In 2004, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools -- Commission on Colleges, (SACSCOC) required a Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) for accredited postsecondary education institutions as part of the decennial reaffirmation process. The goal of any QEP is to improve student success. However, little evidence exists regarding the effectiveness…

Background/Context: The Holistic Oasis for Parents' Education (HOPE) Program is an on-campus summer program designed to serve the whole student with a three-dimensional support model. Low-income, Black, and Hispanic parents experienced some of the most egregious effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which reflects the demographics of one in three…

There are national, state, and institutional efforts to increase the completion rates of students enrolled in higher education institutions across the United States. This manuscript describes how one community college developed a total institutional commitment approach that became very successful in terms of significant Associate Degree and…

Now more than ever, philanthropy seeks to use its grant making and voice to build and support equity for historically marginalized communities. Toward that end, postsecondary education is an important area of investment because it is a critical pathway to economic mobility and stability. At the same time, colleges are serving a growing number of…

Community colleges are the leaders in facilitating career and technical education (CTE), and faculty help develop program offerings on campus. This study explored faculty perceptions of community college CTE programs using the survey research method. Participants included 36 faculty members from various disciplines from 15 state colleges in…

Published annually since 1985, the Handbook series provides a compendium of thorough and integrative literature reviews on a diverse array of topics of interest to the higher education scholarly and policy communities. Each chapter provides a comprehensive review of research findings on a selected topic, critiques the research literature in terms…

Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) integrates the teaching of basic skills and technical content in order to accelerate basic skills students' transition into and through a college-level occupational field of study. The study reported on here represents the final phase of a multi-year evaluation of the I-BEST model that began…

This paper presents research that explores similarities and differences across six randomized controlled trials of learning communities in community colleges that were conducted by MDRC and the National Center for Postsecondary Research. Five of these studies track students' progress in the program semester and two follow-up semesters, and one…

This report summarizes key findings from the literature on effective developmental education practice. It is designed to promote discussion among community college educators and state agency staff in Connecticut as they consider how to improve outcomes for their many students who are academically unprepared to succeed in college. One common theme…