Community College Success: Is It a Path to Opportunity? PDF - This issue of the Progress of Education Reform looks at the latest research on student success in community colleges and offers insights on the strategies that show the most promise in promoting greater educational attainment for community college students. (Bruce Vandal, The Progress of Education Reform, vol. 9, no. 5, Education Commission of the States, September 2008)...

The Progress of Education Reform: Developmental Education PDF - This issue of The Progress of Education Reform will address the following three questions: 1. What are the challenges that developmental education programs face that affect their success? 2. Are developmental education programs an effective strategy for increasing college attainment rates? 3. How can state policy improve the success of developmental education programs? (ECS, March 2008) ...

What We Know About Nonacademic Student Supports - Nonacademic student supports encourage academic success but do not deal directly with academic content. They deal with such barriers as financial struggles, transportation difficulties or insufficient childcare. Four mechanisms appear to promote appear to promote student success: creating social relationships, clarifying aspirations, developing college know-how, and making college feasible. (Melinda Mechur Karp and Georgia West Stacey, Community College Research Center, September 2013) ...

Thinking Big: A Framework for States on Scaling Up Community College Innovation - In American social policy, it's easier to create small programs than to scale them up to help larger numbers of people, according to the authors of this report. They identify four phases of the process: planning, initiating, expanding, and sustaining. Most important is the need to think and work toward scale from the beginning. As innovation is scaled up, leaders must contend with the difference between the model and the realities of local adaptation. (Rose Asera et al, Jobs for the Future, July 2013)...

Characteristics of Early Community College Dropouts - Characteristics are identified of students who drop out of community college after or during the first term, most of whom never attended any college again. Early dropouts tended to be older, were less likely to have financial aid or a Pell, were 5% more likely to be referred to developmental courses and did poorly in those and regular classes. Crosta suggests enhanced student support. (Peter Crosta, Community College Research Center, February 2013)...

"They Never Told Me What to Expect, so I Didn't Know What to Do": Defining and Clarifying the Role of a Community College Student - This paper builds on previous work arguing that community college success is dependent not only upon academic preparation but also upon a host of important skills, attitudes, and behaviors that are often left unspoken. Drawing on role theory and on a qualitative study conducted at three community colleges, this paper aims to clarify the role of the community college student and the components of that role that must be enacted for students to be successful. (CCRC, July 2012)...

The Role of Two-Year Institutions in Four-Year Success - For many students, the path to successfully completing a degree at a four-year institution includes enrollment at one or more two-year institutions. This report shows the percentage of students completing degrees at four-year institutions who previously enrolled at two-year institutions. (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, May 2012)...

Tying Funding to Community College Options: Models, Tools, and Recommendations for States - This brief presents a set of tools that can help states design performance-based funding systems that can influence student and institutional behavior, avoid unintended consequences, and withstand shifts in political and economic climates. (Jobs for the Future, April 2012)...

Interpreting Community College Effects in the Presence of Heterogeneity and Complex Counterfactuals - Community colleges are controversial educational institutions, often said to simultaneously expand college opportunities and diminish baccalaureate attainment. This report finds that enrolling at a community college appears to penalize more-advantaged students who otherwise would have attended four-year colleges. However, enrolling at a community college has a modest positive effect on bachelor’s degree completion for disadvantaged students who otherwise would not have attended college. (California Center for Population Research, March 2012)....

Employer Perceptions of Associate Degrees in Local Labor Markets: A Case Study of the Employment of Information Technology Technicians in Detroit and Seattle - While promoting postsecondary credential completion is a national priority intended to help graduates secure good jobs, the value of credentials in the labor market from the perspective of employers is not well understood. This study provides suggestions on how an understanding of the specific qualities employers expect in credential holders and of the role of the local labor market can help colleges better engage with employers and fine-tune their programs to more effectively meet students' and employer's needs. (CCRC, February 2012)...

The Road Ahead: A Look at Trends in the Educational Attainment of Community College Students - This brief presents data on educational attainment at community colleges, with an eye toward what the data portend. One extremely positive conclusion can be reached: Educational attainment for all key populations is increasing at community colleges. The investment made in a community college education, by individuals and by society as a whole, is paying off. (Christopher Mullin, American Association of Community Colleges, October 2011)...

Trends in Community College Education: Enrollment, Prices, Student Aid and Debt Levels - The authors describe the published prices of community colleges and the other expenses students face while enrolled and how these prices vary across states. They also examine institutional revenue sources, the financial aid community college students receive, student debt, and degree completion patterns at two-year public colleges. (College Board, June 2011)...

The Road Less Traveled: Realizing the Potential of Career Technical Education in the California Community Colleges - This report examines four high-wage, high-need career pathways in the California Community Colleges as a basis for exploring the Career Technical Education (CTE) mission and its role in the college completion agenda. The study found that while CTE has the potential to meet the state’s completion, workforce and equity goals, there is a lack of priority on awarding technical certificates and degrees and an absence of clear pathways for students to follow in pursuing those credentials. (Institute for Higher Education Leadership and Policy, February 2011)...

Redesigning Community Colleges for Completion: Lessons from Research on High-Performance Organizations - This paper examines available research on the practices of high-performance organizations and goes on to assess the extent to which community colleges follow these practices. The paper evaluates current reform efforts in light of models of organizational effectiveness that emerge from the research literature. Jenkins goes on to look at research on strategies for engaging faculty and staff in organizational innovation. Finally, the last section recommends concrete steps community college leaders can take to redesign how they manage programs and services to increase rates of student completion. (Davis Jenkins, Community College Research Center, January 2011)...

Turning the Tide: Five Years of Achieving the Dream in Community Colleges - This report examines the first 26 colleges to join Achieving the Dream in 2004 (known as the “Round 1” colleges), and tracks their progress through spring 2009. The key findings are: 1. Four out of five Round 1 colleges adopted practices associated with a moderate to strong culture of evidence; 2. Colleges that made the greatest strides shared several key characteristics; 3. Colleges instituted a wide range of strategies to improve student achievement, but a majority of them remained small in scale; 4. Achieving the Dream had an important influence on most colleges; 5. Trends in student outcomes remained relatively unchanged, with a few exceptions. (MDRC, January 2011)...

Just How Similar? Community Colleges and the For-Profit Sector - This brief illustrates that, while they may offer some of the same educational programs, their missions vary significantly and they serve different populations, resulting in different outcomes. Community colleges work to respond to educational, workforce and community needs. For-profit institutions are often looking toward the bottom line, with accountability to shareholders instead of students. This brief's findings show that apples-to-apples comparisons between the public and for- profit postsecondary institutions are not only limiting, but also can lead to distortions of performance. (Christopher Mullin, American Association of Community Colleges, November 2010)...

Act On Fact: Using Data To Improve Student Success - This report examines the results of a survey asking questions about institutional practices and student behaviors that are highly correlated with student learning and retention. Results include national benchmarks and institutional benchmark scores for five key areas of engagement: active and collaborative learning, student effort, academic challenge, student-faculty interaction and support for learners. (Community College Survey of Student Engagement, 2006) ...