What is Achieving the Dream

Achieving the Dream (ATD) is a national initiative designed to increase student achievement at community colleges, particularly for such at-risk groups as first-generation, low-income, under-performing and minority students. The initiative’s goal is to improve success rates by targeting successful completion of developmental courses and progress to credit courses, as well as improved persistence from one semester to the next. All actions are undertaken within a culture of evidence where decisions are informed by data. Interventions are proposed and implemented, and then subjected to a rigorous, data-based analysis of their efficacy. ATD is committed to using student success data to help make decisions. For more information about the initiative, visit the national Achieving the Dream website.