Attending Community Colleges Research Articles

Student success for men of color in community colleges: A review of published literature and research, 1998–2012.

A substantial body of scholarship on men of color in postsecondary education has emerged since the late 1990s. Yet, only recently have scholars begun to pursue empirical insights about the status of men of color who attend community colleges. In an effort to inform future research, this article reviews the published scholarship on student success for men of color in community colleges. The 5 domains of African American male student success in community colleges proposed byWood and Harris (2012)served as a conceptual framework for reviewing and discussing the published scholarship. Following the review of scholarship, knowledge gaps and implications for future research on men of color in community colleges are offered.

Community College Students With Learning Disabilities

Recent research suggests that most 4-year college students diagnosed with specific learning disability (SLD) do not meet objective criteria for the disorder, show normative deficits in academic skills, or have childhood histories of SLD. The purpose of this study was to examine the functioning of students diagnosed with SLD attending community college. We reviewed SLD documentation for 359 community college students previously diagnosed with SLD and receiving academic accommodations. Most students met objective criteria (82.3%) and were first diagnosed in childhood (93.3%). Most students also showed average intellectual functioning and below-average to borderline academic achievement. However, 27.3% showed uniformly low ability and achievement scores, suggesting possible misclassification. Students who failed to meet objective criteria for SLD often submitted test data that lacked current, adult-normed standardized test scores; many were diagnosed based on response to intervention and submitted only an individualized education program or summary of performance. This finding provides initial evidence of a disconnect between the qualitative documentation that secondary schools provide and the quantitative documentation that postsecondary institutions require for SLD classification.

ConfChem Conference on Case-Based Studies in Chemical Education: Case Study Teaching in the Community College

Students attending community colleges are largely from local communities and of a wide range of age, experiences, and academic preparedness. Those taking chemistry courses are not usually intending careers in chemistry, and many do not have an innate passion or even interest for the subject. I have found that the majority of my students are not particularly receptive to seemingly abstract concepts taught via lectures with PowerPoint presentations that accompany textbooks. They do not often see the relevance of many of the core concepts covered in chemistry textbooks to their own lives and intended careers, and this often leads to perfunctory participation and poor performance. I have found that engaging case studies can be used to connect with these students and also teach core concepts in chemistry. My experiences developing and using case studies to connect with urban community college students and teach core concepts in organic chemistry and general, organic, and biological chemistry (GOB) are described. The cases include concepts pertaining to the mechanisms underlying liver toxicity of acetaminophen, the chemistry of curcumin, the chemistry of cocaine, the chemistry of commonly used painkillers, calorific values of foods, and the chemical principles underlying methemoglobinemia.

Veterans’ Transitions to Community College: A Case Study

Veterans on college campuses are not new; however, the recent influx of veterans returning home from war-time service present challenges to the colleges they attend. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the transition process experienced by veterans leaving military service and attending community college for the first time. This study sought to understand the process veterans experience as they leave overseas deployment in support of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and negotiate the various changes such a transition entails. Using Schlossberg's (1984) Theory of Adult Transitions as the guiding framework, three themes emerged regarding how veterans manage this transition: academic experiences, personal relationships and connections, and benefit bureaucracy. These findings could be used to help community colleges better serve this special population.

Changing and Evolving Relationships between Two- and Four-Year Colleges and Universities: They're Not Your Parents' Community Colleges Anymore

This paper describes a summit on Community Colleges in the Evolving STEM Education Landscape organized by a committee of the National Research Council (NRC) and the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and held at the Carnegie Institution for Science on December 15, 2011. This summit followed a similar event organized by Dr. Jill Biden, spouse of the Vice President, and held at the White House in October 2010, which sought to bring national attention to the changing missions and purposes of community colleges in contemporary American society.1 The NRC/NAE event built on the White House summit, while focusing on the changing roles of community colleges in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. An in-depth summary of the summit was prepared by the NRC and NAE for publication in late Spring 2012 by the National Academies Press (NRC and National Academy of Engineering, 2012 ). This paper provides a synopsis of that report, which is available at www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13399, and emphasizes how we can use the report to improve STEM education for our students, but also how much progress still needs to be made to realize this ideal.

LGBTQ People on Community College Campuses: A 20-Year Review

In March 2000, an ERIC Digest was published on the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students on community college campuses. It was immediately apparent that there was a dearth of literature on the subject, nor was research being conducted about these student populations. The Digest examined some possible reasons why. This essay examines the advancements that have been made in basic research about LGBTQ students attending community colleges since 1991.

