Data Collection
Data is at the heart of the Toolkit. It is an essential component of any work to improve conditions on your campus; without knowing who your parenting students are and what their experiences are like, you cannot provide tailored supports to meet their needs.
Data Collection
- B.1 Profile of Existing Resources
- B.2 Institutional Data Collection
- B.3 Student Survey
- B.4 Focus Group Guidance
- B.5 Recommended Practices
B.1 Profile of Resources:
Identify existing resources on your campus using the knowledge of Task Force members and others
B.2 Institutional Data Sheet:
Gather any available institutional data about student parents. (Since most schools have not begun to collect data about students’ parenting status, this can be challenging.
B.3 Student Survey:
For many schools, the survey is the heart of their data collection efforts. Inside the Toolkit there are three survey support documents:
- Student Survey Preparation – things to consider months before you intend to distribute the survey
- Student Survey Question Guide – an overview of the topics covered in the survey and why they may or may not be relevant to your efforts. These are divided into the following categories:
- Demographics
- Experiences on Campus
- Support Services at School
- General Conditions of Student Parent Lives
- More Demographics & Follow up Information
- Student Parent Survey – Actual text of the survey questions (you are welcome to use as is or modify to fit your needs). This is the heart of many data collection efforts.
B.4 Focus Group Guidance:
Suggested questions and basic guide to running focus groups
B.5 Examples of Recommended Practices & Self-Assessment Rubric:
Rate existing practices, reveal important gaps, and identify priority areas with this comprehensive list of practices gathered from 2 and 4-year colleges across the country. It is divided into three areas: Direct Student Parent Programming and Supports, Institutional Supports and Policies, and Community Connections.
High Impact Practices:
- Collect, track, compare and report on data about student parents.
- Give students opportunities to disclose parental status after or before admission.
- Convene a Task Force.
- Provide a caring, trained staff person (with access to resources) responsible for meeting student parent needs.
- Make student parents a designated at-risk group.
- Facilitate child care accessibility
- Provide a space and activities to reduce isolation among student parents.
- Enact institutional policies that address barriers to success.
- Publicize all supports, resources, and policies.
- Find or be a high-level student parent champion.