Community College Student Outcomes Research Articles

Community College Study Abroad: Implications for Student Success

The aim of this research is to explore whether participation in study abroad by community college students impacts levels of engagement and if there is a connection between studying abroad and academic achievement. While university-level studies have a history in exploring these questions, the same is not true for community colleges. The California Community College Student Outcomes Abroad Research project (CCC SOAR) uses a mixed methods design to examine data that evidences how participation in study abroad programs not only has implications for personal development and global learning, but also has a range of indicators of academic success variables. Data show that there is a range of positive outcomes that occur as a result of studying abroad for all students across an array of early, midstream, and terminal outcomes due to engagement-enhancing components such as shared common experiences, nurturing behavior from faculty, and increased student interaction in collaborative activities.

Predictors of Long-Term Enrollment and Degree Outcomes for Community College Students: Integrating Academic, Psychosocial, Socio-demographic, and Situational Factors

We examined the effects of student (academic preparation, psychosocial, socio-demographic, and situtaional) and institutional characteristics on long-term enrollment outcomes. We tracked enrollments and degrees awarded for sutdents who originally enrolled at two-year institutions across five years. Our findings have implications for identifying at-risk students and tailoring efficent intervention strategies.

Predictors of Long-Term Enrollment and Degree Outcomes for Community College Students: Integrating Academic, Psychosocial, Socio-demographic, and Situational Factors

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsSameano F. PorcheaSameano F. Porchea is currently a Psychometrician at Assessment Technologies Institute.Jeff AllenJeff Allen and Steve Robbins are members of the Research Division of ACT, Inc. a not-for-profit educational and workforce testing organization.Steve RobbinsJeff Allen and Steve Robbins are members of the Research Division of ACT, Inc. a not-for-profit educational and workforce testing organization.Richard P. PhelpsRichard P. Phelps is currently Director of Assessment, District of Columbia Public Schools.

Paying for Performance: The Education Impacts of a Community College Scholarship Program for Low-Income Adults

We evaluate the effect of performance-based incentive programs on educational outcomes for community college students from a random assignment experiment at three campuses. Incentive payments over 2 semesters were tied to meeting two conditions—enrolling at least half-time and maintaining a C or better grade point average. Eligibility increased the likelihood of enrolling in the second semester after random assignment and total number of credits earned. Over 2 years, program group students completed nearly 40% more credits. We find little evidence that program eligibility changed types of courses taken but some evidence of increased academic performance and effort.

Paying for Performance: The Education Impacts of a Community College Scholarship Program for Low-Income Adults

We evaluate the effect of performance-based incentive programs on educational outcomes for community college students from a random assignment experiment at three campuses. Incentive payments over two semesters were tied to meeting two conditions—enrolling at least half time and maintaining a “C” or better grade point average. Eligibility increased the likelihood of enrolling in the second semester after random assignment and total number of credits earned. Over two years, program group students completed nearly 40 percent more credits. We find little evidence that program eligibility changed types of courses taken but some evidence of increased academic performance and effort.

Information Literacy and Community College Students: Using New Approaches to Literacy Theory to Produce Equity

Librarians in community colleges have engaged in information literacy (IL) for decades, but their theorizing of IL has never taken equity as a starting point. This article asserts that IL theory radiating from equity requires the animating dynamics that conceptual advances in literacy theory offer. By examining early moments in librarianship to understand librarians’ relationship to equity and drawing on Jean‐Luc Nancy’s contrasting notions of globalisation (globalization, resulting in misery) and mondialisation (world forming, resulting in a just society) as a framework for reenvisioning IL, I identify new approaches to IL that are particularly well suited to producing more equitable educational outcomes for community college students. Synthesizing concepts from researchers who have applied new thinking about literacy to their conceptualizations about information literacy, I celebrate approaches to IL in which students, critically engaged in creating meaning, are positioned as producers of information.

Using state student unit record data to increase community college student success

AbstractThis chapter examines lessons learned by states that are using student unit record (SUR) data to improve outcomes for community college students and recommends steps states can take to strengthen their use of SUR databases to benefit students and communities.

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.

Stepping Stones to a Degree: The Impact of Enrollment Pathways and Milestones on Community College Student Outcomes

This paper presents findings from a study of the experiences and outcomes of older and younger community college students. We developed a discrete-time hazard model using longitudinal transcript data on a cohort of first-time community college students in Florida to compare the impact of enrollment pathways (such as remediation) and enrollment milestones (such as attaining a certain number of credits) on educational outcomes of older students—those who enter college for the first time at age 25 or later—with those of traditional-age students. Results suggest that reaching milestones such as obtaining 20 credits or completing 50 percent of a program is a more important positive factor affecting graduation probabilities for younger students than it is for older students. We also found that although enrollment in remedial courses decreases the odds of graduating for all students, older students who enroll in remediation are less negatively affected than are younger ones who take remedial classes.

Funding for Performance and Equity: Student Success in English Further Education Colleges.

The impact of performance funding on community college student outcomes is a contested issue. Performance funding policies in most U.S. states involve too small a proportion of funding to change college behavior. English further education colleges are similar to U.S. community colleges. 1992 policy reforms in England centralized policy control, and implemented a per-pupil funding formula; 10% of all funding is based on student success but other components of the funding formula pay colleges more money for enrolling disadvantaged students. This research uses five years of student level data to test the impact of these policies. Overall student success rates rose by 10% during the five-year period, with the largest gains made by ethnic minorities, adult basic education students, and students from disadvantaged neighborhoods. Although the English system depends on regulatory agencies that do not exist in the U.S., the major assertion of this research is that market-based funding policies˜if properly designed˜can promote equity in educational achievement.