Pathway out of Poverty: A Values-Based College-Community Partnership to Improve Long-Term Outcomes of Underrepresented Students

Native Hawaiians, representing 25% of Hawai'i's population, suffer socioeconomic and health strains as evidenced by overrepresentation in low-wage jobs without health insurance and a higher prevalence of chronic disease compared with Hawai'i's other ethnic groups. Native Hawaiians are more likely to attend community colleges than 4-year colleges and have high dropout rates. To describe a culturally relevant, community-based action research approach to build a program to keep Hawaiians in college to advance career options and improve long-term health and socioeconomic outcomes. Culturally relevant approaches that depended on participation from a variety of community partners were used to evaluate needs and design interventions. The Pathway Out of Poverty Program uses Hawaiian values and traditions of healthy living to lead students through a nursing pathway from nurse aide (NA) to licensed practical nurse (LPN) to registered nurse (RN), with inherent increases in wage-earning potential. In the first 3.5 years, 150 students enrolled in NA training, and 135 students (90%) graduated and were certified. Of the 135, 77 (57%) transitioned to higher education and 79% transitioned to jobs that offered health insurance (20% were in both groups). Of the 77 entering higher education, 33 (43%) aimed for a degree in nursing. Students expressed growing interest in health promotion for themselves, family members, and others. Community partners were key to developing a successful community college-based Pathway Program to help marginalized and other underrepresented students move from low-wage to living-wage jobs and improve their long-term health outcomes.

Gratitude’s Renewal

Gratitude’s Renewal

No Kids Allowed: Transforming Community Colleges to Support Mothering

The purpose of this study was to use feminist critical policy analysis to understand the lived experiences of mothering while attending community college and to suggest institutional transformations that might better support mothering students. The findings are based on the re-analysis of interview data from 13 mothering students. We found that the participants understood their life history, especially the sequencing of their choices, to be wrong or hard, and they wanted their children to make different choices. Many of the mothering students viewed living off the system as negative and working as positive, and they judged themselves based on this political dichotomy. We considered ways institutions could be transformed to address these gendered beliefs. College staff might be trained to help mothering students understand the positive outcomes associated with using social programs for living expenses while earning a college degree. Curriculum specifically designed for mothering students might include child-friendly courses where children have areas for play during class time or having class assignments that involve work with their children.

Immigrants in Community Colleges

Immigrant youth and children of immigrants make up a large and increasing share of the nation's population, and over the next few decades they will constitute a significant portion of the U.S. workforce. Robert Teranishi, Carola Suárez-Orozco, and Marcelo Suárez-Orozco argue that increasing their educational attainment, economic productivity, and civic engagement should thus be a national priority. Community colleges offer one particularly important venue for achieving this objective. Because they are conveniently located, cost much less than four-year colleges, feature open admissions, and accommodate students who work or have family responsibilities, community colleges are well suited to meet the educational needs of immigrants who want to obtain an affordable postsecondary education, learn English-language skills, and prepare for the labor market. The authors explore how community colleges can serve immigrant students more effectively. Already, more immigrant students attend community colleges than any other type of post-secondary institution. But community colleges could attract even more immigrant students through outreach programs that help them to apply and to navigate the financial aid system. Federal reforms should also allow financial aid to cover tuition for English as a Second Language courses. Community colleges themselves could raise funds to provide scholarships for immigrants and undocumented students. Although there are many good ideas for interventions that can boost enrollment and improve the performance of immigrant students in community colleges, rigorous research on effective programs is scant. The research community and community colleges need to work together closely to evaluate these programs with a view toward what works and why. Without such research, policy makers will find it difficult to improve the role of community colleges in increasing the educational achievement of immigrant students.

The Benefits of Attending Community College: A Review of the Evidence

This article reviews the existing literature on the economic and other benefits of attending community college. First, the article reports on the earnings gains across all students and reviews the evidence for subgroups by gender, minority status, and credits accumulated. The article then reviews the methodological challenges associated with calculating earnings gains from attending a community college. Despite these challenges, the evidence for the significant earnings gains from community college attendance appears to be compelling. The second part of the article reviews the literature on a broader spectrum of gains, such as health, crime, and welfare reliance. This literature is very limited and potentially offers an important area for further research to establish the full returns from community college attendance.

Charting the pathways to STEM for latina/o students: The role of community colleges

AbstractWith the majority of Latinos attending community colleges, it is important to understand ways in which these institutions contribute to the production of Latina/o STEM degree holders. This chapter discusses implications from a study of institutional pathways traversed by Latina/o STEM baccalaureates.

Examining Factors That Increase and Decrease Stress in Adolescent Community College Students

In contrast to adolescents attending traditional universities, adolescents attending community colleges represent a large but relatively unstudied population with respect to stress and mental health issues. The purpose of this study was to determine what factors increase and decrease stress in a sample of adolescent community college students (N = 166). Findings from a self-administered questionnaire indicated that students had moderate levels of stress and resilience. Contrary to predictions, males demonstrated statistically significant higher levels of stress than females, but as expected, resilience had a significant negative effect on stress (p < .05). Practice and research implications are discussed for nurses in pediatric settings.

North Central Sociological Association Presidential Address the Community College Conundrum: Pitfalls and Possibilities of Professional Sociological Associations

This presidential address examines the “community college conundrum” within our discipline. Although it is reported that 44 percent of first-time undergraduate students attend community colleges, community college faculty are underrepresented in the American Sociological Association (ASA) and within our regional associations. This lack of participation has two roots: (1) our disciplinary lack of interest in studying community college education as a unit of analysis; and (2) the failure by sociologists to understand community college education as a social justice concern. Data for this study include an assessment of membership and participation in our disciplinary associations, content analysis of the journal Teaching Sociology, and a review of ASA syllabi sets. Findings reveal a common theme: community college sociologists are ignored and afforded a marginal status—a “less than” status—within our discipline. Recommendations include calling on the ASA and all sociologists to recognize the importance of community colleges in doing the work of “public sociology.”

