American Community College Research Articles

Human Resource Development and Career and Technical Education in American Community Colleges

With their open access admission policies, low tuition costs, and convenient locations, community colleges are designed to make college accessible to all. They strive to meet three main goals. The first is to teach marketable vocational skills, the second is to provide the first two years of a four-year bachelor’s degree program, and the third is to provide continuing education and enrichment for community residents. This paper covers issues that are relevant to the community college mission of helping prepare a skilled workforce for jobs offering reasonable wages. After providing an overview about community colleges and their students, the paper discusses the types of remedial education programs that are most likely to provide the large number of underprepared students enrolled in community colleges with the skills to advance to college-level courses. It considers the growing phenomenon of dual enrollment that enables students to earn both high school and college credit for courses while still in high school. It addresses the ways that community colleges can support local labor markets and regional economic development and their efforts to build career pathways for workers. It describes the growing role of community colleges in online education, and it reviews the financing of community colleges. The paper also discusses issues related to community college persistence and completion, and it cites evidence of the market value of the education and credentials the colleges provide. Finally, it considers the usefulness of the American community college as a model for other countries seeking to develop institutions that serve similar functions. Address correspondence to: Thomas Bailey, Director Community College Research Center Teachers College, Columbia University 525 West 120 Street, Box 174 New York, NY 10027 Tel.: 212-678-3091 Email: tbailey@tc.edu Visit CCRC’s website at: http://ccrc.tc.columbia.edu

Personal Goals and Global Awareness of American Community College Women Regarding Parenthood

Young women in many countries are choosing a future without children. The scope of decline in fertility rates among developed nations is described along with public policy efforts intended to reverse the course of population change. The initiatives commonly used to persuade women that they should become mothers are monetary incentives and suggestions that attainment of personal maturity requires the sacrifices related to parenting. These solutions, devised by middle age and older adults, rarely include intergenerational dialogue that recognizes the goals of young women in the current environment or explores what could be done to make parenthood an appealing role. Hierarchical societies seeking to preserve harmony have the greatest obstacles to surmount, and require awareness among generations to identify differences in motivation and perspective. Concerns of American college women regarding parenthood and implications are described that should be taken into consideration by families, educational institutions, media, local agencies, and religious organizations.

2009 Community College Futures Assembly Focus: Leading Change—Leading in an Uncertain Environment

The Community College Futures Assembly has served as a national, independent policy thinktank since 1995. Its purpose is to articulate the critical issues facing American community colleges and recognize innovative programs. Convening annually in January in Orlando, Florida, the Assembly offers a learning environment where tough questions are raised, critical issues are discussed, and policy implications are vetted. The focus for the 2009 Community College Futures Assembly was leading change. This special focus issue of the Community College Journal of Research and Practice highlights the best practices of 30 Bellwether trend-setting institutions, as well as other articles that relate to the conference.

Reasons for Attending, Expected Obstacles, and Degree Aspirations of Asian Pacific American Community College Students

This study examined how the academic aspirations of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) attending community colleges are influenced by their demographic and educational background, reasons for attending, and obstacles they expect to encounter. The sample consisted of 846 APAs out of a total student sample of 5,000 in an urban community college district. The analyses compared results for ethnic groups within the APA community as well as APAs with other racial groups. The key finding—that APA community college students often consist of recent immigrants—should lead institutional researchers to collect data on their numbers, characteristics, and needs.

Book Review: Mellow, G. O., & Heelan, C. (2008). Minding the Dream: The Process and Practice of the American Community College. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield

