Strengthening California
Community Colleges
Pasadena City College Foundation is one of several Hewlett grantees working to improve underprepared students’ performance and persistence.
Research suggests that if California does not address the rising need for college-educated workers in the 21st century, it will result in lower wages to a lower-skilled workforce. This loss in per capita income will be higher than any other state’s. Because California relies on its 109 community colleges to ensure access to higher education,
the Foundation has been tackling this serious need by funding efforts to improve student achievement at the state’s community colleges. Through two grantmaking strategies, we are seeking an ambitious 10 percent improvement in underprepared students’ performance and persistence:
- Improving instruction for underprepared students. We are funding research, demonstration projects, and technical assistance to increase success rates in developmental math and English.
- Supporting policies and practices to enhance student success. We are funding research, advocacy, technical assistance, and tool development to support institutional and state-level policy reforms to improve student success.
2006 Highlights
A renewed concern about community colleges resulted in the best state budget seen in years. Hewlett grantees played a critical role in highlighting the need to invest in higher education, especially two-year colleges. A systemwide strategic plan was developed to address the challenge of advancing reforms within the far-flung network of 109 colleges and 72 governing boards. A centerpiece of the plan is an initiative to improve instruction for students who enter community college underprepared for college-level work, a priority of the Foundation for the last several years. Under legislation approved in 2006, funding for developmental (remedial) math and English as well as ESL courses was increased.
Only 11 percent of community college students beginning in the lowest level of developmental math, and 26 percent in the lowest level in English, ever succeed beyond remedial level classes. Through a partnership with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, the Strengthening Pre-Collegiate Education in Community Colleges project continued to work with faculty to develop models that improve student learning in these areas. Campuses began reporting positive results that they will seek to advance and sustain.
2007 Goals
- Increase the use of data to understand and improve student outcomes
- Expand and replicate accelerated remedial programs and remedial instruction in a career context
- Release and promote high-impact research on finance, affordability, and enrollment policies and expand the network of organizations effectively advocating for policy change
- Build more data linkages and other connections across K-16 pipelines to strengthen students’ transitions from K-12 schools and into four-year universities
For more information, please visit the Foundation Web site.