The Effect of Level of College Entry on Midcareer Occupational Attainments

The economic benefits of attending community colleges, as opposed to other higher education sectors, have been a subject of intense debate since the 1960s. Using the 1979 cohort of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79), this study compares the midcareer occupational attainments (in terms of income and occupational prestige) of students who began postsecondary study at community colleges and students who began postsecondary study at 4-year colleges. Study participants were between 14 and 22 years of age in 1979; income and occupational prestige data used in the analyses were the latest available for the respondents from the 1996, 1998, and 2000 waves of the NLSY79 study. Controlling for a variety of student background characteristics, regression analysis and matched models using propensity scores revealed that the gap in earnings between the community college and 4-year college entrants remained small for most groups, with the exception of Black and Hispanic males. This overall finding runs counter to what one might expect on the basis of previous studies showing that at early stages of one’s career, community college entrants hold relatively low-prestige jobs in comparison to those held by 4-year college entrants and that the income gaps between the two groups might therefore be expected to increase over time.

Critical Resilience, Schooling Processes, and the Academic Success of Mexican Americans in a Community College

This qualitative study adds new dimensions to the traditional paradigm of resilience through the lives of five Mexican American community college students. The term critical resilience emerges as a result of using ideology from a feminist critical perspective. In-depth interviews, classroom observations, and focus groups were used to learn how this group of students overcame many obstacles and achieved success at Camino Real Community College (a pseudonym). The findings demonstrate that the participants’ critical resilience is promoted by focusing on the cultivation of a larger purpose connected to the social uplift of their families and communities. The author describes strategies situated within a sociocultural context used by the participants to cultivate a larger purpose. The strategies of “playing the game” and showing respeto (respect) shed light on the academic success of Mexican Americans who attend community colleges.

What the Census Taught Me About Myself

Life never really goes the way I expect. Oneminute I'meight and in the 3rd grade, telling everyone that I'mgoing to be the world's best lawyer, and the next I'm21, attending community college and cramming courses into my schedule so I can graduate with a teaching credential in less than five years. One day I'm playing make believe with my friends on the field behind my elementary school, and the next I'm bussing tables and holding out hope for a coveted server job. Sometimes when I get really stressed, I forget how lucky I've been, being born in to an upper-middle class family and living in two sheltered communitiesmy entire life. This essay examines the two communities that I grew up in—Irvine, California and Littleton, Colorado—and how these communities affected my socialization from that playground prosecutor to the person I am today.

The Transition Lynchpin: The Voices of Individuals with Disabilities Who Attended a Community College Transition Program

Nearly 60% of students with disabilities who attend postsecondary institutions attend community colleges. Individuals with disabilities paralleling their peers without disabilities need the postsecondary education opportunity to develop vocational skills, the time to mature, and the experience of living with others. A transition program, a K–12 and community college partnership, was developed to support students in this mission. A narrative inquiry methodology was utilized to understand the community college experience of students with disabilities in a transition program. Findings indicate that the program benefited the individuals. It did this by supporting completion of a vocational program leading to gainful employment and as a transition into adult roles and status. The program also provided opportunities that enhanced the individuals' self-esteem, and it facilitated the individuals becoming more independent and responsible.

Ethical Issues and Considerations for Working with Community College Students with Severe and Persistent Mental Disorders

Students with severe and persistent mental illnesses (e.g., schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders; moderate to severe mood, anxiety, dissociative, eating, or personality disorders) are attending community colleges in increasing numbers. Their need for counseling services presents counseling centers with unique ethical issues to consider. This article presents those issues and discusses possible actions that counselors can take to protect the rights of their clients, the institution, and themselves.

Headed for the Heartland: Decision Making Process of Community College Bound International Students

Despite record growth in international student enrollment at U.S. community colleges, little is known regarding how the international students learn about—and ultimately decide to attend—community colleges. This research study identifies the decision making factors and explores the sources of information utilized by international students who attend community colleges. Using a qualitative case study design, 13 international students from four different Illinois community colleges were interviewed. These colleges are charter members of the Study Illinois consortium, an international student recruiting initiative involving the U.S. Department of Commerce and Illinois higher education institutions. A multitheoretical framework encompassing world culture theory, push-pull theory, and cognitive decision making theory served as a lens for analysis of the interview data. The findings revealed that community college international students experience a distinctive decision-making process when selecting their destination institution. Excerpts from the international student interviews illustrate that students were so overwhelmed with information that they relied on trusted personal contacts or professional educational agents to assist them at critical points in the decision process. The research study resulted in a decision-making model that illuminates ways in which practitioners can strategize international student recruitment and where their efforts would be best served.