Mellow, G. O., & Heelan, C. (2008). Minding the Dream: Process and Practice of the American College. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.DOI: 10.1177/0091552109332488Mellow and Heelan provide an excellent overview of the American community college. In their words, they write the book critical friends of the community college and as passionate practitioners (p. xvii). They point out that despite a good deal of negative press, America's postsecondary innovation opens doors and provides opportunities for many college hopefuls without other postsecondary options. Furthermore, community colleges are able to provide these opportunities under less-than-adequate funding structures. Although the reader can often sense the authors' positive bias toward community colleges, the book also points out the challenges and negatives of - and within these institutions. Written in a professional yet easy-to-read style, this book serves as an excellent text for an introductory graduate course on community colleges or as an information resource for anyone interested in the topic, including prospective community college faculty members, administrators, and policymakers.Beginning with a Forward written by George R. Boggs, the president and CEO of the American Association of Colleges, the premise of the book is made crystal clear: Community colleges are an essential element of America's democracy and economy (p. xiv). America's community colleges are the country's response to cries for accessibility, community development, and social justice. Yet these institutions are frequently misunderstood, often unfairly compared with 4-year colleges and universities, and few social advocates understand their role and importance. And above all, community colleges are asked to do it all with insufficient funding.The book is divided into two parts. first, titled Process, consists of eight chapters that provide an introductory overview of the American community colleges, examine the private and social benefits that community colleges generate, and discuss funding, the measurement of institutional effectiveness, governance, changing pedagogy, leadership, and community-college-like institutions internationally. second part, titled Practice, contains five chapters dealing with the educational components of the community college mission (developmental education, transfer education, economic and workforce development, and English as a second language) and with the challenges posed by the community college's diverse student population. All but the first two chapters and the concluding summary chapter follow a set structure. First, the chapter opens with an overview that is followed by a description of The Dream, a section that provides an ideal depiction of the topic in question as it relates to the community college mission. next section of each chapter, titled The Unfulfilled Dream, provides insight into the mismatch between the dream and the realities faced by community colleges. This is then followed by a section titled The Real Story that provides the reader with detailed contemporary information pertaining to the chapter topic. Each chapter ends with a section titled Challenges to the Field, which provides a list of charges to the colleges, their administrators, and policymakers. A Conclusions section acts as a chapter summary. book is 289 pages in length with an additional 30 pages of references followed by a full index.ProcessThe first part of the book emphasizes the unique mission of the American community college. reader is presented with the history of this higher sector, including the social movements that have helped to define these institutions. Also presented are emergent trends that will shape community colleges in the future. book weighs the who benefits from public education question by focusing on community colleges as a public good. …

Web Accessibility Policies and Practices at American Community Colleges

Community colleges are increasingly using the Internet for admissions and financial aid applications. The use of online processes has serious implications for students with disabilities, such as visual and learning problems, who may encounter difficulties with the Web sites if they are not designed in an accessible and usable way. A survey of student services leaders at community colleges across the country was conducted to evaluate the use of the Web for a variety of student processes. Also investigated was the awareness of issues related to Web accessibility for students with disabilities. Nearly 700 colleges responded, representing a 79% response rate. While 90% offered online access to course catalogs, class schedules, and online courses, only half said that their school had requirements for accessible Web content. These results indicate that significantly more work needs to be done to inform community college administrators and Web developers about these issues.

Post-9/11 Arab and Muslim American Community College Students: Ethno-religious Enclaves and Perceived Discrimination

Apart from the widescale media attention that Arabs and Muslims have received in the United States and abroad since 9/11, these two target populations have been largely unexamined at both the two-year and four-year college levels. This study represents a pioneering effort in investigating whether the post-9/11 backlash against Arabs and Muslims has penetrated community college campuses, focusing upon the inter-relationships among the level of perceived discrimination, the degree of diversity of Arab and Muslim students' campus friendships, and their sense of belonging to the college. Two conflict theories are advanced to explain why perceived discrimination might promote ethnic and religious clustering among Arab and Muslim community college students. The study employs a mixed methods design consisting of a 92-item survey and three focus groups. The survey sample consists of 753 Arab Christian, Arab Muslim, and non-Arab Muslim students from 21 community colleges in Southern California and Southeast Michigan. The primary finding was that there was a modest but positive relationship between the level of perceived discrimination and the percentage of campus friends who are of the same ethnicity but different religion. Student focus groups furnished insight into some students' reluctance to report discrimination in surveys. The implications of the study are to develop sensitive measures of the campus climate that draw out more subtle forms of discrimination. Also desirable would be to expand upon the existing research on the denial or minimization of personal discrimination.

The American Community College and the Neoliberal State: A Critical Analysis of the Case of California

The American Community College and the Neoliberal State: A Critical Analysis of the Case of California

The Relationships Between Mexican American Acculturation, Cultural Values, Gender, and Help‐Seeking Intentions

This study examined the relationships between Mexican acculturation, cultural values, gender, and help‐seeking intentions among Mexican American community college students. Findings suggest that as Mexican Americans lose their culture of origin and increase their generational status, their attitudes toward help seeking become less favorable. This contradicts cultural barrier theory as an explanation for underuse of mental health services by Mexican Americans. Furthermore, adherence to traditional Mexican culture and cultural values may actually encourage help seeking.

