in their courses the year after faculty completed the ACUE.

 

 

Year 2 (2018-19):

Fewer students received DFW grades and average course grades improved, with greater impact for Hispanic/Latino students.

In this study alone, 250 fewer students received DFW grades while faculty were completing the ACUE course, and 201 fewer students received DFW grades the year after faculty completed the ACUE course.