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Community colleges are in a unique position in the hierarchy of higher education. They provide quality education at an affordable price. They are strategically located in communities to provide educational opportunities for everyone. The latest prediction is that enrollment at two-year institutions is expected to increase from 5.7 million students to 6.3 million students by 2012 (Gerald & Hussar, 2002). However, research indicates that the retention and transfer rates of community college students are low. This is problematic due to the increased calls for accountability on the national education agenda which are linked to student outcomes. This is astounding for a system with a foundational belief in self-development and an unquenchable mission to provide postsecondary access to people who would likely not attend college if such avenues did not exist. Fortunately, there is one aspect of this statistic that brings renewed optimism to the university transfer mission of community colleges. Eightyive percent of Phi Theta Kappa members transfer to a four-year institution. Currently more than 600 colleges and universities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and London offer more than $36 million in transfer scholarships to Phi Theta Kappa members (www.ptk.org). This study examined the experiences of those students who are members of Phi Theta Kappa in an effort to identify ways to recruit and retain students and increase the transfer percentage for community college students. The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire was used to examine their community college experiences quantitatively. Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlations were used to analyze the data. Results of this study indicated that the Phi Theta Kappans were attending their community college to prepare for transfer to a four-year college or university. As anticipated, the Phi Theta Kappans were more involved in activities related to their courses and computer technology. The Quality of Effort scale indicated a low level of engagement in cultural activities. An unexpected finding was that there was no statistical significant difference in student satisfaction based on age, sex, or gender. Additionally, the students were satisfied with their community college environment.

This qualitative study sought to understand community college faculty’s perceptions of and experiences with culturally responsive teaching. Participants were full- and part-time faculty currently employed at community colleges in the Southeastern United States and purposefully selected to provide information-rich data. Data collected from the semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the participants were coded and thematically analyzed. Emerging themes included faculty’s inclusion of varied categories of cultural diversity when describing students; limited knowledge related to culturally responsive teaching; perception that culturally responsive teaching is centered on connecting and building relationships with students; belief in the value of providing students exposure to different cultures; perception that culturally responsive teaching increases students’ employability; perception of numerous challenges with the implementation of culturally responsive teaching; identification of current strategies they believed reflected culturally responsive teaching practice; recognition of the need for more professional development related to culturally responsive teaching; desire for professional development experiences with practical strategies; and identification of the challenges related to professional development. The findings may inform community colleges’ implementation of culturally responsive teaching and related professional development, as well indicate areas where more research about culturally responsive teaching in community colleges is needed.

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A growing trend in high schools across the state is the use of dual credit and dual enrollment courses to better prepare high school students for college or the work force. Given the increase in dual credit and dual enrollment participation and the goal of creating a more seamless transition from high school to college, the effectiveness of these programs needs to be researched. The research hypothesis for this study states that students who participate in a dual credit and dual enrollment program during high school are more likely to complete an associate degree within 3 years than students who do not participate in dual credit and dual enrollment, when accounting for covariates such as gender, race, and socioeconomic status. This study examined the effectiveness of dual credit and dual enrollment programs, particularly with regard to associate degree completion, credit hour accumulation, and college GPA. The participants in this study were 1st-time, full-time students enrolled during Academic Year 2007 at 5 of the 15 community and junior colleges in state of Mississippi. The sample included 6,029 students, of which 255 had previously participated in a dual enrollment or dual credit program. This study revealed that dual credit and dual enrollment participation positively affects postsecondary outcomes for students enrolling in community colleges in the areas of associate degree completion and college GPA. Students who started college with prior experience in a dual credit or dual enrollment program were 2.51 times more likely to complete an associate degree within 3 years of first-time, full-time college enrollment than individuals who did not participate. Additionally, the study revealed that factors such as SES, gender, and race had an effect on college GPA; and that SES and race affected the number of credit hours earned by community college students. Given the positive outcomes resulting from participation in dual credit and dual enrollment programs, these programs certainly bear consideration for expansion and further study in the future, particularly given the growing availability of longitudinal data within statewide longitudinal data systems that have launched in recent years across the United States.

