LUMINA ISSUE PAPER - SCALING HIGH-IMPACT PRACTICES TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT OUTCOMES: Evidence from the Tennessee Board of Regents

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Damian

Report examines how the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) expands and measures high-impact practices (HIPs) to improve community college student outcomes and promote educational equity. It explains limitations of evidence based mainly on student self-reports and describes a systemwide approach using administrative records and standardized taxonomies to track HIP participation in BANNER. Findings highlight meaningful outcome improvements, especially for Black and Hispanic students and adult learners, alongside quality assurance mechanisms.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages16

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

The Lumina-NASH HIPs Initiative

Building on a Systemwide Process for Tracking HIP Participation in Tennessee

Examining Benefits of HIP Participation

Sample and Methodology

Results – All Students

Results – Black and Hispanic Students

Results – Adult Learners

Spotlight on Chattanooga State

Conclusion: System Leadership for Scaling HIPs

Appendix

Endnotes

LUMINA ISSUE PAPER SCALING HIGH-IMPACT PRACTICES TO IMPROVE COMMUNITY COLLEGE STUDENT OUTCOMES: Evidence from the Tennessee Board of Regents By Jessa Valentine, Ph. D. , and Derek Price, Ph. D. , DVP-PRAXIS LTD February 2021 Introduction Public two-year colleges serve as an important access point for two out of every five students enrolled in postsecondary education. However, only 40 percent of community college students earn a postsecondary credential of any kind within six years, limiting their opportunities for advancement. 1 Hoping to increase student retention and success, many colleges are developing and scaling up evidence-based practices that engage students more effectively. Significant evidence suggests that high-impact educational practices (HIPs)—including learning communities, service learning, and other practices that deeply engage students—can enhance learning and boost academic attainment, particularly among students who are traditionally underserved in higher education.2 However, most of this evidence relies on student self-reports of participation in HIPs, making it difficult to connect student outcomes with verifiable educational practices at the institution or system level. Unfortunately, this situation is common among institutions of higher education, most of which lack any sort of systemic process to define, measure, track, and officially document HIP participation. This report highlights efforts of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) to advance quality and equity in higher education by increasing the number of students who experience high-quality, high-impact practices, and measuring the results of these efforts. TBR’s use of administrative records to track HIP participation—based on statewide taxonomies used by faculty to establish a minimum quality threshold for categorizing different courses and experiences as HIPs—enables more reliable analysis of the relationship between HIP participation and key student success outcomes such as retention. A recent study by DVP-PRAXIS LTD as part of a Lumina-funded initiative on high-quality educational practices employed at five TBR community colleges suggests that HIPs can lead to meaningful improvements across several student outcomes—especially among Black and Hispanic students and adult learners. Table of Contents Introduction............................. 2 | The Lumina-NASH HIPs
Initiative .................................... 3 | | --- | | Examining Benefits of HIP
Participation ........................... 5
Sample and Methodology.......... 5
Results – All Students................. 7
Results – Black and
Hispanic Students .................. 7
Results – Adult Learners .......... 10 | | Spotlight on
Chattanooga State ............ 12 | Conclusion: System Leadership for Scaling HIPs .......................... 14 Appendix .................................... 15 Endnotes..................................... 16 About the Authors Jessa Valentine is managing director, and Derek Price is principal and founder of DVP-PRAXIS LTD. The firm provides culturally responsive and equity-focused formative and summative evaluation services, strategic facilitation and advising, and technical assistance and training to support efforts to inform implementation and measure impact across the postsecondary education and workforce training systems. Scaling High-Impact Practices to Improve Community College Student Outcomes 2 The Lumina-NASH HIPs Initiative: Building on a Systemwide Process for Tracking HIP Participation in Tennessee In 2018, with support from Lumina Foundation, the National Association of System Heads (NASH) launched an effort with four public college and university systems to demonstrate how a coordinated approach could expand high-impact practices in an equitable manner. In addition to expanding HIP participation among traditionally underserved students, a key goal of this effort was to better understand a

FAQs

Why does the report focus on scaling high-impact practices (HIPs) in community colleges?

Because only a minority of community college students earn postsecondary credentials within six years, limiting advancement. The report argues that scaling HIPs can enhance learning and academic attainment, especially for students traditionally underserved in higher education.

What method does TBR use to track HIP participation more reliably?

TBR uses administrative records to track HIP participation through statewide taxonomies and a standardized coding process in BANNER. This approach supports systemwide analysis linking HIP participation to student success outcomes such as retention.

What groups benefit most from HIP participation according to the report?

A study referenced in the report suggests HIPs lead to meaningful improvements across several outcomes, especially among Black and Hispanic students and adult learners.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Damian