How Community Colleges Contribute to Equity in Education and the Workforce

How Community Colleges Contribute to Equity in Education and the Workforce (ETS-sponsored)

Overview

Date: May 21, 2007 - May 22, 2007

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

Downloadable Presentations Now Available. Click Agenda Tab for Access.

Community Colleges enroll almost half of the undergraduate students in America’s colleges and universities and they are the postsecondary institutions of choice for a higher proportion of minority, immigrant, low-income, and first-generation students. For these students, the colleges serve as portals for entry to the workplace or to baccalaureate degree programs. Because community colleges are open admissions institutions that serve students who are highly diverse in age, race, ethnicity, and socio-economic status, they tend to be flexible and prepared to support students at all levels to succeed. As with all colleges and universities, students arrive with varied experiences and learning styles; many of them have either struggled in high school or have logged many years out of school before enrolling in a community college.

AACC Logo The symposium, sponsored by ETS and co-convened with the American Association of Community Colleges, focused on research devoted to addressing the challenges and opportunities offered by community colleges. Scholars and practitioners discussed the latest data, analyses, and innovative ideas for policies and practices for community colleges as they seek to close achievement gaps. Among the topics addressed at the conference were:

Historical Perspectives on Community Colleges and Achievement Gaps
Enrollments and Attendance Patterns at Community Colleges
Closing Gaps in Mathematics, Literacy, English as a Second Language
How Do Two-Year Minority-Serving Institutions Fare in Closing Gaps?
Community Colleges Preparing Students for the Workforce
Barriers to Transfer and Retention
Placement, Remediation Approaches
Defending the Community College Equity Agenda
Pre-K – 20 Alignment
Crisis Prevention or Disaster Recovery: Implications of America’s Perfect Storm and the ETS Community College Initiative

Participants included community college leaders, faculty, administrators, researchers from various institutions, the general public, and representatives of community college organizations.

Agenda

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Monday, May 21, 2007

11:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.	Conference Registration, Conant Hall Participants Can Purchase Lunch in the Cafeteria
12:45 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.	Opening Remarks
Moderator:	Michael Nettles, Senior Vice President and Edmund W. Gordon Chair, ETS Policy Evaluation and Research Center
Speakers:	Kurt Landgraf, President and CEO, ETS
	George Boggs, President and CEO of American Association of Community Colleges (Community Colleges: Solutions to Emerging Challenges) Download Presentation
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.	Session I — What Did We Learn? What Did We Do? Looking Back on Five Decades of Achievement Experience. A Focused Conversation between Dennis McGrath and Richard C. Richardson, Jr. Download Presentation
Moderator:	Linda Scatton, Director, Policy Evaluation and Research Center, ETS
Speakers:	Dennis McGrath, Professor of Sociology, Social Science Department, Community College of Philadelphia Download Narrative
	Richard Richardson, Professor of Higher Education and Department Chair, Administration Leadership and Technology, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University Download Narrative
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.	Session II — Enrollment and Attendance Patterns at Community Colleges, Present and Future
Moderator:	Piedad Robertson, Vice Chair, ETS Board of Trustees
Speakers:	Monte Perez, Vice President for Student Services, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA (In California and the Nation: Challenges Facing Community Colleges in Enrollment and Completion) Download Presentation
	Daniel Jacoby, Harry Bridges Professor of Labor Studies, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences Program, University of Washington-Bothell (Chill: How Reliance upon Part-time Faculty in Community Colleges “Cools Out” Student and Faculty Aspirations) Download Presentation
3:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.	Break
3:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.	Session III — Closing Gaps in Math, Literacy, ESL
Moderator:	Rose Payán, Policy Researcher, Policy Evaluation and Research Center, ETS
Speakers:	Linda Serra Hagedorn, Chair and Professor, Department of Educational Administration and Policy, College of Education, University of Florida (Achievement Gaps in Developmental Studies in Mathematics: A View of Community College Students) Download Presentation
	John Young, Senior Research Scientist, Center for Validity Research, ETS (Developing an ESL Placement Test for Community College Students) Download Presentation
	Dolores Perin, Associate Professor of Psychology and Education, Coordinator, Reading Specialist Program, Teachers College, Columbia University (Intervention Study for Literacy/Academic Skills) Download Presentation
4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.	Session IV – Crisis Prevention or Disaster Recovery: Implications of America’s Perfect Storm and the ETS Community College Initiative
Moderator:	Samuel Cargile, Senior Director of Grantmaking, Lumina Foundation
Speakers:	Irwin Kirsch, Distinguished Presidential Appointee, ETS (America’s Perfect Storm) Download Presentation
	Linda Tyler, Associate Vice President, Higher Education Division, ETS (ETS Community College Initiative) Download Presentation
6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.	Reception