This multi-method study explored English Language Learner (ELL) enrollment and engagement in a community college to address a dearth of research on ELL retention in this context. Quantitative analyses were performed on four fall semester transcripts of ELLs (N = 161) and on samples of ELLs and non-ELLs (n = 139) matching in age, enrollment status, and race/ethnicity. Quantitative analyses were also performed on The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) instrument for another set of ELLs (N = 45) and matched samples of ELLs and non-ELLs (n = 34). Qualitative analyses of interviews with a third set of ELLs (N = 28) were also conducted. Results suggest that ELLs overall do well as implied by their high GPAs and engagement scores, yet most do not persist long enough to complete the ESL program or graduate. GPAs were well above the minimum for graduation (2.00) and significantly higher (p < .05) than the non-ELLs. ELLs scored higher than the nation in all five benchmarks, and significantly higher than the non-ELLs in the support for learners benchmark. However, even though the majority of ELLs expressed that they wanted an associate's degree, only 43% successfully exit the ESL program and 13% graduate from the college. The graduation rate is significantly less (p < .05) than college (23%) and nation (25%).To explain, certain groups presented higher risk. Students who began in lower levels of ESL were five times less likely to complete the ESL program (p < .05). Nontraditionally aged ELLs had lower GPAs, persisted fewer fall semesters, and graduated less than their counterparts (all significant at p < .05). Also found were risk factors to which students attribute their leaving college: lack of finances, full time work, and family obligations. Interviews revealed implicit risk factors of linguistic challenges and their ELL status at the college, both of which affected their engagement, as well as a lack of procedural knowledge for navigating US colleges that could enable their retention. Students who persist, graduate, or transfer attribute this success to seeking tutoring and investing extra effort. Implications for practice and research are given. / CITE/Language Arts

This study was designed to build on the existing research on teaching and learning in community college contexts and the literature of college writing in two-year schools. The work of Pierre Bourdieu formed the primary theoretical framework and composition theory was used to position this study in the literature of the college writing discipline. Employing qualitative research methods and a critical working-class perspective, this study reflects a combined data set of participant observation, in-depth personal interview, and document analysis, giving shape to the experiences of fourteen students in one section of a first-year college writing course. This ethnographic study provided fruitful data regarding the nature of student/teacher relationships and students’ negotiation of authority in the classroom and in their writing. The results showcase the value of in-depth, qualitative research in college writing classrooms, a perspective with great potential to reveal underlying factors for student behaviors and outcomes in two-year literacy education. / Urban Education

This study examines the potential of faculty at the community college to positively influence, or "heat up," student aspirations. With increasing emphasis on graduation and transfer rates in higher education, the importance of micro-level interactions that shape student aspiration has been neglected. To better understand how individuals within the institution, especially faculty, contribute to student aspirations, this study attempts to bridge the "cooling out" and "heating up" literature in the context of the modern community college by recognizing the role of the individual academic program. Applying organizational theory from a systems perspective, as well as the theories of Paolo Freire, the study examines the nature of student-faculty interactions that have the potential to contribute to student aspiration in the context of institutional limitations. The participants include students and faculty in three academic programs that have different approaches to student success within one urban community college. The case study involves a combination of qualitative approaches, including interviews and observations. The study inductively examines student-faculty interactions and their potential to contribute to student aspirations within three different academic programs. The most significant barriers to student success and increasing aspirations are found on the institutional level. These limitations, including bureaucratic confusion, advisement issues, remediation, variation in attendance policies, financial constraints, and lacking a cohesive institutional culture and commitment, have the potential to "cool out" student aspiration, as supported in the majority of the community college literature on this topic. However, the mezzo-level effects of programs and the micro-level practices of the individuals hold substantial potential in terms of "heating up" student aspiration. Programs vary in the degree to which they handle the institutional limitations. Programs that take an active role in mediating between the limiting institutional barriers and students provide a cushioning program-wide protection from the cooling out elements. The micro-level interactions between individual students and faculty also hold potential to heat up by helping students navigate the systematic confusion that seems characteristic of the community college. Therefore, this study suggests that there is hope for the community college in fulfilling its promise of educational opportunity. Macro-level institutional challenges, as well as larger societal inequalities, are substantial and pervasive at the community college and solutions are often limited by financial constraints. However, the programs and individuals within the community college hold promise. The study suggests that the roles of the program and the individual are instrumental in shaping student aspiration. / Urban Education