District Research and Planning
Mission
The District Office of Research and Planning is committed to building, maintaining and nurturing a Districtwide culture of inquiry and reflection
by providing a foundation for the effective and pervasive practice of evidence-based decision making at every layer of the institution.
Its primary purpose is to empower faculty, staff and administrators with information to effectively pursue and achieve the mission of their institution.
Because the pursuit of that mission relies heavily on the ability of the institution to constantly improve and adapt, the Office of Research and Planning
maintains an infrastructure to support on-going assessment and continuous improvement within a framework oriented toward achieving sustained
improvements in student success.
The Office of Research and Planning (RP Office) works to advance this mission by supporting the colleges and district in five strategic areas:
Institutional Effectiveness
Equitable Student Success
Strategic Planning
Accreditation and Accountability
Culture of Inquiry
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The RP Office supports institutional effectiveness by developing and maintaining a variety of data search and extraction tools
designed to meet the assessment and planning needs of faculty, staff and administrators. These include tools that support:
resource allocation
program review;
institutional goal setting;
productivity analysis and reports;
enrollment management;
program improvement and viability;
student pathway analysis;
student equity analysis.
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The RP Office supports Districtwide student success and student equity activities by managing a Districtwide research request system
serving all faculty, staff and administrators at the three colleges. The District. Research requests include:
student performance and outcome research;
program evaluation and assessment;
student satisfaction and employee climate surveys;
intervention effectiveness studies;
student cohort studies;
disproportionate impact analysis;
achievement gap studies;
student service usage investigations;
survey development for program assessment;
facilitate discussions about implication of research findings.
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The RP Office supports strategic planning efforts throughout the District by developing and regularly updating a variety of reports
and studies to support planning activities. These include:
the Districtwide environmental scan;
the Districtwide strategic plan;
IEPI goal-setting dashboards;
economic and policy trend analysis;
service area border realignment studies;
economic impact studies;
feeder high school studies.
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The RP Office supports college accreditation and accountability activities by providing data and analysis in support of on-going
program assessment and improvement. These data and tools support a variety of activities and reporting requirements, including:
federal- and state-mandated reports;
placement validation studies;
Title V and Title IX research investigations;
college self-evaluation reports;
college substantive change reports;
program review;
annual equity and 3SP reports.
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The RP Office helps foster the development of a culture of inquiry by communicating research findings from local,
state and national research studies. This communication takes several forms, including:
sharpen inquiry so questions can be investigated
apply sound research methodology to inform questions
identify successful, emerging approaches to learning and student success
regular facilitation of discussions about implication of research findings;
one-on-one and group coaching on how to use of evidence;
support for practitioner-led research investigations;
longitudinal / cohort tracking studies;
student completion pathway studies;
case studies on high impact practices;
leadership development workshop;
sponsored professional development activities.