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.	Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.	Opening Remarks
Speaker:	Michael Nettles
8:45 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.	Session V — How Do Two-Year Minority-Serving Institutions Fare in Closing Gaps?
Moderator:	Glen Gabert, President, Hudson County Community College (NJ)
Speakers:	Michael Pavel, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology, College of Education, Washington State University (The Enduring Role of Tribal Colleges and Universities) Download Presentation
	Elaine Johnson Copeland, Professor, Educational Psychology, and President, Clinton Junior College (SC) (The Role of Two-Year Colleges in Addressing the Achievement Gap: An African American Perspective) Download Presentation
	Margarita Benitez, Senior Associate, Institute for Higher Education Policy (Front Line or Bottom Line? A Critical Review of What We Know About Two-Year Hispanic-serving Community Colleges) Download Presentation
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.	Session VI — Community Colleges Preparing Students for the Workforce
Moderator:	James McKenney, Vice President for Economic Development and International Programs, American Association of Community Colleges
Speakers:	Gail Schwandner, Dean, Workforce Development, Long Beach City College (Virtual Job Shadows: Web-Based Reality Speaks to High School Students and Job Applicants) Visit Web Site for Virtual Job Shadows
	Cheryl Blanco, Vice President for Lifelong Learning Policy and Research, Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (Exploring the Re-Entry Pipeline) Download Presentation
	William Spriggs, Professor and Chair, Department of Economics, Howard University (Occupational Differences by Education: Are Associate’s Degrees Different?) Download Presentation
10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.	Break
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.	Session VII — PK-20 Alignment
Moderator:	Christine McPhail, Professor and Director, Community College Leadership Doctoral Program, Morgan State University
Speakers:	Shirley Malcom, Head, Education and Human Resources, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Smoothing the Points of Transition: A Special Challenge in STEM) Download Presentation
	Paul Elsner, Chancellor Emeritus, Maricopa Community College District (Tough Choices or Tough Times: New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce) Download Presentation
12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.	Lunch and Keynote Address
Moderator:	Casey Crabill, President, Raritan Valley Community College (NJ)
Speaker:	Patricia Stanley, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Colleges, US Department of Education (Serving Community Colleges: Investing in Our Future)
1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.	Session VIII — Breakout Sessions A and B
	Session A: Placement and Remediation Approaches
Moderator:	Patricia Donohue, President, Mercer County Community College (NJ)
Speakers:	Cathy Engstrom, Associate Professor and Department Chair, Higher Education Program, School of Education, Syracuse University (Impact of Learning Communities for Under-Prepared Students: Critical Foundation for Success) Download Presentation
	Bridget Terry Long, Associate Professor of Education and Economics, Harvard University (Remediation at Community Colleges: Student Participation and Outcomes) Download Presentation
	Amaury Nora, Professor and Director, Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies, College of Education, University of Houston (The Role of Perceptions of Remediation on the Persistence of Developmental Students in Higher Education) Download Presentation
	Session B: Barriers to Transfer and Retention
Moderator:	Leonardo de la Garza, Chancellor, Tarrant County College District (TX)
Speakers:	Edward St. John, Professor of Higher Education, University of Michigan School of Education (Improving Opportunities for Success and Transfer for College Students: Lessons Learned from the Indiana Project on Academic Success) Download Presentation
	Kevin Dougherty, Associate Professor of Higher Education and Program Coordinator, Higher and Postsecondary Education, Teachers College, Columbia University (Transfer Troubles: Problems and Policies Involving Transfer from Community Colleges to 4-Year Colleges) Download Presentation
	Lashawn Richburg-Hayes, Senior Research Associate, MDRC (Paying for Persistence: The Louisiana Opening Doors Project) Download Presentation
2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.	Break
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.	Session IX — Defending the Community College Equity Agenda
Moderator:	Carolyn Williams, President, Bronx Community College (NY)
Speakers:	Thomas Bailey, George and Abby O’Neill Professor of Economics and Education, and Director, Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University (The Community College Equity Agenda) Download Presentation
	James Jacobs, Director of Workforce Development, Macomb Community College, and Associate Director, Community College Research Center, Teachers College, Columbia University (The Equity Agenda and Community College Workforce Development) Download Presentation
3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.	Closing Remarks
Speaker:	Michael Nettles