Higher Education and Assessment: Research on Community Colleges

Examine the capacities of four-year colleges to deliver training for technical occupations; the ability of community colleges to deliver rigorous, high-quality courses; and issues of access, affordability, faculty development, and responsiveness to changing needs. A chapter devoted to student voices provides the critical perspective of this constituency. The book concludes by describing examples of implementation across the United States, reviewing different models of articulation as well as promising practices that include eliminating the need for transfer altogether.

Take an in depth look at the current key issues and practices in budgets and finance for community colleges. In this volume, topics include: the contemporary challenge of meeting growing demands for increased student persistence and success, diminishing state support for higher education, new calls for accountability and ways to measure institutionaleffectiveness, the increasing reliance of many community colleges on grants and other sources of revenue, and college policies that have significant financial ramifications.

As community colleges continue to increase in importance, this book provides non-technical yet extensive information to guide current and future leaders toward the establishment of effective processes to secure and maintain the funding that is so crucial to the education and future of millions of students nationwide.

Addresses the critical issues and topics of dual enrollment practices and policies, including: state policies that regulate dual enrollment practice and the influence of state policy on local practice, the usage of dual enrollment programs as a pathway for different populations of students such as career and technical education students and students historically underrepresented in higher education, and chapters that surface student, faculty, and high school stakeholder perspectives and that examine institutional and partnership performance and quality.

Utilizing theory in conjunction with case study analysis provides community college leaders with the tools needed to comprehensively interrogate and inform decision-making processes. The authors provide a number of rich and realistically complex case studies, all of which are situated in a community college environment, to which readers can apply the various theories and perspectives, develop their view about the principles and actions most likely to lead to satisfactory outcomes, and hone the approaches to leadership that are authentic to them, and effective.

Characterizes both goals of the early pioneers of the community college movement and frames the key programs and political conundrums challenging community colleges today.

Embedded in theories of intrinsic motivation (Identity Development Theory), the institution of education (Choice Theory), and college student persistence (the Theory of Self-Efficacy), this book utilizes a mixed method approach to address the unique challenges faced by community colleges in retaining net-generation students. The study also presents a conceptual framework deemed the “Akili model,” which emphasizes relationships, personal growth, and support systems to empower educational institutions with tools to keep students in college.

What do equity-oriented practices look like in different community college contexts? Given the increasing role of the community college in realizing equitable outcomes for students, examples of what practitioners are doing to move forward an equity agenda are urgently needed.

. Divided into three parts – understanding today’s community college campuses; supporting today’s community college learners; and specialized populations and communities – this book offers a vision and solutions that should inform the work of faculty, administrators, presidents, and board members.