Large numbers of students in California's 112 community colleges are struggling to pass college-level math classes, including courses they need to complete a degree or transfer to a four-year institution. Community college students' success in rigorous math is crucial to their futures and to any effort to improve college completion rates in…

Adult schools are facing the biggest threat to their existence since the first school was founded in California a century and a half ago. An EdSource survey in October-November 2011 found that 23 of the state's 30 largest school districts had made major cuts to their adult education programs, including Anaheim Union High School District, which…

In 2012, the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges adopted recommendations from the legislatively mandated Student Success Task Force. They included a recommendation that California's community colleges develop "diagnostic" assessments for use across the system. These would provide detailed information about each…

The visibility of developmental education--or basic skills education as it is called most often in California--has increased in recent years. One major catalyst was a comprehensive community college strategic planning process completed in 2004 that listed basic skills as a critical area of focus. Another was an increase in the system's minimum…

California community colleges are expected to provide a broad range of affordable educational opportunities to an increasing number of students, but the current system does not have sufficient funding to serve them all well. This report describes present budgetary sources and explains that colleges receive mostly discretionary funding. With the…

The 2010 EdSource Forum, held on March 19 in Santa Clara, focused on the obstacles and opportunities in the road ahead for public schools and community colleges. The Forum included four sessions. Two are covered in this report: (1) A sobering discussion of California's fiscal crisis by Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor; and (2) A lively Q&A…

This report draws from a recent EdSource study that was commissioned by the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) to provide a deeper understanding of the system's challenges and opportunities related to developmental education. It provides some insights into how well the community colleges are currently positioned to respond…

California entered 2010-11 with a longstanding imbalance between ongoing spending and income. To help close that gap, state policymakers suspended Proposition 98, the minimum funding guarantee for K-12 schools and community colleges. In total, revenues for K-12 schools are down nearly 10% this year compared with 2007-08. Yet more cuts loom as the…

This Parent/Student Guide explains why Algebra I is a required subject, how it helps prepare students for the future, how Algebra I fits into the student's high school math program, and what parents can do to support their student's success in learning algebra. It also explains why California policymakers require all students to take algebra and…

If a student completes high school but is unable to graduate, there are still options. The student can still get a high school diploma whether he or she dropped out, failed the California High School Exit Exam, or did not have enough course credits. As many know, a high school diploma is a passport to a more interesting and better paying job.…

Although K-12 schools and community colleges share responsibility for the futures of a vast number of young Californians, and both are under pressure to improve student academic achievement, the groups operate under separate governance systems, pursue distinct missions, gauge success based on different measures, and are seldom looked at together.…

When voters approved Proposition 98 as an amendment to the California Constitution, they sought to guarantee public schools and community colleges a level of funding that would at least keep pace with growth in student population and the personal income of Californians and at best increase the amount schools receive. The calculation of the…

This publication describes the California community college system's mission, programs, and students, including information about the challenges all 110 campuses share and some of the ways in which they differ. It explores the dynamic tension between enrollment demand and funding, and it summarizes recent research that addresses such issues as…