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Reforming English Pathways at California’s Community Colleges

By Hans Johnson, Olga Rodriguez, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Bonnie Brooks

California’s community colleges are in the midst of numerous reforms to improve developmental (also known as remedial or basic skills) education. Developmental education is supposed to help prepare students for college work, but it has long been an obstacle to student success: most students in developmental courses never go on to complete a college-level course in English or math.

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Reforming Remedial Education in Community College

By Olga Rodriguez, Mina Dadgar

Reforming developmental, or remedial, education is essential to improving students’ success in community colleges. The good news is that there is major support for reform.

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Dual Enrollment in California

By Olga Rodriguez, Niu Gao

Dual enrollment provides opportunities for high school students to take college courses and earn college credit. The pandemic has fueled a nationwide surge in participation, and equity-centered legislation has raised dual enrollment’s profile in California. As dual enrollment expands, state leaders can take steps to promote equitable access and outcomes.

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Remedial Education Reforms at California’s Community Colleges: Early Evidence on Placement and Curricular Reforms

By Olga Rodriguez, Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Hans Johnson

California’s community colleges are in the midst of a major transformation of developmental education. Several colleges have been experimenting with placement and curricular reforms for some time. An examination of the efforts of these early implementers can shed light on the potential impact of system-wide reforms on student outcomes.

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Community College English in California’s New Era of Student Access

By Marisol Cuellar Mejia, Olga Rodriguez, Hans Johnson, Cesar Alesi Perez

Major assessment and placement reforms at the state's community colleges have all but eliminated remedial prerequisites. As a result, students are much more likely to complete college composition—the “gateway” transfer-level English course. However, more work is needed to address persistent racial equity gaps and pandemic challenges.

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Guided Pathways in Community College

By Olga Rodriguez, Mina Dadgar

Community colleges have begun to adopt a reform known as "guided pathways" to increase completion rates.

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A College Degree in Three Years?

By Patrick Murphy, Kevin Cook

The University of California has promised to develop three-year degree programs on each campus and enroll 5 percent of UC students by the summer of 2017. Reaching this goal will require overcoming significant obstacles.

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Improving College Access and Success through Dual Enrollment

By Olga Rodriguez, Daniel Payares-Montoya, Iwunze Ugo, Niu Gao

At one time, mainly high-achieving high school students took college courses through dual enrollment; but access has widened under the College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) program. While CCAP students are benefiting from the program—they enroll in community college at high rates and reach key milestones—CCAP has room to improve.

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