Theorizing About the Emergence of the Community College Baccalaureate

In the period of more than a decade since community colleges began awarding baccalaureate degrees in North America there has been little in the way of theoretical exploration of this development. This paper applies a theoretical framework that was originally developed to explain the vocationalization of the American community college to the emergence of the community college baccalaureate in Canada's largest province, Ontario. In Ontario, as of September 2008, 15 community colleges were offering 51 baccalaureate programs. It was found that Dougherty's state relative autonomy model was very helpful for understanding the behavior of the provincial government in empowering the community colleges to award baccalaureate degrees, particularly in focusing on the role of ideology. The theories considered in this paper were less helpful in explaining institutional behavior. It was found that they did not support a sufficiently complex understanding of institutional motivation, and there were methodological problems involved in using such theories to disentangle various possible institutional motives for seeking to award baccalaureate degrees.

Dimensions of Student Engagement in American Community Colleges: Using the Community College Student Report in Research and Practice

The Community College Student Report (CCSR) is a widely-used survey instrument. This article examines the reliability and validity of the instrument to assess its usefulness in institutional research and practice. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrate that factor analytic models adequately represent underlying constructs. Confirmatory factor analysis is also used to demonstrate measurement invariance across sex, part- and full-time status, and year of administration. The constructs have reasonable internal reliability and test-retest reliability. Grade point average was regressed on latent factors and consistently demonstrated a positive association with latent engagement constructs. These analyses establish the CCSR as a reliable instrument that can be used to inform institutional decision-making with regard to teaching practices, campus design, and institutional culture. Additionally, these analyses establish constructs that can be used for research with community college students.

Community College Missions in the 21St Century

This book is an excellent primer on the broad ranging missions of the American community college.

The Mature Distance Education Program-Which Way Now?

Distance education programs that have been around for a long time risk being caught up in a groundswell of change brought by new interest in distance education fueled by the explosive growth of the Internet. These mature programs need to understand the factors that led to their success, the issues likely to affect them over the coming years, and chart a course that brings the two together. This article looks at how factors such as eliminating service area boundaries, support from the top, focusing on large enrollment courses, moving to faculty-led course development, emphasis on instruction and not materials, and development of complete degree programs led to program success at one large American community college. It also looks at how issues such as changes in distance education faculty and students, lack of uniform access to the Internet, the increase in distance education providers, and the need for student support services will play a role in future distance education program success. Finally, it looks at several trends that are likely to emerge from the current environment including the growth of state and regional virtual campuses, increased interest in partnerships, and the role of textbook publisher developed Web sites.

2008 Community College Futures Assembly Focus: Change Or Die—Keys to Enacting Change in the Community College

The Community College Futures Assembly has served as a national, independent policy thinktank since 1995. Its purpose is to articulate the critical issues facing American community colleges and recognize innovative programs. Convening annually in January in Orlando, Florida, the Assembly offers a learning environment where tough questions are raised, critical issues are discussed, and policy implications are vetted. The focus for the 2008 Community College Futures Assembly was change, a theme taken from the book, Change or Die. This special focus issue of the Community College Journal of Research and Practice highlights the best practices of 30 Bellwether trend-setting institutions.

The Effort—Outcome Gap: Differences for African American and Hispanic Community College Students in Student Engagement and Academic Achievement

The Effort—Outcome Gap: Differences for African American and Hispanic Community College Students in Student Engagement and Academic Achievement

Factors associated with the decision to obtain an HIV test among Chinese/Chinese American community college women in Northern California

HIV testing and counseling is the cornerstone of a comprehensive approach to HIV prevention and education. This article examines reasons for and barriers to obtaining an HIV test among 230 Chinese/Chinese American college students. Using Health Belief Model constructs, a cross-sectional study was administered at four California community college campuses. The self-report survey results indicated that 30% of respondents have obtained HIV testing. The most common reasons for testing were “just to find out” (73%), “having had unprotected sexual intercourse” (63%), and “having had sex with a new partner” (57%). Among those who were never tested, low levels of perceived susceptibility (66%) and lack of knowledge on testing sites (36%) were the most common barriers. Multiple unconditional logistic regression analyses revealed age, ethnic identity, lack of condom use during last intercourse, lower perceived barriers, and higher self-efficacy as significant predictors of HIV testing history. Emphasizing these factors in HIV education campaigns will likely increase testing rates within this population.

