Getting Started with Dropout Detective

Introduction

This article guides faculty at St. Petersburg College (SPC) through accessing and using AspireEDU Dropout Detective within Canvas to proactively identify and support at-risk students.

Contents

What is Dropout Detective?

Accessing Dropout Detective in Canvas

Navigating Your Dropout Detective Dashboard

What the Individual Student View Looks Like

More Information on Dropout Detective

What is Dropout Detective?

Dropout Detective is a student retention and success solution that integrates directly with Canvas to provide a risk index of how likely it is that each online student will drop out of or fail their course(s). This program pulls together the different reasons a student is at risk (using data from Canvas) and makes it easy to quickly go through and look at what might be happening with a student and determine an appropriate intervention strategy. It also allows faculty to activate an alert that goes to a student's assigned career and academic advisor, and/or add a tag to connect a student with an SPC department (like Learning Resources for tutoring). 

Accessing Dropout Detective in Canvas

1. Login to Canvas and navigate to your course.  
2. Scroll down to Third Party Tools (1) on the course navigation and select Dropout Detective (2). 
   Note: You can only view the Dropout Detective dashboard for courses in which you are an instructor. If you believe you should have access to the Dropout Detective dashboard for a course and you do not, please email atst@spcollege.edu for assistance. 
   

Navigating Your Dropout Detective Dashboard

In your Dropout Detective Dashboard, you'll see a list of the students in your course. You'll see columns for student name (1), risk index (2), risk trend (3), and last note written about the student (4). You're also able to filter (5) or search by name or SID (6). 

• What is a risk index? Dropout Detective uses Canvas data to assign students a risk index score on a scale of 0-100. 100 is the most at-risk for dropping out or failing, and 0 is the least at risk. Dropout Detective uses a wealth of Canvas activity to determine a student's risk level, including missing assignments, zeros, login frequency, submission frequency, and more! 
• What is a trend? In Dropout Detective, trend shows what direction students are moving on the risk index scale. If a student has a +10 trend, that means the student's risk index score increased by 10 points. In other words, they became more at risk for failing/dropping than they were previously. Negative trends work the same way.
• What is Last Note: Last Note shows the last time an instructor, advisor, or other SPC staff member wrote a note or sent a message to a student through Dropout Detective. However, you'll likely use the Recent Notes or Recent Messages filters to make it easier to pull up this information.
• Optional: Select the down arrow next to Filter Students to only show students that fit the criteria of the filter. If no filter is selected, then all of the students in your course will show, sorted by risk index, with the most at-risk students at the top. 
  

What the Individual Student View Looks Like

Select a student to pull up their individual dashboard. At the top of the individual student view, you'll always see the student's name, risk index, and contact information. Below, there are 4 tabs: Overview, Notes, History and Contacts. 

Individual Student View: Overview Tab

In the Overview tab, you'll see a student's course(s) (1), along with their corresponding Grade (2), Zeros (3), Missing Assignments (4), Last Access (5) and Latest Submission (6). 

Course: You'll see the course code/section, title, modality, and instructor as one link. If you click the link, you'll be taken to the course in Canvas. 

Grade: This is the student's current overall grade in the course. 

Zeros: This is the number of course assignments for which the student has a zero. Optional: Click Show to see a list of the assignments. 

Missing Assignments: This is the number of course assignments that are missing. Optional: Click Show to see a list of the assignments. 

Last Access: This is the last time the student logged into Canvas. Keep in mind, Canvas doesn't necessarily log students out, so this date could be 2 weeks ago if they've stayed logged in that entire time. 

Latest Submission: This is the last time a student submitted an assignment, quiz, or discussion post in this Canvas course.

Individual Student View: Notes Tab

The Notes tab is where the documentation happens inside of Dropout Detective. Two kinds of communications show up here: Messages sent through Dropout Detective (from faculty), and notes written about other communication (emails, calls, etc). 

Individual Student View: History Tab

The History tab in the individual student view shows historical data on the student. Select the History tab (1), and then select the Daily, Weekly or Grades views (2).

Individual Student View: Contacts Tab

The Contacts tab in the individual student view shows all the students' contacts. Currently, it will show the student's instructors and career and academic advisor. As we move forward in the implementation of Dropout Detective, we may add more contacts. 

Alerting a Student's Advisor in Dropout Detective

If, after reaching out to students who are struggling, the student is not making progress and the instructor is still concerned, faculty can use Dropout Detective to alert the student’s advisor for additional support. This guide explains when to use advisor alerts, rules and best practices for documenting concerns and outreach, and how alerts help connect students with the right support resources.

The guide also includes step-by-step instructions for submitting an advisor alert in Dropout Detective and explains what happens after an alert is submitted. Advisors review the alert, conduct outreach to the student, and document follow-up efforts within the system.

Guide: How to Alert a Student's Advisor in Dropout Detective

Adding a Tag to a Student's Note in Dropout Detective

If, after reaching out to students who are struggling, additional support or follow-up may be helpful, faculty can use tags in Dropout Detective to connect students with specific SPC support services. This guide explains what tags are, how to use them, and what happens after a tag is added to a student note.

The guide also includes step-by-step instructions for adding tags and notes in Dropout Detective, along with examples of how different tags route students to the appropriate support teams. Because tags are a one-way communication tool, they act as a referral that helps connect students with the right department for outreach and assistance.

Guide: How to Use a Tag in Dropout Detective

More Information on Dropout Detective

• How to Alert a Student's Advisor in Dropout Detective
• How to Use a Tag in Dropout Detective
• Frequently Asked Questions about Dropout Detective
• Dropout Detective: How to Message Multiple Students
• Dropout Detective: First Week Attendance Outreach (Friday) Filter
• Frequently Asked Questions about Dropout Detective
• Titan Hub Page: Dropout Detective

Have Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Support Team

atst@spcollege.edu 

 Phone at 727-341-3500

(Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST).

After-hours or weekend assistance? Contact the Technical Support Center at 727-791-2795 or onlinehelp@spcollege.edu

Want to Schedule a One-on-One or Group Session on Canvas or other instructional technology issues or opportunities?

Schedule 1:1 Support Help with a Member of the Academic Technology Support Team