Final Thoughts

I very much enjoyed reading this book as much of the aligns with a lot of the research that I have been exposed to on reforms that lead to student success. My experience in an urban community college bears out much of what the authors present as the reality for all too many community college students. So many students arrive ill equipped for the rigors of college life (both academically and personally). Providing students with clear links between academics, career aspirations and personal goals / relevance can only serve to help better engage (and retain) students in the community college environment.

One criticism that I have heard is moving students quickly into structure program pathways gives them little opportunity to explore both academically and personally. As someone who started their community college exploring a variety of different subject areas that were not necessarily tied to my major, I can sympathize with this perspective. However, as a white middle class male who attended a good high school, I had both the social, economic and cultural capital to explore while still being able to "find my way" (which ultimately took me an extra year and half to do). It is not so for students who do not have the privileges I did. All to often, I see community college students adrift, academically dis-engaged and looking for direction.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this book was the chapter on the necessity to reform instructional delivery. Tinto (a well known research on student persistence) calls this "pedagogies of engagement" This section of the book regarding the importance of instructional reform really epitomizes our work in the AET program - how to develop and deliver curriculum that engages, motivates and produces rigorous learning outcomes for the students in the classroom. Persistence and engagement happens primarily (if not exclusively) in the classroom for most community college students. Instructional delivery that engages and motivates is essential for students who are on the academic and social margins. Wrapping student services around the classroom experience that reinforce the students interests, goals and motivations while providing clear pathways for success and accomplishment will give students every opportunity possible to succeed in higher education.

Conclusion

The authors do a nice job concluding the book by dividing the community college student progression into four phases: connection, entry, progress, completion. Each phase is contrasted to the cafeteria model and to the pathways model. The connection phase is mostly about the relationships that community colleges need to build with high schools so that potential students from the high school pipeline have already done exploration of and engagement with future pathways and academic programs that they may like to pursue.

The connection phase, labeled from interest to enrollment,  discusses how the pathways model engages students from the very onset regarding what their future career and academic plans. Advisors and assessments are offered to help undecided students choose or placing them in a default pathway as they explore a particular meta-major(s). Progress is monitored in the pathways program through tight faculty and advisor in the students elected pathways program. At completion, students are equipped for the workforce or to matriculate to a university to purse a bachelor degree. Ideally, the community college with have strong relationship with feeder universities and the community colleges' respective program areas would have particularly close equivalent university program and academic areas.

The end of the book revolves around a charge to community colleges to be bold and innovative and to consider many of the strategies in the book as start points for initiating reform.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is a little revolves around potential cost saving that community colleges can realize by switching to a pathways model. The authors concede that upfront costs will be more expensive but that by retaining more students (due to the structured pathways model) the overall costs will actually decrease. The authors point to state and federal policy changes that have induced performance funding models that are beginning to take hold nationwide. These funding models incentivize colleges that increase their completion rates.  

This chapter also explores evolving educational models beginning to take hold (such as competency based models, "unbundled classes" and accelerated programs) and compares them to the pathways models. Additionally, they discuss technological innovations that are also beginning to compete more and more with the traditional educational model. The authors suggest that these models may enhance and add-value to the pathways model and that as more time progresses their utility in the educational delivery mix will be better ascertained than at the current time.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of the book takes a look at how community colleges can make structural changes to implement some of the changes (particularly an integrated pathways model) that the authors present in the previous chapters. The first line item discussed is the relationship between administration and faculty, which the authors content tends to be reactive (if not too often adversarial). Much of the section on governance revolves around ways to improve trust and collaboration between all silos in the community college system, namely, faculty, staff and administration. Much of this discussion centers around a leadership culture which promotes trust, respect and freedom to explore and take chances on new / innovative practices.

 Perhaps the most interesting part of this chapter, for AET readers, would be section on professional development for faculty. Similar to what was mentioned in chapter 3, the authors suggest that faculty engaged in a "collaborative inquiry" process where they analyze both data and classroom practice that generate a culture of continuous improvement. The goal of course would be to improve faculty teaching and to employ methods of instruction that are more generative (student oriented). The authors also suggest that the teaching and learning centers (if they exist at all) can be excellent catalysts for these collaborative engagement to occur. One area that they authors do not address in detail is adjunct faculty. They do suggest that adjunct faculty should also be given the resources to engage in professional develop and they acknowledge that this is a hard sell in an resource scare environment.