Factors promoting academic success among African American and white male community college students

AbstractThis chapter examines factors that predict and promote academic success, defined as grade point average and course completion, among African American and white male students in a large, urban community college district.

America's Secret Educational Weapon: Community Colleges

THE U.S. has a powerful weapon in its educational arsenal: its community colleges. Yet these institutions are so often overlooked in discussions of the future of U.S. society and the U.S. work force that they might as well be deemed top secret. But consider some basic facts. More than 1,200 community colleges enroll some 47% of all undergraduates. Put another way, each year community colleges enroll 6.5 million students in credit courses and another 5 million in valuable noncredit learning experiences. Nearly half of all baccalaureate degree recipients in the U.S. first attended a community college. And yet, despite these extremely large numbers, many leaders and faculty members at four-year colleges and universities and many secondary school counselors engage in a subtle put-down of community colleges. A patronizing attitude is all too common in the view that these institutions are fine for less talented or less well-off individuals, who deserve some educational opportunity even if it is at a community college. Such schools may be useful institutions, but many in higher education, to put it bluntly, view them as second rate. To those who, perhaps unintentionally and without malice, exhibit these attitudes, I say, think again. In the highly economically competitive 21st century, the U.S. needs to be fully armed educationally. And to be so armed, all parts of the system are essential. Without strong and educationally challenging elementary and secondary schools and without strong collegiate education--both two- and four-year--America will not compete successfully in this new century. The outdated misconceptions about community colleges are confronted forthrightly in the recently released report from the College Board, Winning the Skills Race and Strengthening America's Middle Class: An Action Agenda for Community Colleges. (1) The opening words come directly to the point: American community colleges are the nation's overlooked asset. As the United States confronts the challenges of globalization, two-year institutions are indispensable to the American future. They are the Ellis Island of American higher education, the crossroads at which K-12 education meets colleges and universities, and the institutions that give many students the tools to navigate the modern world. Moreover, the report continues to cite numbers that might strike some as startlingly large. Community colleges produce nearly 80% of first responders in the United States (police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians). They produce more than half of the new nurses and health-care workers in the nation each year, and they award more than 800,000 associate degrees and certificates each year. But of course the role of community colleges is far broader than the preparation of police officers or nurses. Indeed, America needs all the skills that it can mobilize in its work force, from savvy businesspeople, to first-rate researchers, to committed professionals in countless fields, including great teachers in our elementary and secondary schools. And here again, community colleges play an important role. More than 50% of teachers have attended a community college for part of their education, and community college and associate degree programs are an essential part of the pipeline that feeds the teacher education programs of the nation's four-year colleges and universities. Community colleges also offer professional development programs to pre-K-12 teachers in such vital fields as math, science, English as a second language, and special education. And in many states they offer an alternative path to certification. Consider the example of just one state. In Maryland, community colleges have taken on a growing role in teacher education. In recent years, Prince George's Community College expanded its teacher education program into a complete department and worked with all of the state's community colleges to create a single associate degree in teaching. …

Global peace, conflict and security: approaches taken by American community colleges

US community colleges play various roles in American higher education. Because of their wide‐ranging diversity and open enrollment policies, they are frequently referred to as ‘democracy’s colleges’. They are vital today in assisting Americans in better understanding the global realities of a post‐September 11 world. Programmatic strategies based in international education are being employed by institutions to better prepare students for these new realities. These strategies include peace studies, international studies, global studies, conflict resolution and homeland security. Because community colleges must work within curriculum, resource and mission limitations, finding approaches that can capitalize on the intersection of these strategies is critical to providing content in global peace, conflict and security.

The Effort–Outcome Gap: Differences for African American and Hispanic Community College Students in Student Engagement and Academic Achievement

This study examined the relationship between student engagement and educational outcomes for community college students from various racial/ethnic groups (n = 3,143). Results suggest an Effort–Outcome Gap may exist for African American students—the result of having to expend more effort in attempting to overcome myriad barriers to academic success.