Redesigning America’s Community Colleges

Redesigning America’s Community Colleges PDF Author: Thomas R. Bailey
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674368282
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
In the United States, 1,200 community colleges enroll over ten million students each year—nearly half of the nation’s undergraduates. Yet fewer than 40 percent of entrants complete an undergraduate degree within six years. This fact has put pressure on community colleges to improve academic outcomes for their students. Redesigning America’s Community Colleges is a concise, evidence-based guide for educational leaders whose institutions typically receive short shrift in academic and policy discussions. It makes a compelling case that two-year colleges can substantially increase their rates of student success, if they are willing to rethink the ways in which they organize programs of study, support services, and instruction. Community colleges were originally designed to expand college enrollments at low cost, not to maximize completion of high-quality programs of study. The result was a cafeteria-style model in which students pick courses from a bewildering array of choices, with little guidance. The authors urge administrators and faculty to reject this traditional model in favor of “guided pathways”—clearer, more educationally coherent programs of study that simplify students’ choices without limiting their options and that enable them to complete credentials and advance to further education and the labor market more quickly and at less cost. Distilling a wealth of data amassed from the Community College Research Center (Teachers College, Columbia University), Redesigning America’s Community Colleges offers a fundamental redesign of the way two-year colleges operate, stressing the integration of services and instruction into more clearly structured programs of study that support every student’s goals.

Redesigning America’s Community Colleges

Redesigning America’s Community Colleges PDF Author: Thomas R. Bailey
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674368282
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the United States, 1,200 community colleges enroll over ten million students each year—nearly half of the nation’s undergraduates. Yet fewer than 40 percent of entrants complete an undergraduate degree within six years. This fact has put pressure on community colleges to improve academic outcomes for their students. Redesigning America’s Community Colleges is a concise, evidence-based guide for educational leaders whose institutions typically receive short shrift in academic and policy discussions. It makes a compelling case that two-year colleges can substantially increase their rates of student success, if they are willing to rethink the ways in which they organize programs of study, support services, and instruction. Community colleges were originally designed to expand college enrollments at low cost, not to maximize completion of high-quality programs of study. The result was a cafeteria-style model in which students pick courses from a bewildering array of choices, with little guidance. The authors urge administrators and faculty to reject this traditional model in favor of “guided pathways”—clearer, more educationally coherent programs of study that simplify students’ choices without limiting their options and that enable them to complete credentials and advance to further education and the labor market more quickly and at less cost. Distilling a wealth of data amassed from the Community College Research Center (Teachers College, Columbia University), Redesigning America’s Community Colleges offers a fundamental redesign of the way two-year colleges operate, stressing the integration of services and instruction into more clearly structured programs of study that support every student’s goals.

Colleges That Change Lives

Colleges That Change Lives PDF Author: Loren Pope
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101221348
Category : Study Aids
Languages : en
Pages : 404

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Book Description
Prospective college students and their parents have been relying on Loren Pope's expertise since 1995, when he published the first edition of this indispensable guide. This new edition profiles 41 colleges—all of which outdo the Ivies and research universities in producing performers, not only among A students but also among those who get Bs and Cs. Contents include: Evaluations of each school's program and "personality" Candid assessments by students, professors, and deans Information on the progress of graduates This new edition not only revisits schools listed in previous volumes to give readers a comprehensive assessment, it also addresses such issues as homeschooling, learning disabilities, and single-sex education.

Understanding Community Colleges

Understanding Community Colleges PDF Author: John S. Levin
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0415881269
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
Understanding Community Colleges provides a comprehensive review of the community college landscape--management and governance, finance, student demographics and development, teaching and learning, policy, faculty, and workforce development--and bridges the gap between research and practice. This contributed volume brings together highly respected scholars in the field who rely upon substantial theoretical perspectives--critical theory, social theory, institutional theory, and organizational theory--for a rich and expansive analysis of community colleges. The latest text to publish in the Core Concepts in Higher Education series, this exciting new text fills a gap in the higher education literature available for students enrolled in Higher Education and Community College graduate programs. This text provides students with: A review of salient research related to the community college field. Critical theoretical perspectives underlying current policies. An understanding of how theory links to practice, including focused end-of-chapter discussion questions. A fresh examination of emerging issues and insight into contemporary community college practices and policy.

