Book Review: What excellent community colleges do: Preparing all students for success by Wyner, J. S.

Abstract

Wyner, J. S. (2014). What excellent community colleges do: Preparing all students for success. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press. 200 pp. US$60.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-1-61250-650-0. US$26.95 (paper), ISBN 978-1-61250-649-4.What Excellent Community Colleges Do: Preparing All Students for Success is simultaneously an explication of actions that community colleges which have been recognized by the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence have undertaken to improve student success, and a call to arms for other stakeholders interested in increasing the success of community college students. The two premises of this book are that there are practices and policies that cut across institutional contexts-rural and urban, small and large, career and transfer orientation-which are associated with increased student success, and, if all institutional stakeholders examine their actions with the goal of student success at the forefront, student success will improve.The author, Joshua Wyner, has a history working with community colleges and community college students. Prior to becoming Executive Director of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program, he worked to improve educational outcomes while serving in leadership roles with the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and DC Appleseed. His advocacy for community colleges and their students comes through in his writing. In an era of increased attention on community colleges, both positive and negative, it is good to know that the tough love message he is delivering comes from someone who has been involved and expresses a genuine desire to help.Individuals familiar with the Aspen Prize will not find any surprises in the book as it is arranged within the Aspen Prize framework. The Aspen Prize is awarded every 2 years to institutions that demonstrate exceptional student outcomes in four areas: completion, equity, learning, and labor market outcomes. Wyner's book devotes one chapter to each of these aspects of the Prize's definition with the inclusion of a fifth chapter, which examines the role of leaders. To provide context, Appendix A presents brief institutional profiles of the seven regularly highlighted institutions. Furthermore, Appendix B includes a description of the data utilized in the Aspen Prize process. Wyner is quick to note that the data used to justify both the book and the Aspen Prize are far from ideal and that the reader should not expect to find a silver bullet practice or policy hidden in the pages. However, he argues, the lack of perfect data should not paralyze the change process. Throughout the book, he highlights institutions that have forged ahead with a student success agenda based on the best available data.Building upon Wyner's caution that there is no single answer to the age-old and complex issue of student success, the message he conveys is that of involvement and data use: the greater the number of stakeholders, both within and outside the institution who have access to the data, the better. Although sharing data can sometimes be an intimidating suggestion when graduation rates are poor, a public airing of less than stellar outcomes can be both cathartic and helpful to jump start necessary conversations. In his conclusion, Wyner argues that drives successful practice, not the other way around (p. 144). If one subscribes to this view, then shifting to a culture of inquiry and openness is an important first step in the process. And process is a theme that runs throughout the book. In addition to the seven highlighted institutions, Wyner also employs examples from other institutions. The use of multiple institutions underscores his point that no one institution, program, or policy has all of the answers; rather, improving student success is a process that is continually examined and refined in response to external influences upon which leaders have little to no control (e. …