The Community's College

The Community's College PDF Author: Edward Zlotkowski
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780972939423
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 130

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Book Description
Based on the findings of a multi-year research project, this volume profiles successful community engagement practices and programs at community colleges across the country. Designed to provide both two- and four-year institutions with specific guidance on creating an engaged campus, it explores institutional culture, organizational structures, enabling mechanisms, curricular issues, and partnering strategies as avenues to community and civic engagement. Also included is a comprehensive self-assessment tool to help campuses evaluate and deepen their own engagement practices.

What Excellent Community Colleges Do

What Excellent Community Colleges Do PDF Author: Joshua S. Wyner
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
ISBN: 1612506518
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 184

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Book Description
In What Excellent Community Colleges Do, Joshua S. Wyner draws on the insights and evidence gained in administering the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. This book identifies four domains of excellence—degree completion, equity, student learning, and labor market success—and describes in rich detail the policies and practices that have allowed some community colleges to succeed in these domains. By starting with a holistic definition of excellence, measuring success against that definition, and then identifying practices and policies that align with high levels of student success, the author seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge about improving student success in community colleges.

International Students at US Community Colleges

International Students at US Community Colleges PDF Author: Gregory Malveaux
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000417174
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
This volume documents the experiences of international students and recent international initiatives at US community colleges to better understand how to support and nurture students’ potential. Offering a range of case studies, empirical and conceptual chapters, the collection showcases the unique curricula and diverse opportunities for career development that colleges can offer international students. International Students at US Community Colleges addresses issues of student access, enrolment barriers, college choice, and challenges relating to integration in academic and professional networks. Ultimately, the book unpacks institutional factors which inhibit or promote the success of international students at US community colleges to inform faculty, student affairs, administration, and institutional policy. With international students’ declining enrollment, this book considers the measures being taken by community college officials to bring continued access and equity to international students. Offering insights from a range of international scholars as well as on-the-ground case studies, this text will benefit researchers, academics, and educators with an interest in multicultural education, international and comparative education, and higher education management. Those specifically interested in educational policy and the sociology of education will also benefit from this book.

Beyond Equity at Community Colleges

Beyond Equity at Community Colleges PDF Author: Sobia Azhar Khan
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000590682
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 291

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Book Description
This volume proposes that the work of community colleges has expanded beyond equity into providing a true barrier-free learning environment for students, one that is attuned to justice. The essays included here serve as evidence and examples of the productive ways in which educators may bring theory and practice to bear on each other, which in turn may allow community college faculty, staff, and administrators to reexamine the role of a community college as a space for justice. Topics explored with this volume include liberatory educational practices in and out of the classroom, transforming classrooms into the site of collaboration and contestation, and unique visions of how to promote opportunity for marginalized students. Ultimately, the goal of this edited volume is to explore and encourage community college educators to understand the integral role they play in bringing transformative justice to their students and their communities.

College Aspirations and Access in Working-Class Rural Communities

College Aspirations and Access in Working-Class Rural Communities PDF Author: Sonja Ardoin
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498536875
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 157

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Book Description
College Aspirations and Access in Working Class Rural Communities: The Mixed Signals, Challenges, and New Language First-Generation Students Encounter explores how a working class, rural environment influences rural students’ opportunities to pursue higher education and engage in the college choice process. Based on a case study with accounts from rural high school students and counselors, this book examines how these communities perceive higher education and what challenges arise for both rural students and counselors. The book addresses how college knowledge and university jargon illustrate the gap between rural cultural capital and higher education cultural capital. Insights about approaches to reduce barriers created by college knowledge and university jargon are shared and strategies for offering rural students pathways to learn academic language and navigate higher education are presented for both secondary and higher education institutions.

Community Colleges as Cultural Texts

Community Colleges as Cultural Texts PDF Author: Kathleen M. Shaw
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791442906
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 230

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Book Description
Questions whether, and how, community colleges confront the challenges of diversity and provide real opportunities for upward mobility.

Community Colleges

Community Colleges PDF Author: David Levinson
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1576077675
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 279

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Book Description
The only overview of research on the uniquely American community college system, which is increasingly becoming the site of entry for students seeking a higher education. This new volume shows why America's community colleges increasingly find themselves at the epicenter of social conflict, surrounded by unresolved questions such as: In a country based on the notion of equal opportunity, shouldn't all high school graduates have access to higher education? Are access and excellence really compatible? What is the real work of community colleges? Is it to provide transfer programs for students going on to baccalaureate colleges or training workers for careers in business and industry? In this comprehensive guide, readers will find not only a solid grounding in the latest research on these difficult questions but also a thoughtful analysis of the social forces that gave rise to American community colleges and still shape them today.